Breaking the Cycle: How the Wheel of Life Can Help You Step Out of the Political Trap
In the Buddhist canon, the Wheel of Life is a mandala that mirrors the world. It serves as a metaphysical map for your mind to guide you through and around the traps of dualistic natures. At the very center of this wheel lie the three root poisons: the pig, the snake, and the rooster (or swan)—representing ignorance and greed, anger and hatred, and attachment and desire—all working together to fuel our not-so-better natures. Often we gaze outward at the complexity of the world, forgetting that the wheel is turning entirely within us.
I felt this truth acutely during a family dinner last year, watching my uncle and a close friend descend into a heated, red-faced argument over a local election. Neither was listening; both were locked in righteous fury. Looking at them, I realized how easily I, too, had fallen into that exact same trap. At very young ages, we get molded into castes of political beliefs that assign us to one side or the other, conditioning us to instinctively oppose the "other half" of the spectrum. That is the trap. When we let ourselves get swept up into these nationalized, highly polarized debates, we tear ourselves away from the holistic thinking required to find the liberation of mind necessary for inner peace. Politics easily assumes the fetter of anger and conflict in our daily lives, hijacking our nervous systems for battles that ultimately offer no spiritual victor.
The psychology behind the mandala teaches us that recognizing the trap is the first step to dissolving it. Politics thrives on the dualism of us versus them, feeding the very poisons mapped out on the ancient wheel. When we grasp too tightly to these contemporary frameworks, we slide straight down into dangerous rabbit holes of anger, conflict, anxiety, and even depression.
What if you just released politics from your life altogether? What if you turned off the screen, walked away from the endless cycle of outrage, and quit joining in on the venomous arguments of bickering talking heads and cable news pundits? What if you made the radical choice to sit out the emotional whirlwind of the next election cycle entirely?
To step away is not an act of ignorance or apathy; rather, it is a conscious decision to reclaim your sovereignty from a system designed to keep you perpetually inflamed. When you examine the center of the mandala, you see that each creature bites the tail of the next in an unbroken, self-perpetuating loop. The moment you argue from righteousness, anger feeds attachment, attachment reinforces delusion, and the wheel continues to grind down your peace of mind.
What if you simply released the tail of the pig, the swan, or the snake you are currently biting? What if you dropped your heavy armor, relinquished your resentment toward those on the opposing side of the political divide, and granted them the grace to be set free? In doing so, the one you truly liberate is yourself.
Take the test on your very next chance to engage. The next time the urge arises to argue, to judge, or to despair over headlines, take a breath, let the wheel spin without you, and observe the stillness that takes its place.
Joe Singleton is an American author, spiritual journalist and practitioner of the Eastern Yogic Wisdom Traditions.
In the Buddhist canon, the Wheel of Life is a mandala that mirrors the world. It serves as a metaphysical map for your mind to guide you through and around the traps of dualistic natures. At the very center of this wheel lie the three root poisons: the pig, the snake, and the rooster (or swan)—representing ignorance and greed, anger and hatred, and attachment and desire—all working together to fuel our not-so-better natures. Often we gaze outward at the complexity of the world, forgetting that the wheel is turning entirely within us.
I felt this truth acutely during a family dinner last year, watching my uncle and a close friend descend into a heated, red-faced argument over a local election. Neither was listening; both were locked in righteous fury. Looking at them, I realized how easily I, too, had fallen into that exact same trap. At very young ages, we get molded into castes of political beliefs that assign us to one side or the other, conditioning us to instinctively oppose the "other half" of the spectrum. That is the trap. When we let ourselves get swept up into these nationalized, highly polarized debates, we tear ourselves away from the holistic thinking required to find the liberation of mind necessary for inner peace. Politics easily assumes the fetter of anger and conflict in our daily lives, hijacking our nervous systems for battles that ultimately offer no spiritual victor.
The psychology behind the mandala teaches us that recognizing the trap is the first step to dissolving it. Politics thrives on the dualism of us versus them, feeding the very poisons mapped out on the ancient wheel. When we grasp too tightly to these contemporary frameworks, we slide straight down into dangerous rabbit holes of anger, conflict, anxiety, and even depression.
What if you just released politics from your life altogether? What if you turned off the screen, walked away from the endless cycle of outrage, and quit joining in on the venomous arguments of bickering talking heads and cable news pundits? What if you made the radical choice to sit out the emotional whirlwind of the next election cycle entirely?
To step away is not an act of ignorance or apathy; rather, it is a conscious decision to reclaim your sovereignty from a system designed to keep you perpetually inflamed. When you examine the center of the mandala, you see that each creature bites the tail of the next in an unbroken, self-perpetuating loop. The moment you argue from righteousness, anger feeds attachment, attachment reinforces delusion, and the wheel continues to grind down your peace of mind.
What if you simply released the tail of the pig, the swan, or the snake you are currently biting? What if you dropped your heavy armor, relinquished your resentment toward those on the opposing side of the political divide, and granted them the grace to be set free? In doing so, the one you truly liberate is yourself.
Take the test on your very next chance to engage. The next time the urge arises to argue, to judge, or to despair over headlines, take a breath, let the wheel spin without you, and observe the stillness that takes its place.
Joe Singleton is an American author, spiritual journalist and practitioner of the Eastern Yogic Wisdom Traditions.
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