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Wheel Of Life Hand Painted Canvas Cotton Tibetan Thangka From Nepal
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Tibetan Thangka painting depicting Wheel of Life Samsara is perfect for various home décor ideas! This 100% hand-drawn Thangka painting made in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal can be decorated as an elegant and eccentric wall hanging in your home or office being a centrepiece of attention. It can also be placed on your family altar for meditation purposes as well as spiritual and emotional healing, attracting benevolent energy of the Tibetan Buddhist art.
Specification
Master Quality Tibetan Thangka Painting
Dimensions: 93 x 73 cm
Materials: Tibetan Colors Combination With Dust Of Pure Gold Hide Glue
Canvas: Tibetan Organic Cotton
Origin: Hand Painted In Nepal
About Wheel Of Life Thangka Art
When someone asks - what does Samsara mean? The answer can be shortened to - all existences that are conditioned by: ignorance, suffering and the inexplicable flow of time.
Often painted on the exterior walls of Buddhist monasteries, The Wheel of Life can be considered the very essence of the Buddhist philosophy as it offers insights into some of its most important concepts. It depicts and explains the cyclic nature of re-incarnation and the different aspects of our perceived reality. It also shows the importance our actions have on our existence - or what we like to call Karma.
The notion of re-incarnation is also to be found in Vedic literature - "bhavachakra" in Sanskrit is a synonym of the word Samsara. This can be divided into - bhava - which means origin or worldly existence and - chakra - which means circle or rotation. This idea of a rotation or cycle, is in fact re-incarnation ! We do not occupy a stable place within Samsara, but depending on our Karma we will pass from one existence to another.
Beyond the Samsara we have Nirvana, the world unaffected by negative emotions, which by definition is the true nature of happiness and the ultimate realization that we are all seeking for. We are all Buddhas waiting to become enlightened.
This motif is a little more complex than the introduction I gave here, scroll down if you wish to read a more detailed look or buy a wheel of life . I have tried to divide the different elements of the Thangka into sections, so you can better understand this beautiful painting.
The three poisons or the three fundamental sufferings (by this I mean the three things from which we suffer every hour of every day until we reach nirvana) occupy the center of the Wheel of Life, as they act as “fuel” giving momentum to the “wheel”.
3 POISONS OF SAMSARA
Desire : represented by a cockerel.
Hatred/Jealousy : represented by the snake.
Ignorance : Represented by a boar.
The use of animals as imagery here is important, we can see that each animal is holding onto the tail of the animal infront of him. Which symbolizes the fact that these negative emotions lead to each other in an endless loop. It is only by our effort and spiritual progress that we are able to gradually gain control and ultimately destroy these emotions.
BARDO : BETWEEN DEATH AND RE-BIRTH
The next circle out from the Wheel of Life is called Bardo and shows spirits pulled downwards by Demons (right), as they have forgotten Dharma and let the 3 Poisons overcome them. And disciples of dharma being lead upwards, having fought to overcome the 3 Poisons, and the negative karma that it brings.The term Bardo has no direct translation, as it roots itself in the concept of re-birth, something I consider to be relatively new to the “west”. It represents the state which our spirits find themselves in the moment between life and death – the Intermediate State.
Samsara begins at the subconscious state of Bardo, continues into birth and is completed at the moment of death, thus the imagery or literal translation : the Wheel of Life.
As our Karma matures, it will find itself in its corresponding “world”.
If individuals find themselves with similar Karmas, their conscious will experience, through common perceptions, an identical world. Humans for example, all have identical sense organs (the 5 senses) which grant them access to an identical world (ours). Buddhism however allows a multiplicity of possible manifestations, each functioning in a parallel “universe”.
THE 6 WORLDS OF SAMSARA
There exist 6 worlds : Gods, Titans, Humans, Animals, Hungry Spirits and Hell. We as humans can only perceive two: the Human world (ours) and the Animal world. From a Buddhist perspective , the fact we cannot perceive the other worlds does not condemn their existence, but further proves that we are blinded by what we can see, touch, taste, hear and smell. The existence of the 6 worlds is demonstrated by the numerous enlightened beings that possess faculties that are far superior to ours.
The 6 worlds of the Wheel of Life can also be split into 2 groups:
Three Upper Worlds : Gods, Titans and Humans, in which happiness is greater than suffering.
Three Lower Worlds : Animals, Hungry Spirits and Hell, in which suffering is greater than happiness.
Specification
Master Quality Tibetan Thangka Painting
Dimensions: 93 x 73 cm
Materials: Tibetan Colors Combination With Dust Of Pure Gold Hide Glue
Canvas: Tibetan Organic Cotton
Origin: Hand Painted In Nepal
About Wheel Of Life Thangka Art
When someone asks - what does Samsara mean? The answer can be shortened to - all existences that are conditioned by: ignorance, suffering and the inexplicable flow of time.
Often painted on the exterior walls of Buddhist monasteries, The Wheel of Life can be considered the very essence of the Buddhist philosophy as it offers insights into some of its most important concepts. It depicts and explains the cyclic nature of re-incarnation and the different aspects of our perceived reality. It also shows the importance our actions have on our existence - or what we like to call Karma.
The notion of re-incarnation is also to be found in Vedic literature - "bhavachakra" in Sanskrit is a synonym of the word Samsara. This can be divided into - bhava - which means origin or worldly existence and - chakra - which means circle or rotation. This idea of a rotation or cycle, is in fact re-incarnation ! We do not occupy a stable place within Samsara, but depending on our Karma we will pass from one existence to another.
Beyond the Samsara we have Nirvana, the world unaffected by negative emotions, which by definition is the true nature of happiness and the ultimate realization that we are all seeking for. We are all Buddhas waiting to become enlightened.
This motif is a little more complex than the introduction I gave here, scroll down if you wish to read a more detailed look or buy a wheel of life . I have tried to divide the different elements of the Thangka into sections, so you can better understand this beautiful painting.
The three poisons or the three fundamental sufferings (by this I mean the three things from which we suffer every hour of every day until we reach nirvana) occupy the center of the Wheel of Life, as they act as “fuel” giving momentum to the “wheel”.
3 POISONS OF SAMSARA
Desire : represented by a cockerel.
Hatred/Jealousy : represented by the snake.
Ignorance : Represented by a boar.
The use of animals as imagery here is important, we can see that each animal is holding onto the tail of the animal infront of him. Which symbolizes the fact that these negative emotions lead to each other in an endless loop. It is only by our effort and spiritual progress that we are able to gradually gain control and ultimately destroy these emotions.
BARDO : BETWEEN DEATH AND RE-BIRTH
The next circle out from the Wheel of Life is called Bardo and shows spirits pulled downwards by Demons (right), as they have forgotten Dharma and let the 3 Poisons overcome them. And disciples of dharma being lead upwards, having fought to overcome the 3 Poisons, and the negative karma that it brings.The term Bardo has no direct translation, as it roots itself in the concept of re-birth, something I consider to be relatively new to the “west”. It represents the state which our spirits find themselves in the moment between life and death – the Intermediate State.
Samsara begins at the subconscious state of Bardo, continues into birth and is completed at the moment of death, thus the imagery or literal translation : the Wheel of Life.
As our Karma matures, it will find itself in its corresponding “world”.
If individuals find themselves with similar Karmas, their conscious will experience, through common perceptions, an identical world. Humans for example, all have identical sense organs (the 5 senses) which grant them access to an identical world (ours). Buddhism however allows a multiplicity of possible manifestations, each functioning in a parallel “universe”.
THE 6 WORLDS OF SAMSARA
There exist 6 worlds : Gods, Titans, Humans, Animals, Hungry Spirits and Hell. We as humans can only perceive two: the Human world (ours) and the Animal world. From a Buddhist perspective , the fact we cannot perceive the other worlds does not condemn their existence, but further proves that we are blinded by what we can see, touch, taste, hear and smell. The existence of the 6 worlds is demonstrated by the numerous enlightened beings that possess faculties that are far superior to ours.
The 6 worlds of the Wheel of Life can also be split into 2 groups:
Three Upper Worlds : Gods, Titans and Humans, in which happiness is greater than suffering.
Three Lower Worlds : Animals, Hungry Spirits and Hell, in which suffering is greater than happiness.
GB, Middlesex
