Prayer Wheel Practice
The following information is excerpted from Lorne Ladner’s book Great Wheel of Compassion with his permission. In the foreword of the book, the Venerable Lama Zopa Rinpoche offers the following advice on how to practice while turning your prayer wheel.
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 hung" (1) … 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 of 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… 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…
Now, to give you a general idea regarding 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…Either way, one visualizes all the obscurations, negative karmas, disturbing thoughts, diseases, and spirit harms–every suffering–being absorbed into the prayer wheel, which immediately purifies all beings–wherever they are, each being’s mental continuum is completely purified right there. 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 mediation 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; this 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 pay, and in achieving enlightenment quickly.
…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 those 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.”
(1) Mantras are strings of syllables empowered by enlightened beings to benefit others. The word mantra means mind protection. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has written, “Thus the six syllables, om mani padme hum, mean that in dependence on the path which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha.”
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 hung" (1) … 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 of 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… 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…
Now, to give you a general idea regarding 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…Either way, one visualizes all the obscurations, negative karmas, disturbing thoughts, diseases, and spirit harms–every suffering–being absorbed into the prayer wheel, which immediately purifies all beings–wherever they are, each being’s mental continuum is completely purified right there. 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 mediation 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; this 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 pay, and in achieving enlightenment quickly.
…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 those 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.”
(1) Mantras are strings of syllables empowered by enlightened beings to benefit others. The word mantra means mind protection. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has written, “Thus the six syllables, om mani padme hum, mean that in dependence on the path which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha.”
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Heartwood Prayer Wheels
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California, USA
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1-505-730-1009
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