The Wheel of Life and Death

THE WHEEL OF LIFE AND DEATH

We can always find it on the outer walls of some temples.

People who don’t know Buddhism can only cast an eye of curiosity at it. However, what does this picture mean?

THE ORIGIN

+ By the time the Buddha shown in the human world, there were two cities in India. One was called 「 王 舍 城 」 (Raja Girha), which was believed as the place where the Buddha taught the Dharma, and another one is 「胜云城」 (Rauruka).

+ The kings of these two cities, 「 频 毗 娑 罗王 」 (Bimbisara) and 「 优 填 王 」(Udrayana), were friends.

THE ORIGIN

+ Once 优 填 王 gave 频 毗 娑 罗 王 a precious loricae ( 铠 甲 ) with many jewelries on it. In order to pay him back, a minister of 频毗娑罗王 suggested that:”there is nothing that more precious than the Buddha. Since the Buddha is inside our country, why don’t we give 优填王a picture of the Buddha?”

THE ORIGIN

+ However, when the painter tried to draw the picture of the Buddha, the Buddha sent out thousands of rays that made the painter cannot look at the Buddha directly. Therefore, the Buddha projected his figure on the canvas, and let the painter draw it by the shape of his body.

+ Finally, the painter added the“ 皈依”、“六道生死轮回” &“ 十二因缘教法” parts on the picture as the direction of the Buddha, and made it into the wheel of life and death.

+ The wheel of life and death is the illustration of why sentient beings are trapped in the

world of samsara in six realms. + It also explains the origin of pain and the way to lease from it.

+ The composition of the wheel of life and death:

The innermost ringThe second ringThe third ringThe outermost ringYama, moon and scriptures

COMPOSITION:

1. The innermost ring: pig, snake , pigeon (chicken)

三毒： imbecility, anger, greed

They are the primary cause of the Samsara, therefore they are posited in the middle.

Parts of the pigeon （ chicken ） and snake are in the pig’s mouth, which means that all evil comes from our imbecility.

The Innermost Ring:

life, death, 中阴 (the moment when the previous life ends and the next life begins)

when a fresh dies, it will be reborn again in one of the six realms basing on its karma. And this ring shows us the causal relationship.

2. The Second Ring:

Consists of a black and a white semi-ring: On black semi-ring -- kanha-karma 黑業 -- upside down -- painful lowertrack reincarnation ( 痛苦的下道轉生 ) On white semi-ring -- rise their heads -- less painful Samsara

2. The Second Ring:

The six realms of rebirth ( 六道輪回 ): animals 畜生道， hungry ghosts 餓鬼道， hells 地獄道， gods 天道， asuras 阿修羅道， men 人道

3. The Third Ring:

Illustration of the twelve links of dependent origination( 十二緣起圖 )

【無明】 blind person

walking on the hill

ignorant ( 愚昧的 ) human beings

4. The Outermost Ring:

十二緣起圖 【行】 woman making

various ceramics good/evil karma【識】 Monkey our minds are as restless as monkeys

十二緣起圖

【名色】 People sitting on the boat the moment of rebirth Boat: the physical body( 色

身 ), where our minds can develop later on

【生】 deliver babies sentient beings keep rebirth

十二緣起圖

【六入】empty house with six windows our sight, hearing, touching, and other senses, come into being after the rebirth

十二緣起圖 【觸】 sexual intercourse: happy feelings after contact outer environment

【受】 arrow penetrates eyes painful feelings after contacting outer environment

十二緣起圖 【愛】 the alcoholic addiction

【取】 monkey picking fruits from a tree the desire to occupy things we like

十二緣起圖

【有】 pregnancy infinite rebirth

【老死】 old man carrying dead body

The whole wheel is under the control of Yama:• all things in the six realms cannot get rid of Yama• as long as we have greed, anger and imbecility, we

can’t lease form Samsara.

Significance: Four Noble Truth (四聖諦 )

•苦諦•集諦•滅諦•道諦

Representing the Four Noble Truth(四圣谛)：+ The wheel & Yama: 苦谛– pain as nature;集谛– what

cause pain+ Moon: 灭谛– the end of pain+ Buddha pointing the scriptures: 道谛– the way to cease

pain

CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP(因果关系 )

集谛 苦谛

道谛 灭谛

Cause

opposite

Cause

opposite

+ It is hard to image that a single picture can convey so many profound Buddhist ideas: 三毒、六道、十二因缘、四圣谛

+ The wheel of life and death is usually posited on the outer walls to remind the passer-by of the cause of our pain and suffering and encourage people to be philanthropic.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

+ http://bbs.66163.com/viewthread.php?tid=964833+ 生死轮的组成及意义+ http://www.xuefo.net/article_9475.htm+ 生死轮的组成及意义+ http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_5d8687eb0100bjap.ht

ml+ 生死轮的组成及意义 ( 图解）+ http://uni.sina.com.cn/c.php?k=%E7%94%9F%E6%AD

%BB%E8%BD%AE&t=all&ie=utf-8+ 生死轮+ http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_615d7fbf0100h7iz.htm

l+ 生死之轮图的法义总说

+ Thank you for your attention!