Above the wheel the sky with clouds or stars is symbol of freedom from cyclic existence or Samsara, and the Buddha pointing at it indicates that liberation is possible. Other Names of Wheel Of life can be seen as Wheel of Bhavacakra, Wheel of existence, Wheel of becoming, Wheel of rebirth, Wheel of samsara, Wheel of suffering, Wheel of transformation.Įssentially it is a metaphysical diagram made up of four concentric circles, held with a firm grip by Yama, the Lord of Death. Samsara is the continuous cycle of birth, life, and death from which one liberates oneself through enlightenment. It is a complex symbolic representation of samsara in the form of a circle, found primarily in Tibetan Buddhist art. Wheel of Life (Riduk) is the traditional representation of the samsaric cycle of existence. Wheel of life represents the very reasons for the suffering of our mortal form, through both horrific and sublime imagery and it can be seen painted on the walls of many Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in all Himalayan regions. The background landscape and colours indicate an Eastern Tibetan style of painting.Wheel of life is known as Bhavachakra in Sanskrit language. Within the Vajrayana system various divergent models are presented with the foremost being that of the Kalachakra Tantra.Īlong the bottom are verses written in gold in the old ornate 'lan tsa' script of Nepal. This model of Buddhist cosmology, focusing on the inhabitants, is based on the Abhidharma literature of the Theravada and Sutrayana vehicles. His association with the Hell Realms is in the capacity of a judge of karma. He lives in the Preta city of Kapila 500 miles below the classical North Indian city of Rajgir and is accompanied by 36 attendants. Yama the Lord of Death, although portrayed in the Hell Realms, actually resides in the Realm of Ghosts and is the King of the Pretas. The outermost circle is composed of 12 scenes which represent the Twelve links of Dependant Arising starting at the top and moving in a clockwise direction a blind man guided by a stick (#1 ignorance), a potter (#2 mental formations), monkey (#3 consciousness based on causality), travelling in a boat (# 4 name and form), an empty house with windows (#5 the six senses), a couple embracing (#6 contact), an arrow in the eye (#7 sensation), drinking alcohol (#8 craving), a monkey picking fruit (#9 grasping), a couple joined in intercourse (#10 becoming), a woman giving birth (#11 birth), and finally a figure carrying a bundled up corpse to the funeral pyre (#12 old age and death). At the bottom is the Hell Realm with the central wrathful figure of Yama Dharmaraja, the Lord of the Dead, King of Judgement (the Law of Karma), holding a stick in the right hand and a mirror in the left to reflect the actions (and consequences) performed by each individual that comes before him. To the lower right is the Realm of Pretas represented by four naked ghostly figures breathing fire from their mouths. To the lower left is the Animal Realm represented by various four-legged creatures. To the right is the Human Realm with three figures and a cluster of buildings. At the top and to the left is the Realm of Gods and Asuras, grouped together, highlighted by a heavenly being in a palace and below that - fighting between the two groups. Each separated by an orange dividing line. Outside of that is a circle of five sections portraying the six realms of existence god, asura (anti-gods), human, animal, ghost (preta) and hell. The surrounding circle composed of a top white half and a black bottom half, shows those individuals collecting and expending actions (karma) moving upward in the circle of existence and then having exhausted that merit moving downward. In the center of the wheel are the three poisons represented by three animals, a black pig (ignorance), snake (anger) and a rooster (desire) circling on a black background. At the bottom of the painting is Sadaksari Avalokiteshvara, white, with one face and four hands. To the left side is a small standing Shakyamuni buddha and to the right is a seated Maitreya the next buddha of this age. This wrathful figure is sometimes referred to as Yama, the Lord of Death, and at other times as the red female daemon of death, possibly Yami, the sister of Yama. The large red figure of a personified Samsara (cyclic existence), wrathful, with one face and two hands, a crown of skulls and flaming orange hair is holding the circular wheel of existence pressed up against the mouth ready to be swallowed at any moment - representing the immediacy of impermanence. The Twelve Links begin at the 12:00 position with a blind man walking with a stick. The Wheel of Existence/Life (Tibetan: sid pa'i korlo, Sanskrit: bhava chakra). Object/Concept Interpretation / Description
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