The Tibetan Buddhist Prayer Wheel Project, created in 1996, was designed to bring prayer wheels to Tibetan communities in India, and to introduce this form of prayer to people in the West. Prayer is an integral part of life in a Tibetan community. In Tibetan religion and culture, prayer wheels traditionally surround monasteries and sacred places. A prayer wheel contains thousands of prayers and with each spin, these prayers, on behalf of all sentient beings, are sent into the world.
Some of our prayer wheel projects and installations:
Santa Cruz, California USA (see photo above)
Washington, D.C., Tibetan Festival at the Smithsonian
World Trade Center 2000
Permanent installations:
USA:
Milarepa Center, Barnet, Vermont USA
Land of Compassion Buddha West Covina, CA, directed by Geshe Lobsang Tsephel
INDIA:
Dhakpo Monastery, Madra Pradesh, India
Ngoenga School for Tibetan Handicapped Children
Dehradun, India
The first formal school of its kind.
As one of our projects we focused bringing prayer wheels to the school. A Mani (prayer wheel) house was built by TRHCP to house and shelter the Bodhi Tree that His Holiness the Dalai Lama planted in front of the school in 2002. There are 84 brass hand tooled prayer wheels that sit double tiered on two teak wooden tiers. In addition there are 7 small wheels outside of the prayer hall for the smaller children and those in wheelchairs. In Spring 2004, His Holiness again visited the school and blessed the prayer wheels. He believes that by spinning the wheels and saying the prayers, the children will be provided important exercise, both physically and mentally. Moments after he completed the blessing, the children began circumambulating the little prayer house, spinning the wheels and saying prayers. They have been doing this ever since, at least twice a day.
During this last rainy season, many of the wheels were badly damaged by water, since there is no roof to protect them. At the request of the school, we are seeking donations to construct a roof and to pay for the repair and maintenance of the wheels. We need additonal donations (cost $2000) for a special customized Tibetan tent to be designed to cover the wheels during rainy season and still allow people to circumambulate the wheels.
You can help us with the ongoing work of keeping this magnificent little shelter and it’s prayer wheels in good condition as well as supporting the maintenance of our other prayer wheel projects. Here’s how:
Simply send a check earmarked maintenance for prayers wheels on the bottom left side of your check.
Or, for donations toward the construction of new prayer wheel projects, please earmark you check for prayer wheel projects. The cost of one wheel is $75-$100. Funds for these projects are raised solely through donations. 100% of all donations go directly to these projects.
Prayer is an integral part of life in a Tibetan community. A prayer wheel contains thousands of prayers, and with each spin, these prayers, are sent into the world on behalf of all living beings.
For general donations, please send your tax deductible check for any amount to TRHCP at the address below. Please send donations to:
Tibetan Refugee Health Care Project
101 W. 23 St. #158
New York, NY 10011
USA
E-mail: tibetmedmw@aol.com