This week’s meditation session is led by Sharon Salzberg and the theme is New Beginnings. The guided meditation begins at 12:24.

One of the most important teaching tools in Tibetan Buddhism is the Wheel of Life, which demonstrates the cyclical nature of existence. This powerful visualization of the human condition is often featured at the gateway of temples to awaken practitioners to the impermanence of life and the constancy of change.

The Wheel of Life explains the concept of rebirth (samsara). Yama, the god of death, grips a wheel driven by three animals representing the mental poisons: attachment (rooster), anger (snake), and ignorance (pig).

In the next circle from the center, people move upward to higher states of consciousness and downward to afflicted states. Their actions, polluted by the poisons, propel them in a continuous cycle of rebirth in the six realms of existence, depicted in the large segments around the two inner circles. These are the realms of gods and demi-gods (top left), humans (top right), animals (lower left), hungry ghosts (lower right), and hells (bottom).

The Buddha discerned a pathway out of the cycle of samsara, which is why he appears both outside the wheel (upper right) and within it, pointing the way out by teaching the Dharma. As we behold the Wheel of Life, let’s reflect on how we can elevate our consciousness into a higher state of being.