This beautiful card print comes from an image painted by the artist Kumar Lama. In the Buddhist tradition these eight symbols of good fortune represent the offerings present by the great Vedic gods to Shakyamuni Buddha upon his attainment of enlightenment. The eight auspicious symbols are the most well know group of Buddhist symbols, and are traditionally listed in the order of: (1) a white parasol (2) a pair of golden fishes (3) a treasure vase (4) a lotus (5) a right-spiraling white conch shell (6) an endless knot (7) a victorious banner (8) a golden wheel. A wheel with eight spokes symbolizes the Buddha’s eightfold noble path, and the transmission of these teachings towards the eight directions. A wheel with a thousand spokes represents the thousand activities and teachings of the Buddhas. The rim represents meditative concentration, which both encompasses and facilitates the motion of the wheel. The sharp spokes represent wisdom or discriminating awareness, which cuts through ignorance. The central hub represents ethical discipline, which centers and stabilizes the mind. The three components of the wheel – hub, spokes, and rim – symbolize the three aspects of the Buddhist teachings upon ethics, wisdom, and concentration. The wheel’s comparison to the rotating weapon of the chakravartin represents its ability to cut through all obstacles and illusions. The wheel’s swift motion represents the rapid spiritual transformation revealed in the Buddha’s teachings. When a wheel has 31 spokes, the spokes represent the 31 realms of existence from ancient Buddhist cosmology.Buddhism adopted the wheel as the main emblem of the ‘wheel-turning’ chakravartin, identifying this wheel as the dharmachakra or ‘wheel of dharma’ of the Buddha’s teachings. A 24-spoke dharma wheel is also called an Ashoka Chakra. Above and outside of this wheel stands the form of Shakyamuni Buddha, who raises his right arm to point towards the moon as a symbol of the Buddhist teachings. When a wheel has 24 spokes, they represent the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination plus the reversing of the Twelves Links and liberation from samsara. When a wheel has twelve spokes, they represent the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination. When a wheel has ten spokes, the spokes represent the ten directions - in effect, everywhere. An eight-spoke wheel is most commonly used to represent Buddhism. When a wheel has eight spokes, the spokes represent the Eightfold Path. The spokes signify different things, depending on their number: When a wheel has four spokes, which is rare, the spokes represent either the Four Noble Truths or thefour dhyanas.The three swirls often seen on the hub are sometimes said to represent the Three Treasures or Three Jewels - buddha, dharma, sangha. The rim of the wheel represents meditative concentration and mindfulness, which hold practice together.The circle, the round shape of the wheel, represents the perfection of the dharma, the Buddha's teaching.Here are some common understandings of the wheel's symbolism: Over the centuries various teachers and traditions have proposed diverse meanings for these parts, and explaining all of them possibly would take a book. What the Dharma Wheel Represents: A dharma wheel has three basic parts - the hub, the rim, and the spokes. At the center sometimes there are three shapes swirling together, although sometimes at the center is a yin-yang symbol, or another wheel, or an empty circle. It can be in any color, although it is most often gold. ![]() It is also one of the Eight Auspicious Symbols of Buddhism.Ī traditional dharma wheel is a chariot wheel with varying numbers of spokes. In Pali it is the bhava-cakka or Samsara-cakka, which is variously rendered in English as the Wheel of Life, the Wheel of Becoming or the Wheel of Rebirth. Around the globe it is used to represent Buddhism in the same way that a cross represents Christianity or a Star of David represents Judaism. ![]() DHARMA WHEEL (BUDDHISM) - The dharma wheel, or dharma chakra in Sanskrit, is one of the oldest symbols of Buddhism.
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