Samsara and nirvana form the axis of the Buddhist path. Samsara refers to conditioned existence tainted by the experience of suffering while nirvana is an unconditioned state that is free of all suffering and its causes. Buddhists try to free themselves from samsara to attain nirvana.

Samsara is depicted as a large wheel called the Wheel of Life. This diagram appears to have originated with the Buddha. One of the Buddha’s closest disciples, Maudgalyayana, was known for his visionary powers, so when the Buddha realised that many people find samsara difficult to comprehend he asked Maudgalyayana to make an illustration that would help people understand it. The Wheel of Life is apparently what he drew.

The Wheel of Life is transmitted today mainly within the Tibetan tradition. It is entirely symbolic and brings together all the different factors that define and characterise the cycle of conditioned existence and that are taught by all Nikaya and Mahayana schools.