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The Wheel of Existence
reading the bhavacakra

Sktbhavacakra Pālibhavacakka Tibsrid pa'i 'khor lo

A single painting that holds the whole of the Buddha's diagnosis: what saṃsāra is, what drives it, where it leads, and where the way out lies. Every figure is a teaching. This page takes the wheel apart element by element, with the doctrine, the symbolism, and the philosophy behind each.

Enter the wheel

Move across the painting — each region lights up as you pass. Click it and that part is cut out of the painting and enlarged, with its commentary beside it; inside a fragment you can go on clicking, layer within layer. The index below mirrors the painting's own architecture, from the hub outward — the arrow opens a section's parts, the title opens the section itself.