How to Make a Prayer Wheel
Tibetan prayer wheels, called Mani wheels, are used to spread blessings and well-being. They contain multiple copies of mantras (prayers from Medicine Buddha, Vajrasattva, Tara, Padmasambhava and others) and dharma teachings (the Heart Sutra, Diamond Sutra and others). The most traditional mantra is "om mani padme hum" from Chenrezig, Buddha of compassion. Tibetan Buddhists believe that this mantra attracts the benevolent attention and blessings of Chenrezig. There are rows of wheels along Tibetan pathways that can be spun by those circling a sacred site, called circumambulation, and rows of wheels in monasteries. There are also hand-held wheels and wheels on computer screens and hard drives.
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Things You'll Need
- Mantras and sutras
- Paper glue
- Altoids or other round tin container with tight-fitting lid
- Replacement garage door roller
- Soap or rubbing alcohol
- E6000 glue
- Key chains
- Hex nut
Instructions
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Make Your Own Mani
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Print sutras and mantras on paper. Cut each line and glue strips together in a long roll. The longer the strip, the more powerful the prayers. Curl into a coil and place in the bottom of the tin. Replace top. Enhance the power of your prayers by adding multiple copies of the mantra and Mahayana Buddhist teachings.
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2
Empty an Altoids or other round tin container. Clean the replacement garage door roller with soap or rubbing alcohol. Glue the roller head to the bottom of the tin with E6000. Assemble the counterweight by threading the key chain through a small nut and gluing the nut to the side of the bottom tin. Fix the chain in place by gluing with E6000. Let dry overnight. Thread the hex nut onto a round metal key holder and thread that onto the key chain. Spin your prayer wheel clockwise.
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Add a prayer wheel to your computer, either on your screen or hard drive. Download digital prayer wheels that will spin on your desktop, in the background or on your screensaver. The Dalai Lama says that having mantras spinning on your computer is the same as traditional prayer wheels. Add the power of your hard drive to your mantras by downloading "om mani padme hum" to your computer's hard disk, says Buddhist Deb Platt. These drives spin between 3600 and 7200 revolutions per minute, purifying negative karma with fast spins. Enhance the power of your prayers by adding images of Chenrezig, Tibetan Buddhist lamas or people using Mani wheels to your hard drive.
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