The Wheel of Life


Edition
Length

Image Sizes

Paper/Canvas Sizes
100
40"x54"
44"x58"
500
17.9"x24"24"x30"
Open
7.1"x9.5"8.5"x12"
Artist: Unknown
Release of Edition: 17 June 2006
Medium: Limited Edition Giclee Prints
Material: Matte UV-protected Canvas or 255gsm Somerset Velvet Rag Paper, Ultrachrome Ink
Markings: Embossed with the MiMa Publishers stamp and numbered
Certificate of Authenticity: Available on request




detail of max. size at 1:1

17.9"x24" Enlargement:

(At 72dpi this enlargement is only one tenth of the resolution of the print on paper. Added to that, it's a compressed jpeg, so the resulting image on the screen only hints at the clarity and detail of the print.)


The Wheel of Life
(Tibetan: sid pai kor lo. Sanskrit: bhavanachakra).

Held in the tight grasp of Samsara personified (cyclic existence) seen as a fierce wrathful figure, red in color, with one face and two hands, the circular disc is pressed up against the mouth ready to be swallowed at any moment - the immediacy of impermanence. This wrathful figure is sometimes referred to as Yama, the Lord of Death, and at other times as the red female daemon of death, possibly Yami, the sister of Yama.

First: The inner most of the 4 concentric circles shows a black pig (ignorance), green snake (anger) and a rooster (desire) circling on a blue background. They are often shown biting on each others tail.

Second: The next circle, made of a white half and a black half, shows those individuals that have performed meritorious actions (good karma) moving upwards in the circle of existence and those having performed bad actions moving downward, naked, led by an attendant of the Lord of Death.

Third: The widest of the circles is that of the six realms of existence; god, asura (anti-gods), human, animal, ghost (preta) and hell. At the top is the Realm of the Gods highlighted by a heavenly being in a palace playing a stringed instrument. To the right is the Asura Realm, a lower form of god always engaged in conflict. To the left is the Human Realm and below right is the Animal Realm. To the lower left is the Realm of Pretas. At the bottom is the Hell Realm with a central blue figure (sometimes wrathful). This is Yama Dharmaraja, the Lord of the Dead, King of Judgment (the Law of Karma). In each realm the various beings are portrayed engaged in their respective activities along with the occasional buddha or bodhisattva.

Fourth: The outer circle is composed of 12 scenes which represent the Twelve links of Dependant Arising starting at the top right with a blind figure (#1 ignorance) and then moving clockwise around the Wheel of Existence to meet again at the top left where a figure carries a bundled corpse to the funeral pyre (#12 old age and death).

Yama the Lord of Death, although portrayed in the Hell Realms, actually resides in the Realm of Ghosts and is the King of the Pretas. He lives in the city of Pretas, Kapila, 500 miles below the classical north Indian city of Rajgir and is accompanied by 36 attendants. His association with the Hell Realms is in the capacity of a judge of karma, good and bad deeds.

This model of Buddhist cosmology, the environment and inhabitants, is based on the Abhidharma literature of the Theravada and Sutrayana vehicles. Within the Vajrayana system various divergent models are presented with the foremost being that of the Kalachakra Tantra.

Notes by Bhikshu Karma Tinley, who gratefully acknowledges the Himalayan Art Library.

THANGKAS FOR CHARITABLE DONATIONS

These Thankas are not for sale, but will be given to individuals and organisations who support by donation The Dharma Fellowship Hermitage Meditation Retreat on Denman Island, Canada, or the sponsorship programs for Tibetan refugee children and monks administered by the Dharma Fellowship.

To find out more about the Hermitage and to make a donation please visit www.dharmafellowship.org

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The donor may choose a Thangka from the catalogue presented here. They are being given in three sizes:
1) For a donation of $2500 or more: At an image size of 40" wide x up to 59" high, on canvas, coated with a UV and abrasion resistant liquid laminate, editions of 100. These can be hung like scrolls or stretched over wooden frames (known as "stretchers").
2) For a donation of $500 or more: On 24" x 30" watercolor/rag paper, editions of 500.
3) For a donation of $150 or more: On 8.5" x 12" heavyweight watercolor/rag paper, open editions.

All editions have an archival rating of 61 - 108 years (depending on the paper/canvas used).

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Questions? Call 1-877-335-8111 or email contact@mimagallery.com.      © Copyright MIMA Fine Art Publishers, Inc., 2005.