Wheel of samsara - the laws of the cycle of life

The first idea of the wheel of samsara arose even before the advent of Buddhism and originates its origins in the late Vedic Brahmanism. Buddhists borrowed this concept, but it was they who interpreted it as we understand it now.

The wheel of samsara is the incessant cycle of birth and death. It is a constant becoming and change, which is controlled by the master of death. The circle of samsara shows us all the phases of a person's life. In the center of the circle are three creatures, each of which has its drawbacks: the pig is a symbol of greed and ignorance; The rooster is a symbol of carnal passion; The snake is a symbol of anger. All these qualities tie the person to an illusory life and forced existence. On the circle adjacent to the center, to the left are depicted the monks and those laity who, with their clean life, deserve a successful transformation and therefore move upwards. On the right side there are sinful naked people, who are in for a miserable rebirth.

The next circle is divided into six parts. All of them depict the possible fate of a person after his death. Above - heaven; On the left - ordinary people; On the right - gods and titans; In the right lower half - unhappy spirits, suffering from sensuality; In the lower left half - the animal kingdom; And in the lowest part - cold and hot hell. Everywhere there is certainly a Buddha who helps everyone to come to the rescue of his soul. The very last outer circle consists of twelve paintings that depict the life of a person on the steps by which he again moves to death. Each picture has its own symbolism. Let's enumerate their values clockwise - ignorance, motive force, consciousness, form, senses, touch, sensation, thirst, affection, becoming, birth, old age and death.

In another way, the wheel of samsara is called bhavacakra. Otherwise it can still be called simply the wheel of being. The wheel of the lord of death holds this wheel. Everything is closely interrelated - people, clinging to life, generate karma and already on it come to a new cycle of existence.

The wheel of karma is a constant movement along the path laid by one's own actions. The fate of man is decided by the ruler of death, the god Yama. He makes his decision on the karma of a person accumulated for his life, and more often it turns out that karma is very bad, and all sinners are destined to go through a terrible judgment.

Generalize all of the above. The wheel of samsara is a complete cycle of a person's life , reflecting his passions, sins, life stages, karma and reincarnations. Interpreting the wheel of samsara, we have mentioned karma more than once. What is karma? This is any action of a person, which inevitably carries with it certain consequences. Action can be considered not only a physical act, but also words spoken, and even thoughts. The total aggregate of these physical, mental and verbal actions committed in a lifetime determines the character of the next birth, life and death. Karma can be bad or good, that is, it can lead to a happy or unhappy birth in the next reincarnation.