#  prayer wheel 

 



In Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist tradition, a prayer wheel is a cylinder on the outside of which is written a mantra (sacred utterance), very often the mantra “Om mani padme hum” (“ Om, the Jewel in the Lotus,” referring to Chenrezig, the *bodhisattva* of compassion). Such wheels vary greatly in size, some small enough to fit in a person’s palm, others suspended within the temple complex. The spinning of the wheel sets the mantra’s power in motion.