Editing Bhavacakra (section)

===Outer rim: the twelve links===
[[file:12 twelve nidanas on the outer rim of a bhavachakra Buddhism.png|thumb|Outer rim of the Bhavachakra wheel annotated with numbers for each of the twelve links]]
The outer rim of the wheel is divided into twelve sections that represent the [[Twelve Nidānas]]. As previously stated, the three inner layers of the wheel show that the three poisons lead to karma, which leads to the suffering of the six realms. The twelve links of the outer rim show ''how'' this happens—by presenting the process of cause and effect in detail.<ref>Dalai Lama (1992), p. 8 (from the Introduction by Jeffrey Hopkins)</ref><ref name="SR_moon"/>

These twelve links can be understood to operate on an outer or inner level.<ref name="Thrangu">Thrangu Rinpoche (2001), pp. 3, 32</ref>  
* On the outer level, the twelve links can be seen to operate over several lifetimes; in this case, these links show how our past lives influence our current lifetime, and how our actions in this lifetime influence our future lifetimes.<ref name="Thrangu"/>
* On the inner level, the twelve links can be understood to operate in every moment of existence in an interdependent manner.<ref>Simmer-Brown (1987), p. 24</ref> On this level, the twelve links can be applied to show the effects of one particular action.<ref name="Thrangu"/>

By contemplating on the twelve links, one gains greater insight into the workings of karma; this insight enables us to begin to unravel our habitual way of thinking and reacting.<ref name="Thrangu"/><ref>Goodman, Location 1492 (Kindel edition)</ref><ref>Simmer-Brown (1987), p. 28</ref>

The twelve causal links, paired with their corresponding symbols, are: 
# [[Avidyā (Buddhism)|Avidyā]] ''lack of knowledge''{{spaced ndash}}''a blind person, often walking, or a person peering out''
# [[Saṅkhāra|Saṃskāra]] ''constructive volitional activity''{{spaced ndash}}''a potter shaping a vessel or vessels''
# [[Vijñāna]] ''consciousness''{{spaced ndash}}''a man or a monkey grasping a fruit''
# [[Nāmarūpa]] ''name and form'' (constituent elements of mental and physical existence){{spaced ndash}}''two men afloat in a boat''
# [[Ṣaḍāyatana]] ''six senses'' (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind){{spaced ndash}}''a dwelling with six windows''
# [[Phassa|Sparśa]] ''contact (of objects with the senses)''{{spaced ndash}}''lovers consorting, kissing, or entwined''
# [[Vedanā]] ''feeling''{{spaced ndash}}''an arrow to the eye''
# [[Taṇhā|Tṛṣṇa]] ''craving or thirst''{{spaced ndash}}''a drinker receiving drink''
# [[Upādāna]] ''grasping or attachment''{{spaced ndash}}''a man or a monkey picking fruit''
# [[Bhava]] ''coming to be''{{spaced ndash}}''a couple engaged in intercourse, a standing, leaping, or reflective person''
# [[Jāti (Buddhism)|Jāti]] ''being born''{{spaced ndash}}''woman giving birth''
# [[Jarāmaraṇa]] ''old age and death''{{spaced ndash}}''corpse being carried''