Tibetan Buddhism has a contribution to make to global society, in the realm of psychology. Sometimes people live in a fantasy that Tibet was some kind of utopia. It definitely was not. However, what differentiates Tibetan Buddhism from other Buddhist countries/places, is that Tibetan monks and mystics lived in relative isolation for over a thousand years, living in a virtual laboratory for studying the mind. As a result, the insight that Tibetan Buddhism offers us into how the mind works is extremely profound. One particular teaching that I find especially helpful and interesting is the wheel of life image (see above), which has a lot to do with
karma.
Tibetan Buddhism's examination of karma includes a series of causes and linkages called
the 12 Nidanas. The cycle of confusion that keeps humans in a perpetual state of suffering called
samsara is a result of the Nidanas. These are depicted through the 12 images around the outside of the wheel of life.
Starting to the right of 12 o'clock, the images include:
1. blind old woman (ignorance),
2. potter making a pot (formation),
3. monkey in a tree (consciousness),
4. three men in a boat (name and form),
