China Popular Itineraries |
|
|
|
|
Prayer wheels, called Chokhor in Tibetan, are very common religious objects found in Tibet. A hand held pray wheel is a hollow cylindrical mechanical device attached to a rod handle, made of metal or wood, with Om Mani Padme Hung mantra print or relief on the cylinder. Attached on the cylinder is a lead weight with a chain, which facilitates the rotation.
Tibetans use prayer wheels to spread spiritual blessings to all sentient beings and invoke good karma in their next life. They believe that every rotation of a prayer wheel equals one utterance of the mantra, thus the religious practice will in return help them accumulate merits, replace negative effects with positive ones and hence bring them good karma. The religious exercise is part of Tibetan life. People keep turning the wheel day and night, walking or resting once they get their right hands free, murmuring the same mantra. Buddhists turns the wheel clockwise while Bon followers anticlockwise.
Prayer wheels vary in size and type. Except the hand held prayer wheels, bucket size prayer wheels, which rest on wooden rack in rows on circumambulation paths around monasteries and other sacred sites, to be rotated by pilgrims, can commonly be seen. Water, fire and wind prayer wheels, usually larger, are built so that the flowing water, the flaming light and the blowing wind, which drive the prayer wheels and are empowered by touching the wheels, can pass the positive karma to every being they touch later. |
|
