The story of King Udrayana tells how the
Buddha devised a painting to illustrate the twelve-part teaching on dependent origination.
The Wheel of Life depicts the process in which the cycle of rebirth is set in motion, as
well as the five main samsaric realms. The first two of the book's three parts are in
bilingual format, with English and Tibetan on facing pages. The first part is an
abridgement of the canonical record from the Vinaya scriptures that describes events
related to the famous Wheel of Life drawing. The story concludes with the Buddha revealing
the past karmic deeds that were responsible for many of the experiences encountered by
that the main characters in the narrative. The second part, which gives philosophical
definitions and explanations of the elements depicted in the drawing, also features
quotations from classical Buddhist texts. The third part is a lecture given by Sermey
Khensur Lobsang Tharchin on the meaning of the images that depict the twelve limbs of
dependent origination.
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