Within each realm, a Buddha or Bodhisattva is often depicted, trying to teach the beings there, showing that even in the most difficult circumstances, the potential for liberation exists.

5. The Outer Rim: The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination (Pratītyasamutpāda)
This outermost ring illustrates the Twelve Nidanas, a chain of cause and effect that explains how beings become trapped in samsara. Each link arises from the previous one, showing the cycle of how ignorance leads to suffering and rebirth:

Ignorance (blind person)

Volitional Formations/Karma Formations (potter shaping clay)

Consciousness (monkey)

Name and Form (people in a boat)

Six Sense Bases (house with windows)

Contact (couple embracing)

Feeling/Sensation (person with an arrow in their eye)

Craving/Desire (person drinking alcohol)

Grasping/Clinging (person gathering fruit)

Becoming/Existence (pregnant woman)

Birth (woman giving birth)

Old Age and Death (corpse being carried away)