As September approaches and the summer draws to an end I experience both a sense of passing and renewal. As the cowboys would say; 'get ready for another go round'. Circular motion and symbolism permeate Buddhism as well as other beliefs and practices as the following article details. The Buddha's first teaching was called the turning of the Wheel of Dharma. The eight spokes represent the 8 Fold Path. It is not a linear process and never stops turning. The sun rises and falls each day and each day we have a choice to make. From our first breath to our last, the opportunity to grow and expand our understanding and gratitude is present. I would like to thank Jan Rose for contributing the following article that highlights the truth of circles.

There is an overlapping of beliefs in both First Nations culture and Buddhism.

Buddhists believe that all things are interconnected, what we know now as ecology. Break a part of the web of life and all things are threatened because each depends on the other for survival. Reduce the number of insectivorous birds and insect populations increase, for example.

To First Nations people, especially those who lived on the prairies in Canada and the "Great Plains" in the United States, the interconnectedness of all things and life itself is represented by the Great Circle, also known as the Great Hoop or Medicine Wheel that can be small for a home or large such as those found at high sacred places using rocks. The Great Circle also represents the world.

Basically, it is represented by a circle, bisected into quarters by a horizontal and vertical line known as the four cardinal directions of north, south, east, and west. Each direction has a colour: north represented by white symbolizing snow, east by red symbolizing the sun, south by blue representing the wind, and west by black symbolizing thunderclouds and water. The Great Circle as it represents life portrays the life journey one makes from birth to death. It is an endless cycle for all things. Black Elk said that Great Spirit caused everything in nature to be round. The sun, sky, earth and the moon are round like a shield; Father Sky is deep like a bowl.

Everything that breathes is round, like the stem of a plant. Therefore, humans should look upon the circle as sacred, for it is the symbol of the connection all things in the natural world. The four parts of each Plant are round: roots, stems, leaves, fruit; The Circle marks the edge of the world and therefore the four winds that travel there; It is also represents the divisions of time: the symbol of the year (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter); The day, the night and Mother Earth, Grandmother Moon travel in a circle above the sky, and the four stages of life: birth, adolescence, adult, Elder.