Tibetan Prayer Wheels & Prayer Flags

Prayer Wheels & Prayer Flags from the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition

Tibetan prayers, known as mantras, are taken from Buddhist scriptures and believed to hold special powers. Mantras appear on countless stones and prayer flags, or written in endless repetition on rolls of paper inside prayer wheels. Mantras are recited with malas (rosaries), made into charms which are worn on the person, thrown to the four winds, pasted on walls or set up in homes and fields. Repetition of a mantra is equally effective whether the words are voiced, sent forth manually, or dispersed by any of the forces of nature. The most popular mantra is Om Mani Padme Hum, an invocation to Chenrezi, the patron deity of Tibet and deity of compassion.

The prayer wheel consists of a cylinder, usually of metal, which rotates on an axle. Inside the cylinder are wound sheets or strips of paper on which the mantra or sacred text is written or printed. Each revolution of the prayer wheel counts as one repetition of all the prayers contained in the cylinder.

There are many kinds of prayer wheels. Some are designed to be held and twirled in the hand; others to be placed on a table and spun with two fingers. Still others are turned by the waters of running streams, by the wind, or hot air rising from butter lamps and stoves. Very large prayer wheels, often containing a collection of the Buddhist scriptures (Kanjur), stand inside the temples, at their entrance, or in rows around the outside walls. These may be as much as eight or nine feet high and six feet in diameter.

The prayer wheel is a Tibetan invention.It has been a popular Tibetan instrument for five or six centuries.

Prayer wheels should be turned clockwise, following the direction of the sun's course, as well as the direction followed by Buddhists in circumambulating sacred monuments. The clockwise motion also causes the works to revolve as they should be read, from left to right.

We currently offer both table-top and hand-held prayer wheels in several sizes as well as prayer flags.