Wheel of Life - Definition and Overview

In Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism the Wheel of Life is a symbolic representation of samsara, the continuous cycle of birth, life, death. One is liberated from this endless cycle of rebirth when Enlightenment is achieved, and with this goal, the Awakened individual has won Nirvana, moksha, samadhi, etc., the highest state of bliss that was long a part of Vedic tradition and continued into Buddhism with Gautama Buddha and Jainism with Mahavira.

Liberation is the central goal of all three of the Dharmic religions.

The symbol below illustrates the basic wheel of life. More elaborate versions of this motif have been included in much of the art of these faiths.

In Unicode, the symbol is named "Wheel of Dharma", U+2638 (☸).

In the Indian Mahayana Buddhism scriptural language of Sanskrit, the Wheel of Life is called Bhavachakra.

See also

• Buddhist symbolism
• kalachakra (wheel of history)
• Wheel of Dharma

The Wheel of Life is also a free e-book by The Abbotts. 1 (http://www.users.bigpond.com/theabbotts1/wheel.htm)