WEBVTT 00:00:06.118 --> 00:00:10.520 [Dr. Steven Zucker] We're in the McMullen Museum of Art, at a special 00:00:10.520 --> 00:00:15.780 exhibition with objects from the collection of the Rubin Museum of Art. 00:00:15.780 --> 00:00:21.601 And it contains this beautiful, fairly large handheld prayer wheel. 00:00:21.608 --> 00:00:24.822 [Dr. Elena Pakhoutova] This specific example is quite impressive because it's 00:00:24.877 --> 00:00:30.020 rather large for a handheld device. What you see in this prayer wheel is 00:00:30.020 --> 00:00:36.630 the standard elements, which are the cylinder handle, and this little counterweight, 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:41.440 which helps the cylinder to spin around the axis. The cylinder is also 00:00:41.780 --> 00:00:48.556 called reliquary, and the reason being is that inside are tightly bound 00:00:48.900 --> 00:00:53.400 paper rolls filled with mantras. [Dr. Steven Zucker] Text that has 00:00:53.400 --> 00:00:57.700 been written out by a scribe, very likely in a monastery. 00:00:57.710 --> 00:01:01.320 [Dr. Elena Pakhoutova] And the texts are the mantras repeated multiple 00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:06.679 times over and over again for the maximum accumulation of religious merit. 00:01:06.712 --> 00:01:10.300 [Dr. Steven Zucker] And merit is crucial for Buddhist practice. 00:01:10.310 --> 00:01:13.000 [Dr. Elena Pakhoutova] I call merit an investment in the future 00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:17.020 life. Because during this life, we have the opportunity to accumulate as 00:01:17.020 --> 00:01:21.160 much merit as possible so you can reap benefits in this life, 00:01:21.160 --> 00:01:24.880 but most importantly in the next life. [Dr. Steven Zucker] And in 00:01:24.880 --> 00:01:29.520 that way, move closer to the ultimate goal, which would be enlightenment. 00:01:29.530 --> 00:01:31.628 [Dr. Elena Pakhoutova] Yes, enlightenment or awakening. 00:01:31.635 --> 00:01:35.020 [Dr. Steven Zucker] That is, breaking the cycle of death and rebirth, 00:01:35.060 --> 00:01:37.760 what is known in Buddhism as samsara. [Dr. Elena Pakhoutova] And 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:43.720 these two registers of mantras written in two different scripts are of the 00:01:43.720 --> 00:01:49.116 same mantra, "Om mani padme hum," which directly relates to Bodhisattva 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:52.538 Avalokiteshvara, the embodiment of compassion and a very popular deity in 00:01:52.605 --> 00:01:57.880 Tibetan Buddhist culture. On the top register we see the mantras written 00:01:57.900 --> 00:02:03.607 in the Lantsa or Ranjana script, and on the bottom they're written in Tibetan 00:02:03.620 --> 00:02:10.200 script. And each syllable is in this little arch or mandorla, if you 00:02:10.200 --> 00:02:15.130 will, which reflects the respect for the syllables themselves. 00:02:15.150 --> 00:02:19.780 [Dr. Steven Zucker] And surrounding the mandorla and the text are these beautiful, 00:02:19.800 --> 00:02:24.760 intricate floral decorations. A lot of care was taken in the production 00:02:24.760 --> 00:02:27.020 of this object. [Dr. Elena Pakhoutova] And you can also see that 00:02:27.020 --> 00:02:31.440 there are semi precious stones in this band that holds the cylinder together. 00:02:31.700 --> 00:02:36.320 The top of the prayer wheel has a finial, which is shaped as 00:02:36.320 --> 00:02:42.213 a lotus bud. And it also directly references Avalokiteshvara because Avalokiteshvara 00:02:42.275 --> 00:02:47.380 is usually shown holding a lotus, and he's also part of the Lotus 00:02:47.380 --> 00:02:53.660 Family of the Buddha Amitabha. The top of this cylinder is also decorated 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:56.970 with the wheel. [Dr. Steven Zucker] And the wheel is a very common 00:02:56.980 --> 00:03:00.620 iconographic form in Buddhist art. [Dr. Elena Pakhoutova] This specific 00:03:00.620 --> 00:03:05.444 wheel represents the Dharmachakra, or the wheel of the Buddha's teachings, 00:03:05.450 --> 00:03:10.620 the dharma, and directly relates to the content of the cylinder, 00:03:10.700 --> 00:03:13.930 which contains the mantras, which are the dharma. 00:03:13.940 --> 00:03:17.380 [Dr. Steven Zucker] But there's even more. If we look at the bottom of this cylinder, 00:03:17.380 --> 00:03:20.420 there's another circular form. [Dr. Elena Pakhoutova] And this form 00:03:20.440 --> 00:03:26.360 is a crossed vajra. Vajra, sometimes translated as a thunderbolt scepter, 00:03:26.480 --> 00:03:31.920 refers to the quality of being indestructible. The counterweight is actually 00:03:31.920 --> 00:03:36.801 a very interesting invention. When you hold it, it really helps the wheel 00:03:36.811 --> 00:03:38.360 to turn. [Dr. Steven Zucker] So the wheel that we're seeing here 00:03:38.580 --> 00:03:42.740 in this case in the museum is divorced from its use. 00:03:42.740 --> 00:03:46.260 And to really understand this object is to understand it within the hand 00:03:46.260 --> 00:03:48.280 of a practitioner. [Dr. Elena Pakhoutova] What usually happens in 00:03:48.290 --> 00:03:53.860 Tibetan culture is that people would go around sacred sites or stupas, 00:03:54.140 --> 00:03:58.520 having in one hand a prayer wheel and another hand a string of 00:03:58.530 --> 00:04:03.360 prayer beads. And they would recite mantras, counting them on their beads, 00:04:03.540 --> 00:04:07.040 at the same time turning the wheel, and at the same time walking 00:04:07.040 --> 00:04:12.370 around the sacred object and sacred site in a practice called circumambulation. 00:04:12.380 --> 00:04:17.422 And all of these three actions of the speech through reciting mantras, 00:04:17.422 --> 00:04:21.240 of the body through turning the wheel and walking around, and the right 00:04:21.240 --> 00:04:26.840 intention are creating positive karma in body, speech, and mind. Tibetan 00:04:26.840 --> 00:04:31.640 prayer wheels come in many shapes and sizes. In this case, 00:04:31.800 --> 00:04:36.460 the action is powered by the hand. But prayer wheels can also be 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:42.186 activated by the elements: By wind, water, sometimes fire. 00:04:42.201 --> 00:04:45.900 [Dr. Steven Zucker] So really, any technology can be used to turn these objects. 00:04:45.910 --> 00:04:48.440 [Dr. Elena Pakhoutova] These days you can get a prayer wheel with 00:04:48.440 --> 00:04:52.260 a solar panel and you can put it on a dashboard and it'll be 00:04:52.260 --> 00:04:57.140 working, accumulating merit on your behalf. But you have to have a good 00:04:57.140 --> 00:05:01.660 intention, of course. And there are also gigantic prayer wheels that are 00:05:01.880 --> 00:05:08.440 filled with millions of mantras. And the way to turn it is only 00:05:08.440 --> 00:05:10.910 through working together with other people. 00:05:10.920 --> 00:05:13.776 [Dr. Steven Zucker] The origins of prayer wheels are not fully understood. 00:05:13.794 --> 00:05:18.540 [Dr. Elena Pakhoutova] We don't really know definitively where the idea of prayer wheels 00:05:18.540 --> 00:05:23.880 comes from. Consensus seems to be that having something revolving around 00:05:23.880 --> 00:05:30.000 the axis that contains Buddhist text comes from the so called revolving 00:05:30.260 --> 00:05:35.700 scripture depositories in Chinese monasteries. So when the person is walking 00:05:35.700 --> 00:05:40.980 around a stupa or a temple, turning the prayer wheel and reciting mantras, 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:45.500 and also counting these mantras that they recite on their prayer beads, 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:50.470 they are committing these actions of body, speech, and mind to accumulate 00:05:50.523 --> 00:05:55.180 good karma, increase their merit. Very often it's actually also a social 00:05:55.180 --> 00:06:00.720 event, where some Tibetan women or families would do the same practice together. 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:03.620 They would go for a walk around a gompa or a temple, 00:06:03.640 --> 00:06:08.080 and it's a social occasion, and it's also accumulation of merit at the 00:06:08.080 --> 00:06:12.940 same time. Especially for people who have to work and provide for their 00:06:12.940 --> 00:06:19.040 families and earn their livelihood, this is one of the best religious devices 00:06:19.140 --> 00:06:21.700 to increase the amount of merit they can generate, I think.