the.com/prayer wheel
A spinning mantra that lets the lazy and devout believe holiness can be cranked by hand.
means A cylinder inscribed or filled with mantras that a practitioner spins, mainly in Tibetan Buddhism, each rotation counting as a recitation of the prayers within.
from A plain English compound — "prayer" (from Latin precari, "to beg, entreat," via Old French preiere) plus "wheel" (Old English hweol) — coined as a literal description of the Tibetan device, which in its own tongue is called the mani 'khor lo, the "mani wheel," after the famous mantra Om mani padme hum tucked inside. The idea rests on a deeper Buddhist image: the dharmachakra, the turning "wheel of the law" that the Buddha set in motion, so every spin echoes that first cosmic rotation.
- one spin
- Equals reciting the mantra inside thousands of times
- clockwise only
- Spinning backwards reverses the blessings, tradition warns
- giant versions
- Some weigh tons and need multiple monks to turn
- digital age
- Hard drives spinning mantras count as modern prayer wheels
boudhanath stupa prayer wheels — kathmandu, nepal - hundreds of bronze wheels surrounding the 36-meter stupa, spun by pilgrims daily
jokhang temple prayer wheels — lhasa, tibet - the most sacred temple's prayer wheels, visited by thousands of tibetan buddhist pilgrims annually
kora circuit prayer wheels — mount kailash, tibet - pilgrims spin wheels during the 52-km circumambulation, one of buddhism's holiest sites