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Wheel of Life overview
The Bhavachakra, the Wheel of Life or Wheel of Becoming, is a mandala - a complex picture representing the Buddhist view of the universe. To Buddhists, existence is a cycle of life, death, rebirth and suffering that they seek to escape altogether.
The Wheel is divided into five or six realms, or states, into which a soul can be reborn. It is held by a demon. Around the rim are depicted the twelve stages of dependent origination. This gallery will explain the parts of the diagram.
Photo © Falk Kienas/iStockphoto
Yama
The frightening figure holding the wheel is Yama, the Lord of Death or Monster of Impermanence. He has three eyes and wears a crown of skulls.
Yama symbolises the impermanence of everything. The beings he holds are trapped in eternal suffering by their ignorance of the nature of the universe. Buddhism teaches that death is not the end and is not to be feared.
Photo © Falk Kienas/iStockphoto
The Three Fires
In the middle of the Wheel are the three causes of all suffering. These are known as the Three Fires: they are greed, ignorance and hatred, represented by a rooster, a pig and a snake. They are shown linked together, biting each other's tails, reinforcing each other.
Photo © Falk Kienas/iStockphoto
The realm of humans
Buddhists consider being born as a human to be the most fortunate state. Because they are not suffering as heavily as those in the other realms, yet are not in lengthy bliss like the gods, humans have the best chance of enlightenment.
Photo © Falk Kienas/iStockphoto
The realm of gods (and Titans)
The gods, or devas, live in a state of bliss in the realm of heaven. Later sources subdivide this into 26 levels of increasing happiness. The gods live for a long time, but they too will die. Only enlightenment is a complete release.
At the bottom are the angry gods, called Titans or asuras, who hate the devas. Later sources often show these in a realm of their own.
Photo © Falk Kienas/iStockphoto
The realm of hungry ghosts
Lingering around the edges of the mortal realm, trapped by their overattachment to the world, the hungry ghosts, or pretas, are in the grip of their unfulfilled desires. This is symbolised by their huge bellies and tiny mouths that can never satisfy their appetites.
Photo © Falk Kienas/iStockphoto
The realm of animals
Animals are used by humans and lack the necessary awareness to become enlightened. Buddhists do not believe it is a good thing to be reborn as an animal, although they believe in treating every living thing with loving kindness.
Photo © Falk Kienas/iStockphoto
Hell
At the bottom is the hell realm. People here are horribly tortured in many creative ways, but not for ever - only until their bad karma is worked off.
(We apologise for the image quality; this mural was damaged at the bottom.)
Photo © Falk Kienas/iStockphoto
Dependent origination
This teaching of the Buddha's is explained in detail here.
Origin of the universe
Blind man 1. Ignorance © Man making pots from clay 2. Willed action ©
Buddhism has no creator god to explain the origin of the universe. Instead, it teaches that everything depends on everything else: present events are caused by past events and become the cause of future events.
Indian religions often see space and time as cyclical, such that world-systems come into being, survive for a time, are destroyed and then are remade. In Buddhism this happens naturally without the intervention of gods.
One tale told by the Buddha in the Aggan̄n̄a Sutta describes the process of recreation on this grand scale. An old world-system has just been destroyed, and its inhabitants are reborn in a new system. To begin with they are spirits, floating happily above the earth, luminescent and without form, name or sex.
Monkey 3. Conditioned consciousness © Man in a boat 4. Form and existence ©
The world in these early stages is without light or land, only water. Eventually earth appears and the spirits come to taste and enjoy it. Their greed causes their ethereal bodies to become solid and coarse and differentiate into male and female, good-looking and ugly. As they lose their luminescence the sun and moon come into being.
Gradually the beings fall into further wicked habits, causing themselves - and the earth itself - to become less pleasant.
A house with doors and windows 5. The senses © Lovers embracing 6. Sense-impressions ©
In this way, the Buddha seems to be saying, desire, greed and attachment not only cause suffering for people but also cause the world to be as it is.
The physical world as we know it, with all its imperfections and suffering, is the product of what the Buddha called dependent origination.
Dependent origination
The Buddha taught that this was a 12-stage process - a circular chain, not a straight line. Each stage gives rise to the one directly after it.
Man with arrow sticking from his eye 7. Sensation © People having a drink 8. Craving ©
1. Ignorance: inability to see the truth, depicted by a blind man
2. Willed action: actions that shape our emerging consciousness, depicted by a potter moulding clay
3. Conditioned consciousness: the development of habits, blindly responding to the impulses of karmic conditioning, represented by a monkey swinging about aimlessly
4. Form and existence: a body comes into being to carry our karmic inheritance, represented by a boat carrying men
Picking fruit 9. Attachment © Pregnant woman 10. Becoming ©
5. The six sense-organs: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body (touch) and mind, the way sensory information passes into us, represented by the doors and windows of a house
6. Sense-impressions: the combination of sense-organ and sensory information, represented by two lovers
7. Sensation: the feelings we get from sense-impressions, which are so vivid that they blind us, represented by a man shot in the eye with an arrow
8. Craving (tanhā): negative desires that can never be sated, represented by a man drinking
Woman giving birth 11. Birth © Bent old man 12. Old age and death ©
9. Attachment: grasping at things we think will satisfy our craving, represented by someone reaching out for fruit from a tree
10. Becoming: worldly existence, being trapped in the cycle of life, represented by a pregnant woman
11. Birth: represented by a woman giving birth
12. Old age and death: grief, suffering and despair, the direct consequences of birth, represented by an old man
The twelve stages of dependent origination are shown around the rim. They are: 1. Ignorance: a blind man; 2. Willed action: a potter; 3. Conditioned consciousness: a restless monkey; 4. Form and existence: a boat; 5. Senses: windows of a house; 6. Sense-impressions: two lovers; 7. Sensation: an arrow in the eye; 8. Craving: a man drinking; 9. Attachment: clinging to a fruit tree; 10. Becoming: a pregnant woman; 11. Birth; 12. Old age, death
Photo © Falk Kienas/iStockphoto
Buddha
In the top right corner, Buddha is showing the way. He is outside the wheel to show that he has escaped the cycle of life and death. Buddha is pointing to Yama and the wheel to teach his followers the true nature of existence.
Photo © Falk Kienas/iStockphoto
Wheel of Life overview
The Bhavachakra, the Wheel of Life or Wheel of Becoming, is a mandala - a complex picture representing the Buddhist view of the universe. To Buddhists, existence is a cycle of life, death, rebirth and suffering that they seek to escape altogether.
The Wheel is divided into five or six realms, or states, into which a soul can be reborn. It is held by a demon. Around the rim are depicted the twelve stages of dependent origination. This gallery will explain the parts of the diagram.
Photo © Falk Kienas/iStockphoto
Yama
The frightening figure holding the wheel is Yama, the Lord of Death or Monster of Impermanence. He has three eyes and wears a crown of skulls.
Yama symbolises the impermanence of everything. The beings he holds are trapped in eternal suffering by their ignorance of the nature of the universe. Buddhism teaches that death is not the end and is not to be feared.
Photo © Falk Kienas/iStockphoto
The Three Fires
In the middle of the Wheel are the three causes of all suffering. These are known as the Three Fires: they are greed, ignorance and hatred, represented by a rooster, a pig and a snake. They are shown linked together, biting each other's tails, reinforcing each other.
Photo © Falk Kienas/iStockphoto
The realm of humans
Buddhists consider being born as a human to be the most fortunate state. Because they are not suffering as heavily as those in the other realms, yet are not in lengthy bliss like the gods, humans have the best chance of enlightenment.
Photo © Falk Kienas/iStockphoto
The realm of gods (and Titans)
The gods, or devas, live in a state of bliss in the realm of heaven. Later sources subdivide this into 26 levels of increasing happiness. The gods live for a long time, but they too will die. Only enlightenment is a complete release.
At the bottom are the angry gods, called Titans or asuras, who hate the devas. Later sources often show these in a realm of their own.
Photo © Falk Kienas/iStockphoto
The realm of hungry ghosts
Lingering around the edges of the mortal realm, trapped by their overattachment to the world, the hungry ghosts, or pretas, are in the grip of their unfulfilled desires. This is symbolised by their huge bellies and tiny mouths that can never satisfy their appetites.
Photo © Falk Kienas/iStockphoto
The realm of animals
Animals are used by humans and lack the necessary awareness to become enlightened. Buddhists do not believe it is a good thing to be reborn as an animal, although they believe in treating every living thing with loving kindness.
Photo © Falk Kienas/iStockphoto
Hell
At the bottom is the hell realm. People here are horribly tortured in many creative ways, but not for ever - only until their bad karma is worked off.
(We apologise for the image quality; this mural was damaged at the bottom.)
Photo © Falk Kienas/iStockphoto
Dependent origination
This teaching of the Buddha's is explained in detail here.
Origin of the universe
Blind man 1. Ignorance © Man making pots from clay 2. Willed action ©
Buddhism has no creator god to explain the origin of the universe. Instead, it teaches that everything depends on everything else: present events are caused by past events and become the cause of future events.
Indian religions often see space and time as cyclical, such that world-systems come into being, survive for a time, are destroyed and then are remade. In Buddhism this happens naturally without the intervention of gods.
One tale told by the Buddha in the Aggan̄n̄a Sutta describes the process of recreation on this grand scale. An old world-system has just been destroyed, and its inhabitants are reborn in a new system. To begin with they are spirits, floating happily above the earth, luminescent and without form, name or sex.
Monkey 3. Conditioned consciousness © Man in a boat 4. Form and existence ©
The world in these early stages is without light or land, only water. Eventually earth appears and the spirits come to taste and enjoy it. Their greed causes their ethereal bodies to become solid and coarse and differentiate into male and female, good-looking and ugly. As they lose their luminescence the sun and moon come into being.
Gradually the beings fall into further wicked habits, causing themselves - and the earth itself - to become less pleasant.
A house with doors and windows 5. The senses © Lovers embracing 6. Sense-impressions ©
In this way, the Buddha seems to be saying, desire, greed and attachment not only cause suffering for people but also cause the world to be as it is.
The physical world as we know it, with all its imperfections and suffering, is the product of what the Buddha called dependent origination.
Dependent origination
The Buddha taught that this was a 12-stage process - a circular chain, not a straight line. Each stage gives rise to the one directly after it.
Man with arrow sticking from his eye 7. Sensation © People having a drink 8. Craving ©
1. Ignorance: inability to see the truth, depicted by a blind man
2. Willed action: actions that shape our emerging consciousness, depicted by a potter moulding clay
3. Conditioned consciousness: the development of habits, blindly responding to the impulses of karmic conditioning, represented by a monkey swinging about aimlessly
4. Form and existence: a body comes into being to carry our karmic inheritance, represented by a boat carrying men
Picking fruit 9. Attachment © Pregnant woman 10. Becoming ©
5. The six sense-organs: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body (touch) and mind, the way sensory information passes into us, represented by the doors and windows of a house
6. Sense-impressions: the combination of sense-organ and sensory information, represented by two lovers
7. Sensation: the feelings we get from sense-impressions, which are so vivid that they blind us, represented by a man shot in the eye with an arrow
8. Craving (tanhā): negative desires that can never be sated, represented by a man drinking
Woman giving birth 11. Birth © Bent old man 12. Old age and death ©
9. Attachment: grasping at things we think will satisfy our craving, represented by someone reaching out for fruit from a tree
10. Becoming: worldly existence, being trapped in the cycle of life, represented by a pregnant woman
11. Birth: represented by a woman giving birth
12. Old age and death: grief, suffering and despair, the direct consequences of birth, represented by an old man
The twelve stages of dependent origination are shown around the rim. They are: 1. Ignorance: a blind man; 2. Willed action: a potter; 3. Conditioned consciousness: a restless monkey; 4. Form and existence: a boat; 5. Senses: windows of a house; 6. Sense-impressions: two lovers; 7. Sensation: an arrow in the eye; 8. Craving: a man drinking; 9. Attachment: clinging to a fruit tree; 10. Becoming: a pregnant woman; 11. Birth; 12. Old age, death
Photo © Falk Kienas/iStockphoto
Buddha
In the top right corner, Buddha is showing the way. He is outside the wheel to show that he has escaped the cycle of life and death. Buddha is pointing to Yama and the wheel to teach his followers the true nature of existence.
Photo © Falk Kienas/iStockphoto
