Wheel of Life Thangka Painting
The Wheel of Life illustrates the essence of the Four Truths
of the Buddhism: the existence of earthly suffering, its origin and cause, the
practice path to liberation from suffering and its ending.
This wonderful thangka painting describes, picture by
picture, the cause of evil and its effects. The allegory reminds us that
everyone is always judge and responsible for his or her own fate, because,
according to Karma, causes and their effects are the fruits of our own actions.
From: $50.00
The Wheel of Life illustrates the essence of the Four Truths
of the Buddhism: the existence of earthly suffering, its origin and cause, the
practice path to liberation from suffering and its ending.
This wonderful thangka painting describes, picture by
picture, the cause of evil and its effects. The allegory reminds us that
everyone is always judge and responsible for his or her own fate, because,
according to Karma, causes and their effects are the fruits of our own actions.
The fate is represented by Yama, painted in red/pink in this
thangka, who holds the wheel in his claws by the very top. The background is
orange and different Buddhas are depicted in each realm.
The Wheel of Life or “Bhavachakra” is well known by Buddhist
monks as a powerful meditation tool and also by students to learn and
understand the teachings of the Buddha. The Wheel 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.Tibetan Buddhist ArtEssentially it is a metaphysical
diagram made up of four concentric circles, held with a firm grip by Yama, the
Lord of Death.
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.
In the center of the wheel there are three animals symbols
of the “Three Poisons”: ignorance (the pig), attachment (the bird) and anger
(the snake).Buddhist Teachings
The snake and bird are shown as coming out of the mouth of
the pig, indicating that anger and attachment arise from ignorance. At the same
time the snake and the bird grasp the tail of the pig, indicating that they
both promote even greater ignorance.
Next to the central circle is the second layer divided in
two-half circles, one light colored while the other is usually dark.
These images represent the wheel of Karma, the law of cause
and effect.
The darker portion shows individuals experiencing the
results of negative actions. The light half circle, instead, indicates people
experiencing the results of positive actions and attaining spiritual ascension.
Beyond this layer is a wider area divided into six parts,
each depicting a different realm of Samsara.
These six realms constitute all possible states of existence
in the universe and all beings cycle between these states.
They can be divided into higher realms and lower realms.
The three higher realms are:
1). The Human Realm
The human realm is the world of everyday experience.
Human life, containing both pleasure and pain, makes us
aware of both these aspects of life. Buddhism teaches that such harmonious
balance give us the opportunity to pursue spiritual realization, this is the
reason why human world is considered to be the most suitable realm for
practicing the dharma.
2). The Semi-Gods Realm
The titans that live in this realm, not content with what
they possess, spend their time fighting among themselves or making war to the
gods.
These semi-gods do not suffer from desire or greed but from
constant fighting and jealousy.
3). The Realm of the Gods
These gods are pictured like beings not so far from the
human dimension in fact they share similar sensuous experiences.
The gods enjoy lives full of abundance and pleasure however
they spend their existence pursuing meaningless distractions and never think to
practice the dharma. This way they deplete their good Karma and they will
suffer through being reborn in the lower realms.
Wheel of Life Thangka
The three lower realms are:
4). The Hell Realm
The hell is typically represented as a places of intense
torment where beings endure unimaginable suffering. The victims are subjected
to the most terrible tortures inflicted by demons.
In the Buddhist tradition there are eighteen “hells” that
can be hot or cold.
5). The Hungry Ghosts Realm
This realm is inhabited by pathetic creatures with suffering
from extreme and perpetual hunger and thirst.
They wander constantly in search of food and drink, however
even if they get what they want it will cause them intense agony.
6). The Animals Realm
In this realm life is based on self-preservation. Animals
live in constant fear and suffer from being attacked and eaten by other
animals. Metaphor of refusal to see beyond the physical needs.
Wheel of Life Painting
Depicted inside each realm, in some wheel of life
representations, there is a Buddha or bodhisattva trying to help the beings
living in that realm to find their way to nirvana.
The outermost concentric ring of the Wheel of Life present
the process of cause and effect in detail.
The circle is divided into twelve parts, each depicting a
phase of the law of Karma which keeps us trapped in the six realms of cyclic
existence.
The twelve causal links and the correspondent allegories are:
Saṃskāra: Mental Formations – a potter shaping a vessel.
Vijñāna: Consciousness – a man or a monkey grasping a fruit
Nāmarūpa: Name and form – two men afloat in a boat
Ṣaḍāyatana: Six senses – a dwelling with six windows
Sparśa: Contact – two lovers kissing or entwined
Vedanā: Feeling – a men with an arrow in the eye
Tṛṣṇa: Craving – a drinker receiving drink
Upādāna: Grasping – a man or a monkey picking fruit
Bhava: Existence – a couple engaged in intercourse or a
standing reflective person
Jāti: Rebirth – a woman giving birth
Jarāmaraṇa: Aging and Death – a corpse being carried
Bhavachakra Thangka paintings usually contain an inscription
on the bottom explaining the process that keeps us in Samsara and how to
reverse that process according to the teaching of the Buddha that said:
I have shown you the path that leads to liberation
But you should know that liberation depends upon yourself.
The Wheel of Life is also known as:
Wheel of becoming
Wheel of cyclic existence
Wheel of existence
Wheel of rebirth
Wheel of Saṃsāra
Wheel of suffering
Wheel of transformation
A beautiful book that we suggest for a more detailed
analysis of the symbolism of the Bhavachakra is The Tibetan Wheel of Existence:
An Introduction by Jacqueline Dunnington, published and distributed by Tibet
House US. A monograph on the famous Buddhist icon with seventeen color plates
illustrating this fundamental teaching device created by the Buddha.
