Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WHEEL OF LIFE
The Wheel of Life (Sipa Khorlo in Tibetan), depicted in the entryway to most monasteries,
is an aid to realising the delusion of the mind. It's a complex pictorial representation of
how desire chains us to samsara, the endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth.
The wheel is held in the mouth of Yama, the Lord of Death. The inner circle of interde-
pendent desire shows a cockerel (representing desire or attachment) biting a pig (ignor-
ance or delusion) biting a snake (hatred or anger). A second ring is divided into figures
ascending through the realms on the left and descending on the right.
The six inner sectors of the wheel symbolise the six realms of rebirth: gods, battling
demigods and humans (the upper realms); and hungry ghosts, hell and animals (the
lower realms). All beings are reborn through this cycle dependent upon their karma. The
Buddha is depicted outside the wheel, symbolising his release into a state of nirvana.
At the bottom of the wheel are hot and cold hells, where Yama holds a mirror that re-
flects one's lifetime. A demon to the side holds a scale with black and white pebbles,
weighing up the good and bad deeds of one's lifetime.
The pretas(hungry spirits) are recognisable by their huge stomachs, thin needle-like
necks and tiny mouths, which cause them insatiable hunger and thirst. In each realm the
Buddha attempts to convey his teachings (the dharma), offering hope to each realm.
The 12 outer segments depict the so-called '12 links of dependent origination', and the
12 interlinked, codependent and causal experiences of life that perpetuate the cycle of
samsara. The 12 images (whose order may vary) are of a blind woman (representing ig-
norance), a potter (unconscious will), a monkey (consciousness), men in a boat (self-con-
sciousness), a house (the five senses), lovers (contact), a man with an arrow in his eye
(feeling), a drinking scene (desire), a figure grasping fruit from a tree (attachment), preg-
nancy, birth and death (a man carrying a corpse to a sky burial).
What Makes You Not a Buddhist
by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse is an illuminating intro-
duction to Buddhism from the Bhutanese reincarnate lama and film director.
The Buddha
Buddhism originated in the northeast of India around the 5th century BC, at a time when
the local religion was Brahmanism. Some brahman, in preparation for presiding over of-
