Making my own hand held prayer wheel?

Jainarayan

I'm thinking of doing this with some wooden pieces from the local craft store... the handle, the drum, and a small weight. The drum or wheel itself would be solid with a hole in the center, not unlike a wooden spool from sewing thread, and a screw loose enough to attach it to the handle to spin. I'd print the mantra(s) and/or prayer(s), secure them around the wheel (double sided tape) then laminate them. The question is, as a devotee of Amitabha and his Pure Land and by extension Avalokiteshvara, what mantra(s) or prayer(s) would I inscribe on the wheel? Do I use just Namo Amitabha, or could/should I put a few mantras of the buddhas and bodhisattvas to send prayers to them all?

On the other hand, sometimes it's better to get something made by someone who knows what they're doing. I like this prayer wheel http://www.potala.com/product_info.php?cPath=61&products_id=290&osCsid=3qdkbavs1104jc58jcua2inr36 but I think it's nice to make one's own items if possible. It says "It also contains prayers and mantras in the top enclosure", but I don't know what prayers a typical prayer wheel contains.

Chaz

Probably OM MANI PADME HUM or it may be in Tibetan ... OM MANI PEME HUNG (same thing tho)

I'd suggest you go with the latter option. If you want to use a prayer wheel, just buy one.

The one in the link is quite nice.

Jainarayan

Thanks @Chaz. You're probably right in just buying one. That one really is nice. I'll probably wind up spending more to keep buying parts I mess up than if I bought it already made. So even though I chant Namo Amitabha, I think the mani mantra is OK too, because I understand that Avalokiteshvara handles worldly affairs for Amitabha.

Chaz

Prayer wheels seem to be mainly a Tibetan thing and so Avalokiteshvara is likely to be more important than Amitabha. You might find a wheel that uses a Amitabha mantra, but then it's likely to be OM AMI DEWA HRIH. Pure Land recitations are most likely going to use a mala rather than a wheel.

Just sayin ...

Jainarayan

Chaz said:

Prayer wheels seem to be mainly a Tibetan thing and so Avalokiteshvara is likely to be more important than Amitabha. You might find a wheel that uses a Amitabha mantra, but then it's likely to be OM AMI DEWA HRIH. Pure Land recitations are most likely going to use a mala rather than a wheel.

Just sayin ...

That's what I was kind of thinking... that they're a Tibetan tradition and overwhelmingly for Avalokiteshvara. That's why I thought about making my own with Namo Amitabha, though I mentally recite that throughout the day, and rarely use a mala. I'm just a sucker for doo-dads.

Chaz

Me too. I'm a total gear-head. I've got several practice artifacts I never use, but have them on hand, just in case ;-)

I suppose you could buy a prayer wheel, take it apart and re-stuff it with the mantras of your choice, but I dunno.

If you already have a strong recitation practice, and it seems like you do, I think you might consider simply sticking with that. On the other hand, and if you're anything like me and just gotta have the doo-dad .....

Jainarayan

Gear-head! Me likes.

It didn't help that I found this justification for using a mani wheel even being a Amitabha Pure Land aspirant, though it has a Tibetan basis: http://www.tibetanprayerwheels.com/about-prayer-wheels.html

mantra OM MANI PADME HUM
In the translation of a text by the Fourth Panchen Lama, 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.” In the same text 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 a very powerful merit field; one accumulates extensive merit and purifies obstacles.

I really have to stop reading so much. :eek2:

Chaz

Sounds like that wheel is the way to go, then!

Jainarayan

You're not helping @Chaz!

Wait, wut... I did ask. :wtf:

footiam

Jainarayan said:

I'm thinking of doing this with some wooden pieces from the local craft store... the handle, the drum, and a small weight. The drum or wheel itself would be solid with a hole in the center, not unlike a wooden spool from sewing thread, and a screw loose enough to attach it to the handle to spin. I'd print the mantra(s) and/or prayer(s), secure them around the wheel (double sided tape) then laminate them. The question is, as a devotee of Amitabha and his Pure Land and by extension Avalokiteshvara, what mantra(s) or prayer(s) would I inscribe on the wheel? Do I use just Namo Amitabha, or could/should I put a few mantras of the buddhas and bodhisattvas to send prayers to them all?

On the other hand, sometimes it's better to get something made by someone who knows what they're doing. I like this prayer wheel http://www.potala.com/product_info.php?cPath=61&products_id=290&osCsid=3qdkbavs1104jc58jcua2inr36 but I think it's nice to make one's own items if possible. It says "It also contains prayers and mantras in the top enclosure", but I don't know what prayers a typical prayer wheel contains.

Create if you can but create something nice and worthwhile. Certainly not atom bomb.

Jainarayan

footiam said:

Create if you can but create something nice and worthwhile. Certainly not atom bomb.

I'm leaning towards the ready made one I linked to because if I make one I can only put one prayer inscription. The ready made prayer wheels have the paper scrolls with hundreds, if not thousands of microprinted prayers. But otoh, it's the intention and devotion that counts, sometimes simple is best.