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)

This cycle explains how our actions, driven by ignorance and desire, create the conditions for future births and continued suffering.

6. Outside the Wheel: Liberation
Above the wheel, there is usually an image of the Buddha pointing towards a moon or a clear, empty space.

The Moon: Symbolizes Nirvana or Liberation from the cycle of samsara. It represents a state of peace, enlightenment, and the cessation of suffering.

The Buddha Pointing: This signifies that the Buddha has shown the path to liberation, but it is up to each individual to follow that path and achieve freedom from the wheel.

In essence, the Bhavachakra tells the story of:

Why we suffer: Due to the three poisons (ignorance, attachment, aversion).

How karma works: Our actions lead to specific results and rebirths.

Where we can be reborn: The six realms of existence.

The process of rebirth: The twelve links of dependent origination.