The realm of animals is characterized by ignorance, never-ending cravings characterize that of the hungry ghosts, and hell’s realm is one of extreme suffering. Briefly, the lower realms are those of animals, hungry ghosts, and hell. For many lay Tibetans, one of the reasons for our diligence with prayers, earning merits, and making pilgrimages are so that we do not end up in any of these three lower realms. This is the realm that excites me the most, and we are going to revisit this just as soon as I’ve briefly introduced the three lower realms.īelieve me, we do not want to be in the three lower realms. Still on the higher realms, to the left of the God realm is where we are as human beings. It stands to reason that although the demigods enjoy privileges above mere humans, their realm is far from perfect. These strong emotions often generate and even propel other feelings of anger and violence. They perceive their world to be imperfect, their lives being fueled by an overwhelming sense of envy and jealousy of the Gods above them. These are dwellers who are close to but not really gods. To the right of the God realm is the realm of the asuras, or the demigods. It is more than likely that the dwellers in this realm may ultimately take birth in some of the other lower realms. But it is not a perfect realm, because a prolonged life of ease, comfort, and riches lead to moral and spiritual decay. This is a place of abundance – the gods have everything – material riches, beautiful dwellings, and long lives. Right on top of the higher realms is the realm of the devas, or God-like beings. On the Wheel of Life diagram, the three higher realms are depicted on top and the lower realms at the bottom. The six realms in this circle can be divided into two main segments – the higher realm and the lower realm.

This circle depicts the six realms of transmigration, and it is this circle that we will explore together for inspiration and learning. Every aspect of this painting is illuminating and fascinating, but I’m going to focus and write about the second circle from the outside, because I’ve always felt that this is where the real lesson from the Tibetan Wheel of Life rests. Aside from the brief introduction above, for the most part, I’m going to focus on my own interpretation of what we can learn from it. I want to quickly explain that this article is not an explanation of the Wheel of Life. The wheel is in the grasp of a frightful monster, signifying that the entire cyclic existence is impermanent.

The light and dark half-circle just outside this inner circle depicts virtuous and non-virtuous actions that stem from the three poisons. They represent the three poisons of our afflictive emotions: ignorance, anger, and desire – the source of all our sufferings in the first place. The innermost hub depicts a pig, a rooster, and a snake. This is a huge topic, outside of the scope of this essay, but for those who want to learn more, His Holiness the Dalai Lama wrote an entire book on this topic, titled The Meaning of Life: Buddhist Perspectives on Cause and Effect. I believe that to study this is to delve into the very heart of the Buddhist philosophy of cause and effect. The outermost circle represents the 12 links of dependent originations – the chain of causes linked to each other and responsible for our never-ending cyclic world of suffering. At its core, it consists of four circles.

Wheel of life diagram