#Buddhist wheel of life full#
#Buddhist wheel of life free#

The last of the six areas of life is a world inhabited by demigods in constant struggle, fighting a neverending battle with the gods. The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara warns us against this, by proclaiming the virtue of meditation. Sounds very tempting, right? But this realm is dangerous in its own way: one is never too far from the edge, and as pride and vanity grow inside us, so does the risk of falling back down into the lower reaches of the wheel of life. The world of the gods stands for pleasure and the illusion of eternal happiness. The historical Buddha, present here, symbolizes this possibility. In general, however, this area of life is the best of all six, since man has here access to the Buddhist teachings, and therefore has also the opportunity to escape from the wheel of life (that is, of reaching Nirvana). In the realm of humans, and due to their selfishness and passions, people suffer the misfortunes of illness, old age, and death. Also here there is a Buddha, who with his sword – a symbol for the destruction of ignorance – shows the way out of the realm. Existence as an animal is definitely not easy: they are hunted and eaten by humans or other animals without a moment of rest. This is the destination of those who had led lives particularly distinguished by ignorance and weakness. The simple explanation: anger and hatred are the way in patience, the way out. Once again there is a Buddha, in this case washing and cleaning with water the path that leads out of Hell. The condemned, burning slowly over eternal fires, see their members and genitals chopped off before being cooked and eaten by insatiable demons. The depictions of Buddhist hell vary and recall in many ways those of the Christian one. Whoever ends up here will suffer unimaginable pain, impossible heat, and immeasurable cold. To avoid such a fate, be generous and make sacrifices. To put it in simpler terms: this is how your karma looks when you are selfish and greedy.

#Buddhist wheel of life full#

In this realm of unfulfilled (or unfulfillable) desire, the Buddha is represented with a jar full of nectar, symbolizing the virtue of generosity. It is mainly their greed that brought them to this realm. We start with the less than ideal areas:ĭue to their narrow necks and throats, the hungry ghosts are unable to eat, and must, therefore, suffer maddening hunger and unquenchable thirst throughout their whole existence. The brighter area is filled with people who have to eke out a better (or at least less horrible) existence.Īround the inner circle, we find the six realms in which we can be reborn. In the dark half, the doomed, tied to one another, are dragged and tortured by monstrous demons. The inner circle is surrounded by another one divided into two halves: shadow and light.

#Buddhist wheel of life free#

The goal, then, is to free ourselves from this infinite cycle of rebirths. These three poisons are the ones that keep us trapped inside the wheel of life. They bite each other’s tail and symbolize the three poisons of life: the rooster stands for greed, the snake for hatred, and the pig represents ignorance or delusion. The wheel turns eternally, powered by the three animals in it: a rooster, a snake, and a pig. The wheel of life is held or supported by a wrathful deity that usually represents Yama, the god of death, but can also occasionally be interpreted as Mara, the god of seduction, or Srinpo, a mythical giant.Īt the center of the wheel of life, there is a smaller circle. It is no coincidence, then, that this concept, and its colorful representation, are explained very early in the life of every child. This symbolic representation, or Bhavacakra, serves as a wonderful summary of what Buddhism is and also reminds us that every action has consequences. Whoever has visited a Tibetan Buddhist monastery, no matter if in Ladakh, Tibet or Bhutan, has also probably noticed, usually at the entrance of the temple, a drawing of the Buddhist Wheel of Life.