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 in two halves: shadow and light. 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.
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