The American Indians have understood the vastness of the creation for millennia; they captured it in their many symbols and stories. The Medicine Wheel, or Sacred Hoop, is a simple yet profound tool used to explain the vast truths of the creation, the universe, the cosmos and the cycle of life. This simple symbol that has been passed down for generations by the Native Americans also contains in it the truths taught by the Buddha over 2500 years ago.

The Four Truths of Native America – The Medicine Wheel

The Medicine Wheel is made up of the four basic directions, moving from North at the top clockwise to East, South and West. The sun rises in the East therefore the East is considered to be the beginning, it also represents Spring, the season of the beginning for the plant world in the physical realm. South represents Summer, West represents Autumn and North represents Winter. Each season clearly representing a stage of life that once complete moves on to the next; the cycle continues without end, in Buddhism this is known as Samsara – the cycle of rebirth. Through this cycle we can recognize the cycle of life; birth, old age, sickness and death. This cycle reveals the dependence we all have on other forms of life, the connection to all of life, the interconnectedness of all living things, the Buddha referred to this as Dependent Arising.

Traditionally, Native Americans maintain a relationship with all of creation and the Earth is their church. Everything in the creation has life; they experience life in inanimate things like stones, trees and mountains. Every phenomenon in the creation is alive and therefore must be respected as sacred. Mitakuye Oyasin!


You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle,
and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles,
and everything and everything tries to be round.

In the old days all our power came to us from the sacred hoop
of the nation and so long as the hoop was unbroken the people
flourished. The flowering tree was the living center of the hoop,
and the circle of the four quarters nourished it. The east gave peace
and light, the south gave warmth, the west gave rain and the north
with its cold and mighty wind gave strength and endurance. This
knowledge came to us from the outer world with our religion.

Everything the power of the world does is done in a circle.
The sky is round and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball
and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls.
Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.
The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon
does the same and both are round. Even the seasons form a great
circle in their changing and always come back again to where they were.

The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is
in everything where power moves. Our teepees were round like the
nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nation's hoop,
a nest of many nests, where the Great Spirit meant for us to hatch our children.

Black Elk, Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux 1863-1950

The Four Truths of the Buddha

During his journey of the mind, the Buddha discovered many things, more than he revealed. Once, he picked up a handful of leaves from the ground and asked his followers; “Are there more leaves in my hand or in the whole forest?” his followers replied that of course there are more in the forest. He then told them “And much more so the knowledge that I have not revealed to you.” The reason he didn’t reveal that knowledge is simple, it has no relevance to our journey.

The Four Truths As Realized By The Buddha