The Wheel of Life

The Wheel of Life or Existence is a pictorial representation of the Law of Dependent Origination (Paticca-Samuppada). It is usually depicted on the wall facing the main shrine of the Lhakang (a hall housing the principle deity) or Dukhang (a hall of assembly for the monks). It is also an unique and superb representation of Samsara, the world of Birth and Death.

At the rim of the Wheel are the twelve illustrations which represent the Twelvefold Chain of Causation whereby sentient beings are ensnared life after life. It can be explained thus:

1. A Blind Man as primordial Ignorance.
2. A Potter as Activity which brings about Karmic Foundations.
3. An Active Monkey as Consciousness.
4. Two Men In A Boat as Name and Form.
5. Houses With Six Windows as Six Entrances.
6. Love-Making as Contact.
7. Arrow In The Eye as Feeling.
8. Drinking as Thirst or Craving.
9. A Monkey Grasping Fruits as Grasping.
10. A Pregnant Woman as Becoming or Existence.
11. Childbirth as Birth.
12. Man Carrying A Corpse representing Decay which results in Death to be followed by
rounds of birth and death endlessly within the samsaric existence.

The Yama (Lord of Death) holds the Six Realms of Existence with his jaws and claws. It reminds us of impermanence and shows that there is not a single being in samsaric existence who is outside the control of death.

The upper part of the Wheel depicted the higher rebirths and the lower part of the Wheel depicted the lower rebirths. The higher rebirths are the Realm of the Devas, the Realm of the Asuras and the Realm of the Human. The lower rebirths are the Realm of the Animals, the Realm of the Hungry Ghosts and the Realm of the Hell Beings.

The Realm of the Devas or Gods is the happiest state as those who dwell there enjoy continual pleasure and sensual delight, mitigated only by the fact that they too must eventually die and pass on to the other states once their karmic forces die out. Birth into this realm is mainly due to one having lived virtuously and generously towards others.

The Realm of the Asuras is populated by 'jealousy gods' or demigods who should be as happy as the Devas, but their minds are clouded with anger and envy over the better fortunes of the Devas. A close look at the picture will reveal that there is a tree growing from this realm to that of the Devas. This tree is known as the "Wish-Fulfilling Tree" whose fruits and flowers can fulfill every desire which they are unable to get hold of. This causes them great frustrations, anger and jealousy and they therefore constantly wage wars against the Devas to claim the fruits of their tree. However, they are always defeated because the Devas are far more powerful than the Asuras due to their karmic disposition. Despite being living in a heavenly realm, the Asuras live in great suffering because of not getting what they want. Next, the suffering is further increaseed by their being born with monstrous looks while their women are exquisitively beautiful. This situation causes their females to yearn for the love of the handsome gods and rejecting their own advances. Life in this realm is always filled with quarrels, fighting and great violence.

The Human Realm is where we are. It is filled with the ups and downs of life and we should be grateful for these conditions to be around. They bring about the awareness of the bliss of happiness and the misery of suffering and therefore become the very causes that lead to spiritual practice. It is therefore the most fortunate realm to take rebirth into, the world where one is able to listen to the Dharma and practice it to attain Buddhahood. In the heavenly realm the Devas are far too happily engrossed with their worldly pleasure to think about further cultivation of virtues while the Asuras are too much affected by anger, jealousy and frustrations of their existence. Those who are born into the lower or suffering realms are too concerned with their pains and survivial to think about spiritual practice or enlightenment. Hell beings only await the exhaustion of their karma to end their indescribable sufferings while the Pretas or Hungry Ghosts are totally distorted by the deep frustrations to satisfy their unsatisfied passions. Animals, while suffering less, are born stupid due to the result of their willfull ignorance and are therefore unable to derive any benefit from Dharma. They live only by instinct and must face a daily routine of searching for food or mate and hunting or being hunted.