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Tibetan Prayer Flags

BunksBunks Australia Veteran
in Arts & Writings
I have a mate who knows I follow the buddhist path and he gave me some tibetan prayer flags.

I put them up in my daughter's play room but then realised I have no clue what they represent :crazy:

I understand there are different types? These have a picture of a horse in the centre and what appears to be a tiger and dragon in two corners and two other corners I can't quite decipher.

I have attached a photo - can anyone give me any feedback on what they are? Thanks!!

Comments

  • B5CB5C Veteran
    My flags were too close to my hamster cage and a couple of the flags were either eaten or used as bedding. :p
    Bunkslobsterseeker242
  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    The horse is the "wind horse", that carries prayers to the heavens. (A remnant of pre-Buddhist sky cult, and also horse cult, the horse being a sacred, magical animal.) It also signifies good fortune and many good opportunities.
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    They remind me very much of American Indian prayer flags...quite a few of which I saw around Devil's Tower in Wyoming.
  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    The idea is actually very similar. The ribbons on top of the sun dance pole are believed to carry prayers on the wind. I haven't seen other types of prayer flags, but it sounds like pretty much the same thing. :)
  • cazcaz Veteran United Kingdom Veteran
    Bunks said:

    I have a mate who knows I follow the buddhist path and he gave me some tibetan prayer flags.

    I put them up in my daughter's play room but then realised I have no clue what they represent :crazy:

    I understand there are different types? These have a picture of a horse in the centre and what appears to be a tiger and dragon in two corners and two other corners I can't quite decipher.

    I have attached a photo - can anyone give me any feedback on what they are? Thanks!!

    Prayer flags are pretty much a cultural aspect of Tibetan Buddhism, They are often written with many thousands of Mantra's the belief is that the wind carries the power of the Mantra's, Much like prayer wheels they are simply cultural additions.

    There are certain rituals for hanging them and they are specifically meant to be placed outside apparently.
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    Dakini said:

    The idea is actually very similar. The ribbons on top of the sun dance pole are believed to carry prayers on the wind. I haven't seen other types of prayer flags, but it sounds like pretty much the same thing. :)

    I think you're correct! Interesting to see such similarities half a world apart.

  • karastikarasti Breathing Minnesota Moderator
    Most people place them outside (as it's hard to carry prayers on the wind from the indoors, unless your windows are always open, lol). We have them indoors and out. My son likes them and has a set in his room and in our hallway because he likes the colors and the reminders. When he does out the door in the morning he says a little prayer for the day by the outdoor ones and sends the prayer on it's way. I enjoy them and the thought behind them and the kinship involved. It makes you smile to see them, you know in a way that there are others who think like you (in some small way) all around you, often where you least expect it.

  • SileSile Veteran
    edited November 2012
    According to researcher Dian Barker, India developed very early--maybe even in Shakyamuni's time, according to Robert Beer--a tradition of printing sutras on cloth banners. Atisha brought this tradition to Tibet, where it blended with the existing Bon tradition of hanging red, green, yellow, blue and and white flags to represent the five elements.

    The way I heard it, rather than carrying prayers to the gods, in Tibetan Buddhism the flags are meant to carry blessings to sentient beings in all of space; ideally the flags are hung in areas with good lung, or wind, so that the wind will be purified and blessed by touching the prayer flag, and then that blessed wind moves on to bless all sentient beings in its path.

    What I find fascinating is the concept of outer and inner lung, or divided further, outer, inner, secret, and most secret lung.

    Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche writes, "What really controls the mind is lung [Tib.], the ‘wind’ or ‘subtle energy’ that determines the direction that the mind pursues. Thoughts arise in our minds and as they arise and we react to them, we create karma. The windhorse, the mount upon which the mind rides like a rider on a horse, controls or directs the thoughts arising in our minds."

    That same link gives a good background on the various ways in which lungta can be interpreted. Namkhai Norbu believes the etymology is actually not rlung rta (wind horse) but klung rta (space horse), getting back to the idea of the blessing pervading all of space, but that since the natural way to think of accomplishing this was to put the flags in windy places, a folk etymology rose up associating it with wind.

    I'd love to see one of the original cloth Indian sutras, but haven't been able to find any - maybe they're just too old to have lasted.
    BunksJeffrey
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