I got a hand-painted poster of the bhavacakra, made in Nepal.

The bhavacakra is a symbolic representation of samsara (or cyclic existence). Basically, in Buddhist philosophy, we are all turning on the Wheel of Life - the beginning, middle and end of our life (and all intermediate cyclical stages of our life) is a manifestation of this. Buddhists also believe that such cycles extend along many lifetimes through reincarnation based on past actions, which is a pretty awesome and intuitive concept that a lot of people can relate to.

Buddhism holds that while the Wheel of Life is fun and a necessary aspect of existence, after a thousand or so lifetimes spent on the wheel, we begin to tire of the inevitable suffering and death that comes from impermanance (impermanence is depicted as the demon-like entity holding the wheel of life). Buddhism teaches that it is possible through intense personal effort to transcend the Wheel of Life and go to a deathless, eternal realm known as nirvana. In the upper right of the poster is a moon, symbolizing this ideal. Next to the moon and pointing to it is the Buddha. The Buddha pointing to the moon indicates that liberation is possible.

I'm gonna put this up either in my bedroom or in the basement where I do a lot of reading and writing. Thanks! :3