About Prayer
Wheels
by Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Foreword
from The Great Wheel of Compassion
by
Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche
I'm
very happy that Lome Ladner has brought together here the incredible
benefits of the practice of the prayer wheel from the various texts
the benefits
of making the prayer wheel and of practicing turning the prayer wheel.
Even Tibetan texts on this subject are not easy to find. I myself had
to wait
to find a text on this practice.
I
heard about the benefits of this practice from Geshe Lama Konchog,
who spent his life in Milarepa's caves and in hermitages doing many
years of retreat,
practicing guru devotion and the Three Principles of the Path, and doing
two thousand Nyung-nays (retreats on the Compassion Buddha involving
fasting and prostrations). He inspired me about the prayer wheel,
explaining that the practice of the prayer wheel has unbelievable
benefits. So, I waited for many years to find texts and asked a few
lamas about this. Finally, Geshe Lama Konchog told me that another
lama named Kechok Rinpoche had one short text that summarized the
benefits. As Kechok Rinpoche was living in Australia, I kept it in my
mind very strongly that as soon as I got to Australia I would
immediately call him and get the text. So, I did that. Normally I am
very lazy about reading Dharma texts, but this one I read
immediately. The benefits described were a big surprise and caused
much faith to arise. So, I put the text on my crown and then prayed
to spread this teaching everywhere, in all directions. I made this
commitment in the presence of the Compassion Buddha. After that, I
built prayer wheels in the East and West, small and big ones, as well
as hand-held.
In
1991, my students Lome and Theresa came to Nepal, and I told them some
benefits of this practice for purifying the mind and accumulating
merit. They
then got a small prayer wheel from the market at Boudha Stupa. They became
inspired and started to produce many home prayer wheels with microfilm
and paper mantras inside. They gave me one, and I offered it to the king
of Nepal. The Nepalese king asked me whether he should keep it. I
said "Yes,
and if you have this prayer wheel next to you at the time of death,
then your
consciousness will be reborn in a pure land of Buddha." Because
he's Hindu,
bringing up this subject was a little unusual. I hope he still has
it. Lome
and Theresa also offered a prayer wheel to His Holiness the Dalai
Lama. So I want to thank them very much for all those prayer wheels
they made
and gave to many people. Now they're making available in English a collection
on the benefits of this practice.
The
prayer wheel is a manifestation of the Compassion Buddha's holy speech.
Through this practice, one then achieves the holy mind, holy body, and
all the qualities of the Compassion Buddha. Some readers may find
some of
the quotations about these benefits difficult. For example, in the
text by the Fourth
Panchen Lama, I translated a section in which Amitabha Buddha says, "Anyone
who recites the six syllables while turning the Dharma wheel at the same
time is equal in fortune to the Thousand Buddhas," and in which Shakyamuni
Buddha says that turning the prayer wheel once is better than having
done one, seven, or nine years of retreat. The prayer wheel is such a powerful
merit field; by doing this practice, one accumulates extensive merit and
purifies obstacles. The intent of these quotations is to give some
idea of or
expression to the fortune of anyone who who has the opportunity to
engage in this practice. Turning the prayer wheel once is more
meaningful than doing many years of retreat without the altruistic
mind of enlightenment [Skt. bodhichitta] and without clear generation
of the deity, lacking stable concentration,
and so forth. It does not mean that by turning the prayer wheel
once one equals an arya bodhisattva in equipoise meditation. I do
think, though, that especially if one turns the prayer wheel with
bodhichitta
motivation
while doing the mantra recitation, one will collect much more
extensive
merit to quickly achieve enlightenment than an arhat who abides for
many years in the blissful state of peace for oneself alone.
Here
also we can understand the quotation from Padmasambhava, in which
he says that "even those lacking perseverance in their
practice, who pass
the time passively, will be able to attain mystic powers [Sanskrit:
siddhis ] . Those with perseverance for reciting the
mantra and turning the wheel will undoubtedly attain the tenth ground
[Skt. bhumi]; it instantly eliminates all
the immeasurable negative karmic obscurations. Whatever mind-bound
deity [Tib. yidam] you wish to practice will be
achieved simultaneously. Even if one has no thought to benefit
oneself, encouraging another to write the mantra and turn the wheel
eliminates one's own negativity and completes one's good qualities."
So,
one can understand that this practice of turning the prayer
wheel is a result of the unbearable compassion of all the buddhas for us
sentient beings-whose minds are so obscured and filled with
disturbing thoughts,
like an ocean covering a whole city, and who are extremely lazy and ignorant-to
guide us to enlightenment as quickly as possible. It helps us to complete
the accumulation of extensive merit and purify obscurations so as to
achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible.
When
reading of the benefits, it may also be helpful to reflect that many human
beings do not have the opportunity, the karma, even to see a holy object,
such as a statue of Buddha, in their whole life. As just seeing such holy
objects purifies the mind and plants seeds in the mind to achieve enlightenment
or liberation, this means they don't have this opportunity to purify
in such an easy way. In this world, the number of Buddhists is small compared
to those practicing other religions. And even being a Buddhist doesn't
mean that one is a Mahayanist. So Mahayanists are few in number, and
even many Mahayanists don't get the opportunity to meet with and develop
faith in this practice of turning a prayer wheel and reciting Om mani
padme hum.
So
those who get this precious opportunity are very few. This means you need
to have a lot of merit, to be a very fortunate person, in order to
have the opportunity
to engage in this practice and have faith in its benefits. Even to hear
the word "bodhichitta," one has to have the merit, so to be
able to hear the
teachings and practice, one has to have extensive merit. Why? Because this
practice is the easiest way to purify all the negative karmas. Even
the heaviest
ones, the uninterrupted negative karmas, get purified through turning
a prayer wheel. Even a fully ordained person who has broken all four
root vows will get purified. Negative karmas are completely purified,
one collects merit like the sky, and one especially develops
compassion. It's the same as reciting the mantra-the particular
benefit is that one develops compassion.
So
it's very good if, while reciting the mantra Om mani padme hum, you
can also
turn a prayer wheel. While you are doing your daily commitment or practice,
reciting malas [rosaries] of Om mani pad me hum, holding your mala in
one hand, you can turn the prayer wheel with your other hand. Even a
sick person lying down to sleep can turn the prayer wheel by pulling
it with a string, as the Tibetans do in their homes.
Years
ago in Dharamsala, I was very surprised to see Geshe Rabten Rinpoche,
a
holy scholar and great yogi who was my philosophy teacher, with a
prayer wheel the size of a forearm's length wrapped in white cloth
which he was turning by pulling a string. I was surprised to see this
because it is not common
for geshes in Sera, Ganden, or Drepung Monasteries to tum prayer wheels.
I think that he was doing this because he was inspired by His
Holiness Trijang
Rinpoche, his root guru, who is also my root guru. His Holiness
Trijang Rinpoche had built a prayer wheel in Marogang so that all the
people there,
old and young, could turn it as they passed along the road. It was
built and
dedicated for the purification and good rebirth of one of his
attendants who'd
taken care of him as a child and had passed away. So I guess that
this unusual
occurrence, Geshe Rabten Rinpoche turning the prayer wheel, happened
because he was inspired by this root guru, His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche.
Regarding
the practice, it is very good while you are turning the prayer wheel
every day to recite a set number of malas of the mantra Om mani padme hum.
It would be good to recite ten malas-a thousand mantras-for each
realm: hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, asuras
[jealous gods],
gods, as well as for the intermediate beings and even for the arhats
and bodhisattvas
who are still not fully enlightened. Six thousand mantras for each
realm is very good; if this isn't possible, then try to do a thousand
for each realm. If that's not possible, at least recite a total of a
thousand mantras each day while turning the prayer wheel. At the
beginning, you generate the motivation of bodhichitta. When you turn
the prayer wheel, recall:
The
purpose of my life is not just to offer happiness for myself and
to solve all of my own problems; it is to free the numberless other
sentient beings. The purpose of my life is to be useful and
beneficial for other sentient beings-that is, to free
other
sentient beings who are numberless. I will free each of them
from all their sufferings and lead them to happiness in this
life, happiness in future lives, perfect rebirths, the ultimate happiness
of liberation from samsara, then the peerless happiness of
full enlightenment.
When
you think of freeing sentient beings, you must remember all the
sufferings
in the minds of the hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings,
asuras, and gods, all the sufferings that are explained in the
teachings. Therefore,
you resolve to achieve full enlightenment and actualize bodhichitta,
which is the door of the Mahayana path to enlightenment. What makes
it possible for you to have bodhichitta is having the root: great
compassion.
So,
as you begin to recite the mantra and turn the prayer wheel, you
resolve that
you're doing so to actualize this for every hell being, every hungry
ghost, every
animal, every human being, every asura, every god, and every
intermediate- state being. You dedicate everything, every turn of the
prayer wheel and every recitation of the mantra, in this way.
Now,
to give a general idea regarding the visualizations, if you recite
ten malas,
begin by purifying yourself. Visualize light beams being emitted from the
prayer wheel. One can think of the six individual colors related to
the mantra
Om mani padme hum or even just of white light. This light comes from
the mantras, and it completely destroys all the negative karmas and obscurations
collected from beginningless rebirths. All of these are completely absorbed
into the prayer wheel in the form of darkness and destroyed. Repeat
this visualization a number of times. Then do this for all other
sentient beings as well. One can do this focusing on all other
sentient beings simultaneously or one can focus on the individual
realms, reciting a certain number of mantras for the hell beings, and
then going on to the hungry ghosts, animals, and so forth. Either
way, one visualizes all the obscurations, negative karmas, disturbing
thoughts, diseases, and spirit harms every suffering-being absorbed
into the prayer wheel. Then, after this absorption, light is again
emitted from the prayer wheel, which immediately purifies all
beings-wherever they are, each being's mental continuum is completely
purified right there. All of their bodies become completely
illuminated. At the end, each being's body becomes nirmanakaya in the
nature of light, and each being's mind, completely purified, becomes
dharmakaya; they all become the fully enlightened Compassion Buddha.
While
reciting mantras and turning the prayer wheel, one can also meditate on
lamrim-the stages of the path-especially focusing on the techniques
for generating bodhichitta. One can meditate on the seven
instructions of cause and effect for generating bodhichitta or on the
method of equalizing and exchanging self for others to generate
bodhichitta. This makes one's life very rich.
The
prayer wheel can definitely be used for healing illnesses such as
cancer and
so forth. For this purpose, the practice should be done for at least
one hour
every day, or for a few hours along with meditation if possible. This brings
extremely powerful healing. Even if the disease or the pain isn't
eliminated immediately, this definitely purifies the underlying cause
of samsaric suffering in the mind-the negative imprints. Remember
that the disease is not the only suffering in samsara; it is just one
small part of samsara. In the oceans of suffering in samsara, this is
just one small part. So purifying the causes of suffering in the mind
in this way means purifying the causes of all the sufferings of
samsara. Healing this life's sicknesses is just one tiny atom among
the reasons for doing this practice, which are limitless like the
sky. Not only do we heal the sickness; we also receive help in
stopping all sufferings, in having quick realizations of the path,
and in achieving enlightenment quickly.
Now
I would like to say a little about the essential benefits of this
mantra, Om
mani padme hum. If you recite ten malas-a thousand mantras-a day,
then when you go to wash in a river or at the beach, all the water
becomes blessed. Because your body is blessed by the mantra, all the
water becomes blessed as it touches your body, and so the water
purifies all the animals who live in the water, those who drink the
water, and those who touch the water. It's the same as the benefits
of the prayer wheel itself. All the animals who live in that water
get purified and are liberated from the lower realms. Even those who
drink that water will be liberated. Also, if you recite ten malas a
day, then when
you give a massage or touch others or they touch you, it purifies
them. This
is a great gift, much more special and important than being an
ordinary healer,
because it purifies the mind of karma and delusions and thus produces long-term
benefits for those beings' future lives, freeing them from experiencing
sufferings and making all their future lives lighter, happier, and more
peaceful. By purifying their minds, it also makes it easier for them
to achieve
enlightenment. Furthermore, if you recite a thousand Om mani padme
hums every day, then your children and grandchildren and so on up to
seven generations will not be reborn in the lower realms. This is
because
your
body is blessed by the mantra, and as their bodies are descended from yours,
their bodies also carry these blessings, which affect their minds at
the time
of death and thus prevent them from being reborn in the lower realms. Even
when a person who has recited that many mantras every day has died and
is being cremated, the smoke coming from that special body purifies
other sentient beings' karma. Whatever sentient beings-animals,
insects, human
beings--this smoke touches all
get liberated from the lower
realms by purifying
their negative karma.
Now
for the dedication. Due to these merits-all the past, present, and
future merits-especially those arising from making prayer wheels,
turning them, and making commentaries on the benefits available, as
well as those arising from even seeing, remembering, or dreaming of
prayer wheels or these benefits and instructions, may all those
beings never be reborn in the lower realms from now on, and may all
the disease, spirit harm, negative karma, and obscurations
be completely purified immediately. May all their wishes succeed
immediately according to holy Dharma, may they achieve full
enlightenment as soon as possible, and especially may they actualize
bodhichitta as quickly as possible. May they each become a source of
all sentient beings' happiness, like the White Lotus of Great
Compassion. And, may everyone who reads these benefits and does this
very precious practice actualize the qualities more precious than the
whole sky filled with jewels or billions of dollars and cause all
sentient beings to achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible by
purifying and collecting merit. So, from the heart, I offer my thanks
to my dear students Lorne and Theresa, to all the readers, and to
those who engage in the prayer wheel practice and inspire others.
Thank
you very much.
