Snakes Roosters and Pigs – Oh My – Symbols Themes And Teachings of the Tibetan Wheel of Life
Each day we turn the wheel of life and it’s samsaric mechanisms. Like cogs in an illusionary clock we blindly circle it’s karmic center as we move from one realm of life to the next. This is the fundamental teaching described within the Buddhist paradigm known as the ‘Wheel of Life’. Within it’s spokes is chronicled the twelve links of dependent origination. Each link a phenomenal state that defers only by it’s degree of unhappiness or dissatisfaction.
The ‘Wheel’ symbolizes the Buddhist perspective on a life lived in ignorance of ultimate truth. It is held fast by the clutches of ‘Yama’, a wrathful deity known as the ‘Lord of Death’. He is the manifestation of Samsara; the seemingly endless cycle of reincarnation. Outside of the Wheel stands the Buddha as guide pointing the way to liberation.
To understand the teaching it is best to begin the examination at it’s hub … Read more