The metaphor of the Three Turnings of the Wheel of the Dharma (tri-dharma-shakra-pravarttana) has been taken in a variety of ways. For example, Mahayanist historians use it to refer to the Abhidharma, Madyamika and Yogachara schools of thought, while in Tibetan Buddhism it often refers to the Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions. In a similar way, I see these turnings as a spiral, circling back to the original teaching of paticca samuppada and embracing it in a wider, contemporary context.