A Mantra Wheel for the EC

Sherab Gyaltsen Rinpoche inspected the Europe Center’s “Porter’s Lodge” this morning. The little house next to the old entrance gate is to become the home of a big prayer wheel.

If you’ve been to a Buddhist country in the East, you are probably quite familiar with the so-called “Mani Wheels”. If not, here’s a good explanation of why they are very auspicious and beneficial to anyone who gets in touch with them. It was part of the original expansion plans for the Europe Center to install such a wheel under the spiritual guidance of Rinpoche.

“A prayer wheel is a cylindrical wheel on a spindle made from metal, wood, stone, leather or coarse cotton. Traditionally, the mantra Om Mani Peme Hung is written in Sanskrit on the outside of the wheel. Also sometimes depicted are Dakinis, Protectors and very often the 8 auspicious symbols. At the core of the cylinder is a “Life Tree” often made of wood or metal with certain mantras written on or wrapped around it. Many thousands (or in the case of larger prayer wheels, millions) of mantras are then wrapped around this life tree. The Mantra Om Mani Peme Hung is most commonly used, but other mantras may be used as well. According to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition based on the lineage texts regarding prayer wheels, spinning such a wheel will have much the same meritorious effect as orally reciting the prayers.”

(source: Wikipedia.com)