Gankyil


The Gankyil or "wheel of joy" is a symbol and ritual tool used in Tibetan and East Asian Buddhism. It is composed of three swirling and interconnected blades. The traditional spinning direction is clockwise, but the counter-clockwise ones are also common.
The gankyil as inner wheel of the dharmachakra is depicted on the Flag of Sikkim, Joseon, and is also depicted on the Flag of Tibet and Emblem of Tibet.

Exegesis

In addition to linking the gankyil with the "wish-fulfilling jewel", Robert Beer makes the following connections:
The "victory" referred to above is symbolised by the dhvaja or "victory banner".
Wallace identifies the ānandacakra with the heart of the "cosmic body" of which Mount Meru is the epicentre:

Associated triunes

Ground, path, and fruit

  • "ground", "base"
  • "path", "method"
  • "fruit", "product"

    Three humours of traditional Tibetan medicine

Attributes connected with the three humors :
  • Desire is aligned with the humor Wind
  • Hatred is aligned with the humor Bile
  • Ignorance is aligned with the humor Phlegm.

    Study, reflection, and meditation

  • Study
  • Reflection
  • Meditation
These three aspects are the mūlaprajñā of the sādhanā of the prajñāpāramitā, the "pāramitā of wisdom". Hence, these three are related to, but distinct from, the Prajñāpāramitā that denotes a particular cycle of discourse in the Buddhist literature that relates to the doctrinal field of the second turning of the dharmacakra.

Mula dharmas of the path

The Dzogchen teachings focus on three terms:
  • View,
  • Meditation,
  • Action.

    Triratna doctrine

The Triratna, Triple Jewel or Three Gems are triunic are therefore represented by the Gankyil:
The Three Roots are:
  • Guru
  • Yidam
  • Dakini

    Three Higher Trainings

The three higher trainings
The indivisible essence of the Three Dharma Seals is embodied and encoded within the Gankyil:
As the inner wheel of the Vajrayana Dharmacakra, the gankyil also represents the syncretic union and embodiment of Gautama Buddha's Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma. The pedagogic upaya doctrine and classification of the "three turnings of the wheel" was first postulated by the Yogacara school.

Trikaya doctrine

The gankyil is the energetic signature of the Trikaya, realised through the transmutation of the obscurations forded by the Three poisons and therefore in the Bhavachakra the Gankyil is an aniconic depiction of the snake, boar and fowl. Gankyil is to Dharmachakra, as still eye is to cyclone, as Bindu is to Mandala. The Gankyil is the inner wheel of the Vajrayana Dharmacakra.
File:Sera Monastery Lhasa Tibet China 西藏 拉萨 色拉寺 - panoramio.jpg|thumb|upright|Tibetan Bhavacakra in Sera, Lhasa.
The Gankyil is symbolic of the Trikaya doctrine of dharmakaya, sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya and also of the Buddhist understanding of the interdependence of the Three Vajras: of mind, voice and body. The divisions of the teaching of Dzogchen are for the purposes of explanation only; just as the Gankyil divisions are understood to dissolve in the energetic whirl of the Wheel of Joy.

Three cycles of Nyingmapa Dzogchen

The Gankyil also embodies the three cycles of Nyingma Dzogchen codified by Mañjuśrīmitra:
This classification determined the exposition of the Dzogchen teachings in the subsequent centuries.

Three Spheres

"Three spheres". The conceptualizations pertaining to:
  • subject,
  • object, and
  • action

    Sound, light and rays

The triunic continua of the esoteric Dzogchen doctrine of 'sound, light and rays' is held within the energetic signature of the Gankyil. The doctrine of 'Sound, light and rays' is intimately connected with the Dzogchen teaching of the 'three aspects of the manifestation of energy'. Though thoroughly interpenetrating and nonlocalised, 'sound' may be understood to reside at the heart, the 'mind'-wheel; 'light' at the throat, the 'voice'-wheel; and 'rays' at the head, the 'body'-wheel. Some Dzogchen lineages for various purposes, locate 'rays' at the Ah-wheel and 'light' at the Aum-wheel, and there are other enumerations.

Three lineages of Nyingmapa Dzogchen

The Gankyil also embodies the three tantric lineages as Penor Rinpoche, a Nyingmapa, states:

According to the history of the origin of tantras there are three lineages:
  • The Lineage of Buddha's Intention, which refers to the teachings of the Truth Body originating from the primordial Buddha Samantabhadra, who is said to have taught tantras to an assembly of completely enlightened beings emanated from the Truth Body itself. Therefore, this level of teaching is considered as being completely beyond the reach of ordinary human beings.
  • The Lineage of the Knowledge Holders corresponds to the teachings of the Enjoyment Body originating from Vajrasattva and Vajrapani, whose human lineage begins with Garab Dorje of the Ögyan Dakini land. From him the lineage passed to Manjushrimitra, Shrisimha and then to Guru Rinpoche, Jnanasutra, Vimalamitra and Vairochana who disseminated it in Tibet.
  • Lastly, the Human Whispered Lineage corresponds to the teachings of the Emanation Body, originating from the Five Buddha Families. They were passed on to Shrisimha, who transmitted them to Guru Rinpoche, who in giving them to Vimalamitra started the lineage which has continued in Tibet until the present day.

Three aspects of energy in Dzogchen

The Gankyil also embodies the energy manifested in the three aspects that yield the energetic emergence of phenomena and sentient beings :
  1. dang, this is an infinite and formless level of compassionate energy and reflective capacity, it is "an awareness free from any restrictions and as an energy free from any limits or form."
  2. rolpa. These are the manifestations which appear to be internal to the individual.
  3. tsal (རྩལ། Wylie: , is "the manifestation of the energy of the individual him or herself, as an apparently 'external' world," though this apparent externality is only just "a manifestation of our own energy, at the level of Tsal." This is explained through the use of a crystal prism which reflects and refracts white light into various other forms of light.
Though not discrete correlates, dang equates to dharmakaya; rolpa to sambhogakaya; and tsal to nirmanakaya.

In Bon

Three Treasures of Yungdrung Bon

In Bon, the gankyil denotes the three principal terma cycles of Yungdrung Bon: the Northern Treasure, the Central Treasure and the Southern Treasure. The Northern Treasure is compiled from texts revealed in Zhangzhung and northern Tibet, the Southern Treasure from texts revealed in Bhutan and southern Tibet, and the Central Treasure from texts revealed in Ü-Tsang near Samye.
The gankyil is the central part of the shang, a traditional ritual tool and instrument of the Bönpo shaman.

Works cited

  • Beer, Robert. The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols. Serindia Publications. Source:
  • Besch, Florian. Tibetan Medicine Off the Roads: Modernizing the Work of the Amchi in Spiti. Source:
  • Günther, Herbert. Three, Two, Five.
  • Ingersoll, Ernest. Dragons and Dragon Lore. \*Kazin, Alfred. The Portable Blake. New York: The Viking Press.
  • .
  • Nalimov, V. V.. Realms of the Unconscious: The Enchanted Frontier. University Park, PA: ISI Press.
  • Penor Rinpoche. The school of Nyingma thought
  • Southworth, Franklink C.. Proto-Dravidian Agriculture. Source:
  • Van Schaik, Sam. Approaching the Great Perfection: Simultaneous and Gradual Methods of Dzogchen Practice in the Longchen Nyingtig. Wisdom Publications.. Source:
  • Wayman, Alex A Problem of 'Synonyms' in the Tibetan Language: Bsgom pa and Goms pa. Source: NB: published in the Journal of the Tibet Society.