Lorne Ladner Compiler - The Wheel of Great Compassion: Practice of the Prayer Wheel
Wheel of Great Compassion equips Western readers with everything necessary to understand this unique and powerful practice, including:
• The history of prayer wheel practice and its ancient lineage
• The symbolism of the prayer wheel and its role in Tibetan rituals
• An explanation of the myriad benefits of prayer wheel practice
• The proper method for constructing and filling a prayer wheel
• A detailed desc
Extract from Foreword:
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 suriunarized 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.
~ Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche
Extract from "Practice: Seeing with Eyes of Compassion":
In general, the emphasis in Buddhism is quite clearly on inner training, on transforming one's mind. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said that whether an action becomes a practice of Buddhism, of Dharma, is primarily dependent on the motivation and understanding of the person doing the action. Actions motivated by attachment, aversion, or ignorance, regardless of any external appearances, are simply not Buddhist practices. And actions done out of a sense of compassionate altruism, with a correct understanding of the nature of things, may properly be labeled Dharma practices, regardless of how they appear. . .
During a conversation about the prayer wheel with Lama Perna Wangdak, a Tibetan lama who lives and teaches in New York, he mentioned that "turning the wheel of prayer" was "similar to circumambulating a stupa." He went on to explain that "anything you do with a symbol of the body, speech, and mind of Buddha has a lasting impact on your soul or mind."
Uploader's Comment:
As a follower of Tibetan Buddhism, I attended teachings by HH Dalai Lama in Bodhgaya in the millenium changeover Dec 1999 - Jan 2000. The group I travelled with also visited the sites made sacred by the Buddha. So, of course, I also engaged with them in practices appropriate to this.
As a newcomer, I was really surprised to find the act of circling the Stupa at Sarnath was profoundly satisfying. Thereafter, I took every opportunity to circumnavigate holy ob
I remember at Sarnath, feeling drawn to the centre of the Stupa as I walked the circumference.
Maybe this has some symbolic significance - centering - in a spiritual context. And also circling the perimeter and feeling drawn to the centre.
~ From a comment I placed here in TO
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