Wheel of time

The wheel of time or wheel of history is a concept in several religions and philosophies, notably religions of Indian origin such as Buddhism and Hinduism, which regard time as cyclical and consisting of repeating ages. Many other notable cultures also believe in this Wheel of Time: notably, the Q'ero Indians in Peru who are the direct descendants of the Incan empire, as well as the Hopi Indians of Arizona, believe in this cyclical idea of time.

Buddhism

See Kalachakra for details.

The Wheel of Time or Kalachakra is a Tantric deity that is associated with Tibetan Tantric Buddhism, which encompasses all four main schools of Sakya, Nyingma, Kagyu and Gelug, and is especially important within the lesser-known Jonang tradition.

The Kalachakra tantra prophecies a world within which (religious) conflict is prevalent. A worldwide war will be waged which will see the expansion of the mystical Kingdom of Shambhala led by a messianical king.

Modern Usage

Magic

The "wheel of time" is a reference to the clockwork of modern magicians, a euphemism for the wheels and cogs of older clockwork machinery and mechanisms. It should also be noted that in order to measure time we (Homo sapiens) need a cyclical unit; thus the term wheel of time.

Literature

Robert Jordan's internationally bestselling fantasy series, The Wheel of Time, is very likely to have been inspired by this concept.

Physics

Peter Lynds has proposed a model in which time is cyclic, and the universe repeats exactly an infinite number of times. Because it is the exact same cycle that repeats, however, it can also be interpreted as happening just once in relation to time.