καιρός remembered

As the world turns

Praying whilst chatting with friends in the square … for Tibetans, this is possible thanks to their prayer wheels. Sacred mantras such as ‘om mani padme hum’ can be written repeatedly on paper in large numbers and placed on a scroll inside the wheel. It is believed that turning the wheel has the same effect as reciting the mantra. In fact, it is even more effective, because with a single turn of the prayer wheel, hundreds of copies of the mantra make their rounds, whereas when repeating the same text, you only utter the words once at a time.

At the entrance of temples, big size prayer-wheels are put up which can be turned around by the visiting devotees.
The act of turning a prayer-wheel may be for each person’s individual benefit, but to me it somehow always calls up the comforting thought that all those turning wheels, big and small, in unison with the constant turning of everything in the Universe, are for the benefit of the whole world. Without them, the world may stop as well.

Photo of the week: Meru Nyingba Monastery, Barkhor, Lhasa, Tibet 1996