The Buddhist cosmological view expressed in the texts and practices of the Kalachakra Tantra, known as the Wheel of Time, explains and integrates observed relationships between the human body and mind with the external universe while foregrounding human experience. It combines a fundamental Buddhist concept—that all of existence is impermanent and has the nature of time—with another essential notion: that the same particles comprising the elements of earth, fire, water, air, space, and awareness make up both the human body and mind and the cosmos. Developed in the eleventh century as the latest comprehensive system of tantric theory and practice, Kalachakra describes the association between the internal and external Kalachakra, as cycles of time. As presented in Tibetan Kalachakra traditions, the astrological and medical knowledge of how celestial bodies correlate with the body and mind may help facilitate the advancement of human potential and well-being.

Kalachakra Cosmology Illustration; Tibet; 16th century; pigments on cloth; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; C2009.9

Elena Pakhoutova is senior curator, Himalayan art, at the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art and holds a PhD in Asian art history from the University of Virginia. She has curated several exhibitions at the Rubin, including Death Is Not the End (2023), The Power of Intention: Reinventing the (Prayer) Wheel (2019), and The Second Buddha: Master of Time (2018).

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Kalachakra tantric practices contain instructions on the subtle body and the inner channels that carry energy through the body and form a complex network and energy centers (chakras) with astrological correlations. The three main channels are:

• Green and blue (central channel)
• Red
• White

The month when the Sun leaves the sign of Capricorn is associated with channels at the right shoulder. The month when the Sun leaves Pisces is associated with the elbow, and so on.

The six chakras correlate with the six elements:

• Space (crown)
• Water (forehead)
• Fire (throat)
• Wind (heart)
• Earth (navel)
• Awareness (sex organ)

The twelve chakras at the main joints (shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles) are associated with the twelve zodiac signs. The fingers also correlate with the elements: thumb (earth), second finger (water), third finger (fire), fourth finger (wind), and the fifth finger (space).

These two spherical images show the view of the universe from above, with Mount Mehru at the center and the continents surrounding it, including Jambudvipa (center red triangle). They show the movement of the Sun over the course of a year:

•  “Wind,” or energetic tracks, around Mount Mehru in alternating patterns over time, when the Sun travels closer or farther from it in different directions through the twelve sections of the zodiac (left diagram)
• Seasonal points based on the Sun’s movement around Mount Mehru (right diagram)
• Grey-green orbit marks the winter solstice, when the Sun enters Capricorn
• Yellow orbit marks the spring equinox, when the Sun enters Aries
• Blue orbit marks the summer solstice, when the Sun enters Cancer
• Red orbit marks the autumnal equinox, when the Sun enters Libra

These tracks travel around Mount Mehru in alternating patterns over time, when the Sun travels closer or farther from it in different directions through the twelve sections of the zodiac.

Based on the Sun’s movement around Mount Mehru

Marking the winter solstice, when the Sun enters Capricorn

Marking the spring equinox, when the Sun enters Aries

Marking the summer solstice, when the Sun enters Cancer

Marking the autumnal equinox, when the Sun enters Libra