Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 44-minute talk, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen grounds the Wheel of Life diagram in the practice of bodhicitta—generating a stable intention to help all sentient beings. He begins by explaining how meaningful action depends on good motivation, then introduces the symbolic components of the Wheel itself: the three central animals (pig, bird, snake) representing ignorance and its offshoots; the white and black paths showing beings ascending to higher realms or descending to lower ones; and Yama, Lord of Death, holding the whole circle. He traces the Wheel’s origin to King Sujan Ningpo, who created it as an offering on the Buddha’s guidance, and explains how each element illustrates the twelve links of dependent arising—the cycle through which actions create karma and condition rebirth. The teaching concludes with refuge as the necessary foundation for all Buddhist vows.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 03 WoL.mp3
UUID: 4458b61c-67e2-47f2-ad21-db5b7d02babd
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Wheel of Life (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1996 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 44.6 minutes
Words: ~2,199
So quoting a line from the teaching, that with great kindness Lama Tsongkhapa advised us to generate good motivation, or to generate a good attitude. And if you do that, that is what makes the precious human birth meaningful. Generating this good mind — this is bodhicitta — if you have already generated it, then you should increase its strength. And if not, then one should put effort into generating it. So if we have this great mind, bodhicitta, then at this time, at present, when we have this precious human body, because of our good mind it becomes meaningful, this precious human body.
So, on the other hand, we have achieved this precious human rebirth, which is the result of our past collections of merit. And while we have this precious human body, on the other hand, if we do have bad motivation or with bad motivation engage in wrong actions, then that is what makes our precious human birth meaningless. So to achieve this precious human birth, one needs to collect many, many causes for it — just to achieve this precious human birth. And it is very, very difficult for one to achieve again this type of a good body known as the precious human body.
So this precious human birth that we have depends on many, many causes and conditions. So then right now if we do generate this good mind, then on the basis of this good mind, if we do our practice well, then that is what brings happiness to this life. And that is what also brings — or makes one able to achieve again — another precious human birth in our future life. And that is also the cause for our full enlightenment. So generating this great mind makes it possible for one to accumulate merit.
And by accumulating merit, as it is said in the sutras, those beings with merit, their wishes get fulfilled. So if one has collected enough merit, then for example, the wishes of this life get fulfilled, and for the future too, it acts as a cause for another precious human rebirth. And furthermore, it becomes the cause of our full enlightenment. So if one collects merit, then as a result, we receive happiness. So it also functions to remove all suffering of our futures too, and leads us to the state of liberation. So this period, this time that we have now, is the time that we need to collect merit, not merely enjoy our merits.
So if we only enjoy our merit, then it will be exhausted. It will finish up. So at the same time as we enjoy our merit, we should also accumulate merit. So to accumulate merit, we need to generate this good mind — this great mind.
So it doesn’t mean that saying “I am generating this good mind” — it doesn’t mean that you need to make a separate time. You don’t need to have a separate place to generate this mind. So it also doesn’t mean only generating this mind during the time when one is listening to the teachings or generating this mind while one is doing the practice. So all the twenty-four hours — as I said, the daytime — whatever we are doing, we should bring this mind, this great mind. Whatever physical action that one performs in one’s work should be something beneficial to others. And whatever one speaks should be something pleasant towards others, but not harmful towards others.
And with the mind, one should always think or contemplate compassion and love towards others, thinking that sentient beings are the source of our temporal and ultimate happiness. So because, as we said at the very beginning, we need to accumulate merit — for that we need to generate this good mind. So to generate this good mind without sentient beings, there is no way one can generate this mind. So all that we enjoy at present — food, clothing, shelter — and also those different, how to say, realizations on the path, and the ultimate achievement like Buddhahood — all depend upon the kindness of other sentient beings. So we should remember the great kindness of other sentient beings at all times. And even when sentient beings try to give harm to one, we shouldn’t retaliate, but always — not harming, but instead helping those sentient beings. Like, even if it happens to be only one sentient being, try to help as much as possible.
So whatever — for example, the practice of bodhicitta — to do the practice of bodhicitta, one first needs to know how to do that. And to know that, we first have to listen to the teachings. So here, for that purpose, for the sake of all sentient beings, hear and listen to these teachings. So generating this type of mind, bodhicitta, and we do a short meditation. So the teaching Geshe-la will be explaining is giving the explanation of the Wheel of Life and relating that explanation to our practice.
So as was explained in the past teachings, how the drawings of the Wheel of Life came into existence is that one of the kings of India, called Sujan Ningpo, taking the advice of the Buddha, let us say, put down or drew — made the drawings — which then he gave as an offering, as a present, to the king of Udayana, a king named Udayana. And when the king received, let us say, the information on this Wheel of Life — and at the same time, giving this — the Buddha told the king Sujan Ningpo, saying that when the king of Udayana sees these drawings for the first time, by the first time seeing it, that king will generate great faith and will be able to gain realization into the nature of all phenomena. So the original Wheel of Life, at that time when it first came out, when it was first drawn — at the bottom of the drawings there are always lines which are prayers written, which are the refuge. And then there are two other lines which are instructions on the things that we need to train in — these different practices which we need to train in.
These are written at the bottom. And then at the same time, it is explained — the forward and backward counting of the twelve links of dependent arising. And then above these drawings, on top, again, there are two lines which are written. So those are two lines.
The first line says that we should put effort into the Dharma practice. And then the second — in the same line — says one should abandon the contaminated body. And then the second line also says that one should be constituents. So these two lines which are written on top, and their meaning, the scholars will also explain in the later teachings.
So at the center of this Wheel of Life, there are the three animals — the bird, and then the pig, and then the snake. So the snake and the bird appear from the mouth of the pig. So the symbol of these — or the meaning of these — will also be explained later, when Geshe-la explains the twelve links of dependent arising. So then just outside these three animals, on the side, there are two paths, the white and the black path. So on the black path, there are, let us say, people being tied up by ropes, bound by ropes, and then lead downwards.
So then there are also the rest of the drawings, which show gods, humans, animals, and hell beings. And also the demigods are together with the gods. And then outside that are the drawings which symbolize the twelve links of dependent arising.
So all these are arranged in the form of a wheel. So then this wheel is held firmly — held by the Lord of Death, Yama, with four limbs and plus the mouth. It is holding the wheel. So then above that, on one side, there is the moon. And then on the other side, there is a standing Buddha, which is pointing to the moon.
So these are what Geshe-la explained. These are these different ones. So what this drawing explains is that if one is to do virtuous actions, then that is what leads one to the upper realms — those of humans and gods. And at the same time, if one is to do negative actions, then that is what leads one to the lower realms. Those are the drawings of the lower realms — the hell, hungry ghosts, and so on.
So then how we go there — how we go to the upper realms and the lower realms — is that it is explained according to the twelve links of dependent arising, how one creates karma and keeps the imprints on the consciousness and then takes birth into these different states. And all of these things happen because of the three main animals in the center — the bird, the pig, and the snake. So of these three animals at the center, the snake and the bird come out of the mouth of the pig, which is saying that these two are rooted in the one — which is the pig — which symbolizes ignorance. So if one wishes to escape from these six realms, from these six migrations, then as there is a refuge line written below, it is advised that one take refuge. So then mere taking of refuge is not enough.
So what one needs is to train oneself in these different precepts. So taking refuge and living with the precepts — training oneself in these different precepts. As a result, at the top there are a few lines which say that one will achieve those stages which are explained on the top. So then how all this happens — how all this comes to happen — is that at the top there is the Buddha who is drawn, a standing Buddha, which is saying that Buddha has prophesied this.
So that is the short, or very brief, meaning or description of the Wheel of Life. And the details will be given in the next few days. So at the bottom, what is written is the refuge line, which is telling that to the king who is not a Buddhist or not of any other religion — telling the king that if you want to enter into the Buddhist teachings, then one should first take refuge, as a doorway.
So it is the doorway to my nest — to one’s own spiritual life — as well. And also, taking refuge becomes the basis — the foundation — of all other vows. So refuge is the basis of all these other vows, which are those of the bodhisattva and tantric vows.
All these need refuge as a basis. And depending upon that, one receives these other vows. And similarly, if one doesn’t have refuge, then also to receive the one-day vows — the vows that you take for one day — one needs to first take refuge. One needs refuge as a basis. So as a prerequisite, one needs to generate refuge.
And of refuge there are three types, according to the three levels of beings. And besides these three, there is no other way of taking refuge. So of these three levels of taking refuge — that of the three scopes — there are some differences with regard to the cause and the object of refuge. So generally speaking, to take refuge, one needs to have two causes. One needs to generate these two. So as a being of the small scope, to take refuge, they also need two causes.
And the two causes are: the first is having the fear in the suffering of the lower realms. And secondly, having great faith in the refuge objects — that they can protect one from this fear of the lower realms. So with the small scope, they can also be divided into two: which is the mere follower of the small scope and a follower of the small scope which is known as the special one, common to that of the medium and the great scope. So the mere follower of the small scope — those who do not believe in Mahāyāna — their refuge object is the hearers and solitary realizers.
So with the mere follower of the small scope, there are again two kinds: one who believes in Mahāyāna and one who does not. So those who do not believe in Mahāyāna, their refuge object is the hearers — arhats. And the particular arhats.
With the special follower of the small scope, their refuge object can be all the aryas. All the aryas are their refuge objects.
So the difference of result is that the mere follower of the small scope — their result or achievement is the hearer and solitary realizer ārya state, the state of solitary realizer aryas. And then the special one of the follower of the small scope, the —