Spinning The Prayer Wheels With - Om Mani Padme Hum

The prayer wheels was introduced to Tibet by the renowned eight century Indian Buddhist teacher Guru Rinpoche, Padmasambhava, and later practiced by the great Indian tantric Buddhist masters Tilopa and Naropa. Naropa’s disciple Marpa later renewed the lineage in Tibet and passed it on to Tibet’s most well known yogi, Milarepa. 

In Tibet, Prayer Wheels have been made for many centuries in a wide range of sizes and styles - from hand-held and table-top wheels, all the way up to giant eight or twelve foot Prayer Wheels with diameters of five to six feet and it is very often built around Buddhist Stupas and Monasteries.

There may be long rows of prayer wheels which the Tibetan people will spin as they walk clockwise around the sacred holy places such as; the holy caves,holy lakes, Stupa, and Monasteries. The Tibetans will recite what is believed to be one of the most profound and beneficial mantra of all times the six syllables of Om Mani Padme Hum.

According to the Amitabha Buddha sutra it says - Anyone who recites the six syllables of Om Mani Padme Hum and while spinning the prayer wheels at the same time is equal in fortune to the Thousand Buddhas.  The Shakyamuni Buddha said that – by spinning the prayer wheel once is better than having done one, seven, or nine years of retreat.  The prayer wheel is a very powerful merit field; one accumulates immeasurable of merits and purifies obstructions and obstacles.

In the Vajrayana practice, it's says that the prayer wheel practice is a remarkably swift, easy and profound method for developing compassion and wisdom. Buddhist teachers and the ancient texts explained the benefits of the Prayer Wheel for its ability to quickly harmonize the environment, increase compassion, develop a peaceful state of mind, and help practitioners on their journeys to enlightenment.

It is suggested that when we recite the six-syllable mantra – Om Mani Padme Hum while spinning the prayer wheel and the benefits of merits doing so are immeasurable.  This is the mantra of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, and it is recited continually by many Tibetans. 

Many of us also find that the six-syllables holy mantra of Om Mani Padme Hum carved on rocks, written on prayer flags, embossed on jewelry, and inside of most prayer wheels.  Among the Tibetans it is commonly known as the mani mantra, and therefore, the prayer wheels are often referred to among Tibetans as mani wheels.

Mantras are strings of syllables empowered by enlightened beings to benefit others. How can a mantra can bring so much benefit to those who recite it? We might as well ask, how  can a simple thoughtless word make you angry, upset and a kind word can make us feel happy? 

So, if spoken words such as these have so much power to create harm or good. Why not mantras that have blessed by the Buddhas? In Buddhism, mantras are sacred sounds that are believed to possess supernatural powers. 

By chanting mantras, we will purify the impurities of our body, speech and mind caused by  ignorance, hatred, lust, desire, attachment, jealousy and so forth, as the wisdom, power or blessings of the Buddha, Bodhisattva, deity exists within the mantra itself. 

Different mantras are said to bring different benefit, with regard to the six-syllable holy mantra of Om Mani Padme Hum, many enlightened beings and high lamas had often mentioned that it is particularly powerful and can be used by one and all to speed their path to enlightenment.  

The six-syllable holy mantra of Om Mani Padme Hum is not just a string of ordinary words.  It contains all the blessings and compassion of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva.

It is important that the prayer wheels be properly made. We have found that many of the prayer wheels available for sale these days in Asia and the West are rarely filled or made properly. They are usually being sold as tourist items. Often the prayer wheels are filled incorrectly, with mantras printed unclearly, upside down or inside out.

As the Buddhist commentaries explain, the use of such improperly filled wheels is unlikely to bring about the desired effects. Thus, it is important to be sure that your prayer wheel has been verified to be properly filled with the proper mantras, including the earth and sky wheel mantras that go on the top and bottom of all authentic prayer wheels.

Furthermore, there is a tremendous benefit when we recite with our genuine sincere heart, devotion and concentration, accompanied by a visualization of the deity as visualization is an integral part of the Vajrayana practices. There are people who recite mantra without faith, devotions, confidence and concentration, it like a parrot singing a song. If this how one is practice, you will achieve nothing, even in a million years! 

Thank you for reading and may you find peace and great bliss. With your support it helps spread the Buddha’s precious teachings and turning the Dharma wheels in the world. 

Aspiration For Bodhichitta

May the precious Bodhichitta arise

Where it has not arisen

And where it has arisen may it not decrease

But increase further and further.

Nagarjuna's Dedication of Merit
By this merit may we obtain omniscience then.
Having defeated the enemies wrong-doings.
May we liberate migrators from the ocean of existence.

With its stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness and death.

*Note*
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