Thangka with Yama holding the bhavacakra or Wheel of Life, Tibet, 19th-20th century Red and black ink drawing on canvas. The bhavacakra, or wheel of life, symbolizes the recurring cycle of life, from ignorance to death and from death to ignorance. At the center are the three poisons: a rooster symbolizing greed, a snake symbolizing hatred and a pig symbolizing delusion. These three emotional defilements bind human beings to the wheel. Towards the outside, there are six sections between the spokes of the wheel: they represent the six realms into which beings can be born: 1. top center, the realm of the gods; 2. top right, the realm of the anti-gods or titans; 3. bottom right, the realm of the animals; 4. bottom center, the realm of the creatures of hell; 5. bottom left, the hungry ghosts; 6. top left, the realm of human beings. Buddha appears in all realms. Around the edge of the wheel, clockwise from top right, are the twelve causal links: 1. a blind man symbolizing ignorance, lack of awareness of the true nature of reality; 2. a potter symbolizing the formation of physical and mental materials; 3. a jumping monkey, symbolizing the emergence of conscious experience, with thoughts coming and going; 4. two men in a boat, symbolizing the emerging distinction between self and non-self; 5. a house with six windows, symbolizing the five senses and the mind; 6. a couple in love, symbolizing sensory perception of the outside world, using the senses that have emerged; 7. an arrow piercing a man's eye, symbolizing the impact of emotional and physical feelings; 8. a drink served by a woman, symbolizing desire resulting from feelings; 9. a woman picking fruit and flowers, symbolizing attachment to what is desired; 10. a pregnant woman, symbolizing life reproducing itself; 11. a woman giving birth, symbolizing new life taking its course; 12. a man carrying a corpse on his back, symbolizing illness, old age, decomposition and death. From death comes ignorance once again. On the back are Tibetan inscriptions, probably a lunar and astrological calendar. 35.5 x 25.8 cm