Turning the wheel of the Dharma appears throughout the Lotus Sutra. What that turning includes is detailed in Chapter 7 after the enlightenment of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathāgata, who is said to have “turned the wheel of the teaching of the four truths three times, making twelve proclamations altogether.” In his commentary of Chapter 2, Expedients, Master Hsuan Hua explains what it means to turn the wheel of the teaching of the four truths three times.

To teach these five bhikṣus, Śākyamuni Buddha turned the Dharma wheel of the four noble truths three times. What does that mean?

When the Buddha first taught the five bhikṣus, he said:

Recognize that suffering is oppressive.
Recognize that the aggregation of suffering happens through attraction.
Recognize that the cessation of suffering can be realized.
Recognize that the Path leading to the cessation of suffering can be cultivated.

This is the first turning of the Dharma wheel. Suffering is oppressive. The aggregation of suffering is the cumulative effect of afflictions. Suffering can be brought to an end, leading to the stillness of nirvāṇa, with its four virtues: permanence, joy, true self, and purity. The Path leading to cessation can be cultivated. This describes the first turning of the Dharma wheel (the indicative turning).

In the second turning of the Dharma wheel (the hortative turning), the Buddha said,

Suffering is to be understood.
The aggregation of suffering is to be severed.
The cessation of suffering is to be realized.
The Path leading to the cessation of suffering is to be cultivated.

In the third turning of the Dharma wheel (the evidential turning), the Buddha said,

I have understood suffering and need not understand it further.
I have severed the aggregation of suffering and need not sever it further.
I have realized the cessation of suffering and need not realize it further.
I have cultivated the Path and need not cultivate it further.

The Buddha said that he knew about suffering, had cut off his afflictions, had attained the four virtues of nirvāṇa, and had realized the thirty-seven factors of awakening.

Affliction is a kind of “guest dust.” It comes not from the host but from the outside. In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, we read about guest dust. Ājñātakauṇḍinya became awakened because of these two words “guest dust.” “A guest,” he said, “does not stay forever; at some point, a guest will leave.” Ājñātakauṇḍinya became awakened because of the two words guest dust and is therefore known as he who “understood the fundamental essence” and “the first to become awakened.”

As the Buddha said to the five bhikṣus, “You should realize the cessation of suffering. You should cultivate the Path leading to the cessation of suffering,” Ājñātakauṇḍinya understood and immediately attained realization.