...there's a theme of revolution in those posts. Anyone catch that?
The Wheel of Samsara
The wheel of
samsara represents the cycle of life and death (or births and deaths), the seemingly endless round of suffering in which beings are trapped. (See the
Interactive Wheel of Samsara.) In a way, this image reminds me of Schweitzer s unyielding wheel of history that crushed Jesus. But whereas Jesus attempted to block the wheels motion, believing that his divine Father would stop it, the Buddha offered a means for individuals to live as if the wheel were not turning. The Buddha would free human beings not by attempting to stop the wheel of
samsara directly, but by setting in motion another wheel, the turning of which would cancel, for those who were ready, the motion of
samsara. That other wheel is the
dharma (usually translated as law or doctrine).
The Wheel of Dharma
By preaching the wisdom he had discovered under the
Bodhi tree, the Buddha is said to have turned the wheel of the
dharmato have set in motion the transmission of the saving teaching. By turning the wheel of
dharma, he would counter the turning of
samsara for those who could understand his teaching and put its prescriptions into practice. As the Buddhas original doctrine developed over the centuries and new forms of Buddhism evolved, the
dharma wheel (
dharmacakra) would be said to be turned a number of times again, although the validity of later turnings would be disputed by adherents of the original doctrine. But the important point for us here is that for Buddhism the turning of the spiritual wheel, that which is offered as the means of stopping the worldly wheel of suffering, is a presentation of doctrineone that includes practical methods of realizing the truth of the doctrine, but a presentation of doctrine nonetheless. That contrasts sharply with the Quaker approach, which proposes neither doctrine nor method as the means of salvation.
...just a couple of 'points' to ponder.
...if all of myth happens in each of our minds, where is Nev symbolically? Let's help a brother out, eh? Little support from the community that supports spiritual experience
(just an observation I made)