Thangka Iconography

Wheel of Life

The Wheel of Life, also known as the Wheel of Time is a symbolic representation of Life, Earth, and Samsara (cycle of birth, death, and rebirth) of human beings. It portrays the essence of Buddhist teachings:

  • The existence of suffering
  • Origin and cause of suffering
  • Prevention from misery
  • Liberation from suffering

The Wheel is held by Yama, the Lord of Death reminding us about impermanence where all conditioned existence that come into being are in a continuous change and subjected to pass away. Held within the clutches of Yama, are beings inside the wheel, trapped in eternal suffering due to their ignorance. Despite his appearance, Yama is not evil, but a wrathful protector of Buddhism. The third eye of Yama symbolizes his ability to see the future of humans. The wheel is divided into six sections known as realms and a center section known as The Three Poisons of Samsara. The six realms are associated with the mantra of OM MA NI PAD ME HUM and are separated into two halves.

Upper Half

The upper half represents heaven with good karma
  • The Realms of Gods, Top Quadrant (OM): The Gods or Devas live in a state of bliss. Those born in this realm live a life of wealth, power and happiness and they don't recognize suffering. They do not have the motivation to seek liberation from the Wheel and eventually face rebirth when their happy life ends.
  • The Realms of Humans, Left Quadrant (MA): This realm is considered to be the most fortunate realm because it provides the beings with endless opportunities to liberation and escape Samsara (cycle of birth, death, and rebirth).
  • The Realms of Jealous Gods, Right Quadrant (NI): Following the Realms of Gods are the Jealous Gods whose highest priority is to get to the top where the Devas live. They are driven by extreme competitiveness and are constantly at war with the Devas as depicted here with bows and arrows pointing at one another.

Lower Half

The lower half represents hell with bad karma
  • The Realms of Animals, Left Quadrant (PAD): The animal realm is characterized by a lack of intelligence, struggle, ignorance. The beings in this realm live a sheltered life of uncertainty, and are focused on survival for themselves and their offspring.
  • The Realms of Hungry Ghosts, Right Quadrant (ME): This portion depicts the hungry ghost or pretas with unfulfilled desires due to their over attachment with the world. Their big bellies in association with greed symbolizes an appetite that can never be satisfied.
  • The Realms of Hell, Bottom Center (HUM): At the bottom of the wheel of life is the realm of Hell where people are depicted to be tortured in many ways until their bad karma is finished.

Rim
The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination around the rim in ↻ clockwise direction
1. Ignorance of the Four Noble Truth (Suffering, Cause of Suffering, End of Suffering, Path to End Suffering) characterized by a blind person with a stick.
2. Will full Actions that sow the seeds of Karma depicted by a pottery maker. Just like Karma, the final quality and shape of the pottery (good or bad) depends on how the pottery making is executed.
3. Conditioned Consciousness symbolized by a restless monkey being aware of the external phenomena by using one of the six senses (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind).
4. Form and Existence depicted by two people on a boat, traveling through the waters of Samsara (cycle of birth, death, and rebirth).
5. Six Senses (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind) symbolized by a house with six windows that represents portals through which we gain our impression of the world.
6. Contact of the six senses with the environment, objects symbolized by a couple embracing and kissing.
7. Feelings (Pleasant, Unpleasantness or Neutral) characterized by a person being pierced by an arrow. The feelings are the events that makes us hold on to the pleasant ones or to avoid the unpleasant ones.
8. Craving depicted by a person holding a drink. It represents the thirst for pleasurable experiences while avoiding the unpleasant ones, which in turn causes suffering, anxiety, dissatisfaction.
9. Attachment depicted by a person grasping the fruits. It represents one's attachment to pleasures, external appearance, materials, self ego influenced by one's craving and avoidance.
10. New Becoming symbolized by a pregnant woman. It is the force influenced by the previous link (Attachment), and it can keeps us in Samsara (cycle of birth, death, and rebirth).
11. Giving Birth. Influenced by New Becoming, the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth would continue unless the links of dependent origination is broken.
12. Old Age and Death depicted by a wrapped corpse being carried away.

Furthermore, The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination around the rim also represents the Tibetan calendar starting with:
  • Monkey (January)
  • Two People on a Boat (February)
  • House (March)
  • Embracing Couple (April)
  • Pierced by an Arrow (May)
  • Holding a Drink (June)
  • Grasping the Fruits (July)
  • Pregnant Woman (August)
  • Giving Birth (September)
  • Wrapped Corpse (October)
  • A Blind Person (November)
  • Pottery Maker (December)

The Three Fires
The Three Fires (Poisons) of Samsara

At the center of the wheel are the three fires (poisons); greed, hatred, and ignorance symbolized by a rooster, a snake, and a pig. These three forces are seen biting each other’s tail, thus reinforcing each other and keeping the Wheel of Life turning.

Buddha

The final part of the painting illustrates that one can attain Nirvana by making it through the Wheel of Life as portrayed on the top by Buddha's presence outside the Wheel.

 

Wheel of Time

The Kalachakra Mandala or Wheel of Time is a symbolic representation of the universe that connects astrology, physiology, yoga, and mythology into a visual form of meditation system used in Kalachakra Tantra.

The Kalachakra was first taught by Shakyamuni Buddha, who showed the way of realizing the highest enlightenment underneath the bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya in India, at early dawn on the full moon of April/May. The teachings continued through the succession of Kalkis (Chieftains) of Shambhala and were reintroduced into India. There are two lineages of the Kālachakra, the Ra lineage, and the Dro lineage. Although both lineages were brought to Tibet by Kashmiri disciples of Nalendrapa named Paṇḍita Somanatha, and Samantaśrībhadra, the story of the Kalachakra introduction is different as per the lineage. According to the Ra lineage, the Kalachakra was introduced into India by Cilu, the great pandit from Orissa, India, who had mastered all aspects of the Buddhadharma. Contradictory, as per the Dro lineage, the Kalachakra was reintroduced into India by master Kalachakrapada who was born to a couple who practiced the yoga of Yamantaka. During his lifetime, Kalachakrapada was taught all the highest tantras, including the three Bodhisattva Corpus commentaries by the Kalki of Shambala.

Kalachakra Mandala Mansion/Palace

To the right is an architectural model of the Kalachakra Mandala palace built by the 8th Arjia Rincpoche. Photographed by Thomas Bugaj.
Reference: International Kalachakra Network. (2020, December 24). The Kalachakra Mandala. https://www.kalachakranet.org/mandala_kalachakra.html

Structurally, the Kalachakra Mandala depicts an imaginary three-dimensional divine mansion/palace with five levels. At the center, stands a lotus flower, a symbol of Buddha's awakening and enlightenment. The five levels of the mansion from the ground to the top represent the:

  • Body Mandala with four entrances facing different directions
  • Speech Mandala
  • Mind Mandala
  • Wisdom (Pristine Consciousness) Mandala
  • The Great Bliss Mandala

The entire meaning of the subject matter of the Kalachakra tantra is included within the three Kalachakras, or Wheels of Time: The Outer Kalachakra, the Inner Kalachakra, and the Other Kalachakra. The Mandala illustrates the Kalachakra Tantra within the three aspects of the Kalachkaras (Wheels of Time):
  • Outer Kalachakra (the external world of the environment, universe and time cycle)
  • Inner Kalachakra (the sentiments living in the universe, life cycle and energy of Chakras)
  • Other Kalachakra (the practice that leads to a full Enlightened State of Complete Buddhahood)
2D perspective of the Kalachakra Mandala showing different structures and its representation

The wisdom ring is also known as the Great Protective Circle, and it is decorated with a combination of rainbow color patterns, golden flames to represent The Five Dhyani Buddhas. The circles after the wisdom ring represent the elements, space, air, fire, water, and earth, the area between the air and the fire ring is the cemetery grounds. The cemetery area has the dharma wheels with deities that represent the development in the 9th month of an embryo. In addition, the cemetery area contains a total of 88 Sanskrit seed syllables, that symbolize 88 deities of the elemental spirits.

The Five Dhyani Buddhas, Wisdom, and Elements:

  • Vairocana Buddha, Wisdom of Dharmadhatu, Space: Known as the “Great Illuminating One,” he is an All-encompassing Buddha who represents the element, space, that symbolizes the limitless nature of mind, and infinite compassion and wisdom.
  • Amoghasiddhi Buddha, All-Accomplishing Wisdom, Air: Known as the “Almighty Conqueror” represents the element, air, the purifying aspect that resolves conflicts by raising self-awareness of harmful actions and improving one’s behavior. His symbol is the Vishvavajra, the double Vajra that symbolizes the highest comprehension of truth and the spiritual power of a Buddha.
  • Amitabha Buddha, Wisdom of Discernment, Fire: Known as Amitayus (Infinite Life), he created his Pure Land by making 48 vows, particularly the 18th vow that promised rebirth in the Pure Land to anyone who recites his name ten times with utmost sincerity and faith. He rules over the element, fire, and his wisdom is a transformation of the sixth consciousness (the mind).
  • Akshobhya Buddha, Mirror-like Wisdom, Water: Akshobhya means “unshakable” or “immovable.” He represents the element, water, that symbolize his ability to purify false belief of anger, aggression, and hatred.
  • Ratnasambhava Buddha, Wisdom of Equality, Earth: The name Ratnasambhava means born from jewels, and represents the element, earth which is associated with the qualities of generosity, richness, beauty, creativity, and expansiveness. He is regarded to have the divine wisdom that transforms inner greed, pride into a vision of equality.
Articles and its representation in the Kalachakra Mandala from a 2 dimensional perspective

The Kalachakra mandala is used in Kalachakra Tantra for visual meditation. It is a practice that involves a high level of concentration and visualizing the whole mandala along with the articles and hundreds of deities in detail. During the completion stage in Kalachakra Tantra practice, one gradually develops his or her body and mind into that of an enlightened Buddha by controlling all energies. One can imagine entering the mandala through one of the gates in the first level, the body mandala, and making his or her way up to the next level. The fifth level is The Great Bliss Mandla and it is where the main Kalachakra deity resides on a lotus, the flower that symbolizes Buddha's awakening and enlightenment.

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