The Dharma wheel

The Dharma wheel is one of the oldest and most widely used symbols of Buddhism. Its Sanskrit name is dharmacakra, and in Pali it is dhammacakka. It usually appears as a wheel with eight spokes, and it stands for the teaching of the Buddha, known as the Dharma.

Setting the wheel in motion

The symbol comes from the Buddha's first teaching. After his awakening, he went to the Deer Park at Isipatana, now Sarnath, near Varanasi, and taught five former companions. That discourse is called the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, "setting the wheel of the Dharma in motion". In it he taught the middle way, the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.

In ancient India, a wheel was linked with the idea of a righteous universal ruler, whose chariot wheel rolled on unopposed. In the discourse, the image is turned to a different kind of rule. The Buddha's teaching is set rolling, and the text says that no one in the world can turn it back.

What the parts mean

Different traditions explain the details in different ways. Common interpretations include:

• The eight spokes stand for the eight factors of the Noble Eightfold Path: right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration.
• The hub stands for ethical discipline, which holds the practice together, or for the centre of a settled mind.
• The rim stands for concentration, or mindfulness, which holds everything in place.
• The round shape suggests the completeness of the teaching.

Some wheels have twelve spokes, sometimes linked to the twelve links of dependent origination, or many more. In some art the wheel is flanked by two deer, recalling the Deer Park.

The wheel in history

Early Buddhist art in India often did not show the Buddha in human form. Instead, artists used symbols such as an empty seat, footprints, the Bodhi tree or the wheel. The wheel appears on the pillars of Emperor Ashoka, and the Ashoka wheel on India's national flag comes from them.

The wheel today

Today the Dharma wheel is used across Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions. It appears on temple roofs, gates, flags and books. When Buddhists speak of "turning the wheel of the Dharma", they mean teaching, and keeping the Buddha's message moving through the world.