describe the mysterious Wheel of Life and Death in Tibet, China

1. The Wheel of Life and Death

4. 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.

5. 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?”

6. 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.

7. 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.

9. The second ring

10. The third ring

11. The outermost ring

14. 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:

16. 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:

18. 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:

20. hungry ghosts 餓鬼道，

21. hells 地獄道，

22. gods 天道，

23. asuras阿修羅道，

24. men 人道3. The Third Ring:

34. 集諦

35. 滅諦

37. Causal relationship(因果关系) 集谛 苦谛 道谛 灭谛 Cause opposite opposite Cause

38. 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.

39. 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.html 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.html 生死之轮图的法义总说

40. Thank you for your attention!