The Wheel

Wisdom Teachings
The Flow of Life

All actions in this creation are linked together by cause and effect. We think something is the cause of an event, but why did this cause arise? There will be another essentialcause for this cause. When we search for the cause of an effect, the search leads us in a circular motion. From the roots we come to the branches, and from the branches to the roots.

Our actions cause energies that spin like a wheel. We will never see the entire beginning. There is no beginning and no end, only spinning. Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita: “Do not tire in your pursuit of causes and effects.” The Lord gives the example of a banyan tree, where the branches become roots and the roots in turn develop into branches. The root is the future branch, and the branch is the future root. So what is the branch and what is the root? Krishna says, “See how the wheel turns.”

Cause and effect form the wheel in creation. There is neither beginning nor end, there is only rotation. Creation is His fabric, and through rotation, creation emerges from Him. The worlds exist through the balance of the wheel, and creation also disappears into it again. The wheel rotates within and outside of creation; it exists and turns eternally.

Lord Krishna gives an example of the wheel: we pollute water by washing, drinking, urinating… All this water is distilled and purified by the water cycle. It is absorbed as clouds and returns to Earth as purified water. When the water touches the Earth, the seed germinates into a tree and bears fruit. Through the cycle of metabolism, the biological kingdom exists. And through the water cycle, metabolism and other cycles exist. The water cycle exists through the cycle of the seasons. This cycle exists because of the rotation of the Earth on its own axis. Its rotation around the Sun keeps it in spinning motion because of gravity – the Sun pulls Earth towards it. The Sun loves the Earth. The truth of our universe is that everything is Love and Compassion. The eternally turning wheel is called the Wheel of Compassion or the Wheel of the Law. This wheel has no drive, only the joy of turning. Because of this joy of turning, we are all here.

There is no end to things, as there is no beginning. The great wheel can be experienced eternally. Those who attune themselves to it are the fortunate ones.

Krishna says: “Follow the course of the wheel. Do what it does.” To follow the wheel, we are to be creative. Creative consciousness comes from the eternal, nameless and formless One. It flows through and grounds everything through the wheel, be it plant, animal, human or planet. Flowing creativity is nothing but offering oneself to the eternal pattern and thereby continuing to exist.

The Law of Continuity allows creation to continue and progress. Creation works cyclically, and each cycle is similar to the previous one, but not the same. The sections and ages remain largely the same, while the details have something that is always new. Waking up, thinking, acting, eating and resting happen every day, but always anew. Each cycle has its own freshness. Creation is therefore called ‘Navanita’ in Sanskrit, meaning freshly designed and always new, and also ‘Apurva’, which means ‘never before’. Those who recognise this splendour of the ever-new in everyday life enter the realm of the great ritual of creation. In this awareness there is joy.

Most of the time, however, we are preoccupied with the same thoughts and the same routine. We do the same things over and over again – we take care of our bodies, our food, our clothes, our families. We try to work for a living, to secure our lives. Worldly thoughts prevail. The daily routine becomes a lifeless affair, and we move in circles like a hamster in its wheel. This means that we set limits for ourselves, move within them and constantly go round in circles. We are born, do the same things and experience death again. Through many births, we do the same things over and over again. Thus, there is no development.

Master Djwhal Khul refers to such circular movement as the Law of Economy, which conditions beings to remain where they are in circular movements. We are to overcome this circular movement ourselves by turning to qualitatively better thoughts that enable better action. Better actions then enable better thoughts. Higher thinking allows us to see the bigger picture. We can see the new in life in what comes to us every day in the same routine, because we have developed sufficient interest in it. We have transformed the routine into a ritual. The circle thus becomes the spiral.

When we want to move forward, our old habits can limit us and hold us back. We try again, and again and again, old habits catch up with us. At this point, we have to give up some habits and adopt new habits that lead us upwards. In spiritual astrology, this is called the reversal of the wheel on the path of return.

Through service, we move beyond our own system and into a larger system. We begin to understand what is important for the development of humanity and which activities are not conducive to progress. We learn to be more aware of the needs of others. As we serve, we forget our own needs. Such selflessly serving individuals are valuable to Nature. Therefore, Nature ensures that others begin to take care of our needs.

Selfless service takes us from cyclical movement to spiral movement. The spiral is also circular, but it moves further with each turn. We grow in our consciousness year after year. We are then able to gain more and more knowledge and manifest this knowledge in our thoughts, words and actions. This is the second law, the Law of Attraction and Repulsion. It means moving upwards or downwards. Moving upwards means entering another, higher plane of existence.

On the spiral path, the Law of Attraction works towards higher things. Prayers and teachings help to lift us up, but they can become a monotonous circular activity if we do not know how to apply them. Practical application is needed. Without practical application, prayers and teachings do not fulfil us.

The cyclic and spiral paths are governed by the Law of Synthesis. Synthesis means recognising that THAT is beyond all imagination. It is the background consciousness from which everything emerges. When we perceive it, we achieve synthesis. The entire book ‘A Treatise on Cosmic Fire’ by Alice A. Bailey is an explanation of the Laws of Economy, Attraction and Repulsion, and Synthesis. On the path of the yoga of synthesis, we are encouraged to check daily how often we have seen THAT in other people. To see THAT in everything means to anchor ourselves in THAT. This leads us out of the cycle of cause and effect.

The One Wheel exists in the seven planes of creation with different degrees of matter, vibration and light, and so there are seven wheels. These seven wheels also exist within us as the seven chakras. A chakra performs a circular movement that causes a limitation, where we are always preoccupied with the same thoughts, the same routine.

Through the process of building the Antahkarana, new centres can be created that cause corresponding secretions. Lotuses are born from the chakras. The heart chakra differs from the heart lotus. The Lord in the twelve-petalled chakra of the heart centre is called Vasudeva, who sacrifices himself to dwell in the zodiac of the twelve sun signs. The Lord of the eight-petalled lotus is Narayana, who presides over all involutionary and evolutionary processes of creation. Even the Sahasrara has its higher centre, the Sahasradala Padma, the thousand-petalled lotus. The new centres unfold through the process of building the Antahkarana and lead to our liberation.

In Puranic symbolism, Vishnu, the Lord of Permeation, carries the rotating Wheel of Time on the tip of his right hand, which manifests the LAW. The Law manifests itself in order to shine through every unit of creation into objectivity. The wheel revolves around the Lord's imperiously raised finger. It is his weapon, which destroys the obstacles of creation and protects his followers. It is called the Wheel of Light or the Good Sight (‘Sudarshana’), because of all geometric patterns, the circle is the figure of perfection. The circle has a beginning and an end, as it emerges from the background of eternity together with the point in the centre and merges into it.

When we are gifted with the Wheel of Time, we gain knowledge of time and have good vision. The vision of things that are to come and will come; the vision of things that have happened, as well as the vision of what we have to do now. In this case, we can clearly see who we are and what surrounds us. Those who have this knowledge of time can experience the Self.

Sources used: K.P. Kumar: Healer’s Handbook. Dhanishta, India. Var. seminar notes. E. Krishnamacharya: Spiritual Astrology. Kulapathi Book Trust, India (www.aquariusbookhouse.com)