alātacakra

(tib. mgal me'i 'khor lo)

• excerpt from Malalasekera's Encyclopaedia of Buddhism (Ceylon 1964), 1st fascicle, p. 379:
  "wheel of fire, of a fire-brand whirled in the air, used as a simile which is much fancied by almost all schools of Buddhist thought.
  It symbolises the transitory, hence the illusory and essenceless nature of things, and also restless or unceasing motion..."

• sometimes used as illusion metaphor