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Explores how the metaphor of the wheel has been interpreted in divergent local traditions, from India to Tibet, Central Asia, China, and Japan.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments

1. Picturing Life and Death as a Wheel
2. The Canonical Version of the Wheel of Rebirth
3. Temples and Legends: Western India, 350-550 C.E.
4. King Rudrayana's Painting of the Twelve Conditions
5. La roue imaginaire en Chine
6. Wheels for Meditation: Kumtura, Central Asia, Ninth Century
7. Wheels in Cave Temples: Yulin, Gansu, Tenth Century
8. Wheels in Esoteric Temples: Tabo, Western Tibet, Eleventh Century
9. Wheels for Pilgrims: Baodingshan, Sichuan, Thirteenth Century
10. Conclusions

Character Glossary
Bibliography
Index

About the Author

Stephen F. Teiser is D. T. Suzuki Professor in Buddhist Studies, Princeton University. He is the author of The Ghost Festival in Medieval China

Reviews

"A milestone in the scholarship on Buddhism. This book will remain a standard and definitive account of the subject for a long time to come. It is hard to imagine that any serious student of Buddhism can afford to neglect this book." - Eugene Wang, Harvard University