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[Dr. Steven Zucker] We're in the McMullen Museum of Art, at a special

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exhibition with objects from the collection of the Rubin Museum of Art.

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And it contains this beautiful, fairly large handheld prayer wheel.

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[Dr. Elena Pakhoutova] This specific example is quite impressive because it's

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rather large for a handheld device. What you see in this prayer wheel is

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the standard elements, which are the cylinder handle, and this little counterweight,

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which helps the cylinder to spin around the axis. The cylinder is also

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called reliquary, and the reason being is that inside are tightly bound

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paper rolls filled with mantras. [Dr. Steven Zucker] Text that has

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been written out by a scribe, very likely in a monastery.

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[Dr. Elena Pakhoutova] And the texts are the mantras repeated multiple

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times over and over again for the maximum accumulation of religious merit.

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[Dr. Steven Zucker] And merit is crucial for Buddhist practice.

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[Dr. Elena Pakhoutova] I call merit an investment in the future

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life. Because during this life, we have the opportunity to accumulate as

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much merit as possible so you can reap benefits in this life,

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but most importantly in the next life. [Dr. Steven Zucker] And in

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that way, move closer to the ultimate goal, which would be enlightenment.

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[Dr. Elena Pakhoutova] Yes, enlightenment or awakening.

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[Dr. Steven Zucker] That is, breaking the cycle of death and rebirth,

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what is known in Buddhism as samsara. [Dr. Elena Pakhoutova] And

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these two registers of mantras written in two different scripts are of the

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same mantra, "Om mani padme hum," which directly relates to Bodhisattva

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Avalokiteshvara, the embodiment of compassion and a very popular deity in

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Tibetan Buddhist culture. On the top register we see the mantras written

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in the Lantsa or Ranjana script, and on the bottom they're written in Tibetan

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script. And each syllable is in this little arch or mandorla, if you

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will, which reflects the respect for the syllables themselves.

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[Dr. Steven Zucker] And surrounding the mandorla and the text are these beautiful,

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intricate floral decorations. A lot of care was taken in the production

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of this object. [Dr. Elena Pakhoutova] And you can also see that

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there are semi precious stones in this band that holds the cylinder together.

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The top of the prayer wheel has a finial, which is shaped as

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a lotus bud. And it also directly references Avalokiteshvara because Avalokiteshvara

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is usually shown holding a lotus, and he's also part of the Lotus

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Family of the Buddha Amitabha. The top of this cylinder is also decorated

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with the wheel. [Dr. Steven Zucker] And the wheel is a very common

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iconographic form in Buddhist art. [Dr. Elena Pakhoutova] This specific

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wheel represents the Dharmachakra, or the wheel of the Buddha's teachings,

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the dharma, and directly relates to the content of the cylinder,

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which contains the mantras, which are the dharma.

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[Dr. Steven Zucker] But there's even more. If we look at the bottom of this cylinder,

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there's another circular form. [Dr. Elena Pakhoutova] And this form

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is a crossed vajra. Vajra, sometimes translated as a thunderbolt scepter,

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refers to the quality of being indestructible. The counterweight is actually

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a very interesting invention. When you hold it, it really helps the wheel

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to turn. [Dr. Steven Zucker] So the wheel that we're seeing here

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in this case in the museum is divorced from its use.

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And to really understand this object is to understand it within the hand

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of a practitioner. [Dr. Elena Pakhoutova] What usually happens in

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Tibetan culture is that people would go around sacred sites or stupas,

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having in one hand a prayer wheel and another hand a string of

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prayer beads. And they would recite mantras, counting them on their beads,

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at the same time turning the wheel, and at the same time walking

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around the sacred object and sacred site in a practice called circumambulation.

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And all of these three actions of the speech through reciting mantras,

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of the body through turning the wheel and walking around, and the right

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intention are creating positive karma in body, speech, and mind. Tibetan

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prayer wheels come in many shapes and sizes. In this case,

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the action is powered by the hand. But prayer wheels can also be

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activated by the elements: By wind, water, sometimes fire.

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[Dr. Steven Zucker] So really, any technology can be used to turn these objects.

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[Dr. Elena Pakhoutova] These days you can get a prayer wheel with

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a solar panel and you can put it on a dashboard and it'll be

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working, accumulating merit on your behalf. But you have to have a good

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intention, of course. And there are also gigantic prayer wheels that are

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filled with millions of mantras. And the way to turn it is only

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through working together with other people.

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[Dr. Steven Zucker] The origins of prayer wheels are not fully understood.

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[Dr. Elena Pakhoutova] We don't really know definitively where the idea of prayer wheels

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comes from. Consensus seems to be that having something revolving around

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the axis that contains Buddhist text comes from the so called revolving

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scripture depositories in Chinese monasteries. So when the person is walking

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around a stupa or a temple, turning the prayer wheel and reciting mantras,

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and also counting these mantras that they recite on their prayer beads,

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they are committing these actions of body, speech, and mind to accumulate

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good karma, increase their merit. Very often it's actually also a social

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event, where some Tibetan women or families would do the same practice together.

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They would go for a walk around a gompa or a temple,

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and it's a social occasion, and it's also accumulation of merit at the

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same time. Especially for people who have to work and provide for their

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families and earn their livelihood, this is one of the best religious devices

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to increase the amount of merit they can generate, I think.