Buddha set the Wheel of Law, or Dharmachakra, in motion with his first sermon. Here's the key section:
Now the Blessed One set the wheel of the most excellent law rolling, and he began to preach to the five bhikkhus, opening to them the gate of immortality, and showing them the bliss of Nirvana.The Buddha said:
"The spokes of the wheel are the rules of pure conduct: justice is the uniformity of their length, wisdom is the tire; modesty and thoughtfulness are the hub in which the immovable axle of truth is fixed.
Tthe Wheel of Law has become a standard symbol in Buddhist iconography, with the eight spokes representing the Eightfold Path toward the end of suffering. The Dharmachakra pendant pictured here is a nice example of the genre, and it is one of several available from exoticindiaart.com.
Want to learn more about Buddhism? Why not start with the writings of America's first Tibetan Buddhist monk, AKA Uma Thurman's dad--Columbia religion professor Robert Thurman.
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