bhavachakra

The Bhavachakra, also known as the Wheel of Life or Wheel of Becoming, is a symbolic representation in Tibetan Buddhism used to depict the cycle of existence, rebirth, and the various realms of sentient beings. It is commonly found in Tibetan monasteries and thangkas.

At the center of the wheel are three animals: a pig, a snake, and a rooster, representing the three poisons or root defilements of greed, hatred, and ignorance. These three poisons are considered the driving forces behind the cycle of samsara, or cyclic existence.

Surrounding the central hub is a section divided into six segments, illustrating the six realms of existence: the realm of gods, the realm of demigods (asuras), the human realm, the animal realm, the realm of hungry ghosts (pretas), and the hell realms. Each realm is depicted with beings experiencing the characteristic joys or sufferings associated with that particular state of existence.

The outer rim of the Bhavachakra is divided into twelve segments, known as the twelve links of dependent origination. These links, such as ignorance, volitional formations, consciousness, name-and-form, six sense bases, contact, feeling, craving, grasping, becoming, birth, and old age and death, explain the causal chain that perpetuates the cycle of rebirth.

A figure often depicted outside the wheel, reaching in to grasp it, is Yama, the lord of death and impermanence, symbolizing that all beings are subject to death and the cycle of samsara. The Bhavachakra serves as a powerful visual aid for understanding Buddhist cosmology, karma, and the path to liberation from suffering.