Lineage
The Four Turnings of the Dharma Wheel
The journey of the True Dharma through time, from individual liberation to the unified awakening of all humanity — four stages, each taking up the work of its own age.
What are the four turnings of the Dharma wheel?
"Turning the Dharma wheel" is a familiar Buddhist image for the True Dharma being set forth and rolling onward in the world. Buddhayana reads that stream as four stages: Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, and Buddhayana. Each has its own centre of gravity, and no later stage erases an earlier one.
First turning — Theravada: discipline and wisdom
The foundation of liberation: ethics, concentration, wisdom, and the path of Right Mind. This is the groundwork every later tradition stands on. In the Awakening Dharma curriculum, the Peace section devotes many lessons to exactly this groundwork: the Four Noble Truths (four lessons), the Noble Eightfold Path (three lessons), Dependent Origination (two lessons), and a dedicated lesson on Ethics, Concentration, and Wisdom.
Second turning — Mahayana: compassion and wisdom
The Bodhisattva ideal: boundless wisdom and compassion for the benefit of all beings. The centre shifts from individual liberation to a vow made for everyone. This thread appears in the Wholeness section through "The Four Immeasurables" and "The Ten Paramitas: from Dharma student to Bodhisattva."
Third turning — Vajrayana: skillful means and transformation
Transforming body and mind through skillful means and profound spiritual power. Body, mind, and energy are treated as material for transformation rather than obstacles to escape. In the curriculum, the Harmony section works this seam with lessons on the chakras, uniting the masculine and feminine within, and uniting light and shadow within.
Fourth turning — Buddhayana: awakening and unity
Total awakening: transforming individuals, families, communities, and civilization. This is the work Buddhayana takes up — bringing the Dharma into a world of science, education, technology, and cities, so that insight does not rest in books but becomes a social force.
What is Buddhayana?
Buddhayana — in Vietnamese Phật Thừa or Thức Tỉnh Thừa, in English Awakening Buddhism or Inti Buddhism — is the Buddhist tradition within Inti Foundation, founded by Tạ Minh Tuấn. Its body of teaching is called Awakening Dharma.
Buddhayana describes itself as the Buddhist tradition for the next 5,000 years: a stream of Awakening that brings wisdom, compassion, and awakened action to every individual, family, community, and all humanity.
Why call it the fourth turning?
Because the three earlier turnings answered the questions of their own eras, while this era asks a different one: how can the Dharma live amid science, technology, and modern speed without losing its depth? Buddhayana's answer sits in one sentence — "The union of spirituality, science, and daily life."
The accompanying vows show the posture of this fourth turning: preserve the True Dharma, open the wisdom of this age, build an awakened civilization. The vow of preservation comes first — inheritance is placed before innovation.
In practice, the fourth turning takes shape as the six-level Awakening Path and the Path of Three Transformations: transform body and mind, transform the heart, transform the world.
Frequently asked questions
What are the four turnings of the Dharma wheel?
As presented by Buddhayana: the first is Theravada (discipline and wisdom), the second Mahayana (compassion and wisdom), the third Vajrayana (skillful means and transformation), and the fourth Buddhayana (awakening and unity).
What is Buddhayana?
Buddhayana — the Buddha Vehicle or Awakening Vehicle, also called Awakening Buddhism or Inti Buddhism — is the Buddhist tradition within Inti Foundation founded by Tạ Minh Tuấn. Its teaching is called Awakening Dharma.
Does the fourth turning replace the earlier three?
No. Buddhayana's first vow is to preserve the True Dharma and honor the essence of every Buddhist tradition that has illuminated the world. The four turnings are read as one continuous line.