Enlightenment Retreat

"He who has not realized Essence of Mind and seeks
for Buddha without
Is on a wrong path and acting foolishly;
He who seeks Buddha by practicing certain doctrines
Knows not the place where the real Buddha is to be found.
He who is seeking to realize Buddha within his own mind
He only is sowing the seed of Buddhahood."

Our traditional weekend retreat to commemorate the Buddha’s enlightenment will be held December 7-9 this year with IBMC monks leading the sitting, The retreat will be held in traditional Zen style and will feature a good amount of zazen (sitting meditation), interspersed with walking meditation. In addtion, we will have chanting and working meditation.

Wear comfortable clothing and bring a sleeping bag and any toiletries you may need for the weekend. Vegetarian meals will be provided. The fee is $75 for non-members and $50 for members, $30 for residents. Please inform the office by December 2 if you will be attending. Send your check in advance of the retreat to IBMC, 928 So. New Hampshire Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90006.

At the close of the retreat we will give Refuge to whoever wants it and who sits the retreat. It is thought that a retreat at this time of year is particularly effective in making good progress, since it marks the Enlightenment Day of Sakyamuni, according to Mahayana custom. Those who wish to meditate the entire Saturday night may do so out on the bell tower. We invite you to join us for the retreat.

IBMC’s Sunday Shop

The IBMC Sunday shop has gifts to provide you with your Bodhi Day, Christmas & Hannukah gifts for all your needs. Check our Sunday shop for any items you may wish to purchase for yourself, your relatives and your friends. This year we have our tee shirts and sweat shirts: design: a beautiful pink and white lotus with Tibetan writing saying Om Mani Padme Hum; we also have a few Bodhidharma and Kwan Yin shirts. We have coffee cups with the Buddha’s footprints, and the statement Following the Path. And, of course, we carry books and everything you will need for a Buddhist altar at home, including new wrist malas (prayer beads), Buddhist flags, hand carved Buddha statues, wooden fish, bells, prints, books, etc. See our enclosed flyer.

IBMC Updating its mail list

IBMC is currently updating its mail list, so be sure to let us know that you want to remain on it. If we do not receive word from you by January 10, you will be dropped. We hope that you will call us or better yet, send in the envelope . When you send us the envelope we hope that you will also include a donation to help us to care for the Center and to continue our programs. So, mail us the envelope today!

IBMC Asks for your help

As is our custom, we are enclosing a donation envelope with this Guide for you to use. Please let us know if you wish to remain on our mailing list; we hope you will include a donation as well.
We particularly ask that you make an extra donation at this time to help us with our problems with the city. We need to change the conditional use permit from monastery to church, so we can continue with our programs. We estimate that it will cost between $30,000 and $50,000 to do all of the necessary renovations, permits, conditional use permit application, parking, etc. Any money that you can give us now will be greatly appreciated. It can be either in the form of direct donation or loan without interest for a year.

All donations made to IBMC are tax deductible. It costs us 40 cents for every Monthly Guide that we mail out, so your donations will help us with our printing and mailing costs. In January we will send out letters telling you how much you donated in 2000 for you to use in your tax preparation.

The basic suggested donation is $25; $30 will get you the Monthly Guide sent to you first class, assuring you that you will always receive it on time. If you are interested in a more committed relationship, consider becoming a member. Member-ship is $20 a month or $200 for the year, and will give you a 10% discount on items from the Sunday Shop, as well as 30% on retreats, seminars and classes taught by IBMC monks. And please remember to include an extra gift this year to help us with our expenses of becoming a legally recognized church according to L.A. city laws.

Meditation, Tea & Sweets End Old Year and Bring in the New Year

Having a Samadhi mind as we face the milennium is the best way to bring in the New Year. It is a pleasure to end the year and begin the new one with a mind that is clear and peaceful, rather than frenetic. Meditation begins at 10 pm, and you are welcome to join at any time. (Please enter the Zendo quietly so that you do not disturb others who are already meditating.) We will intermittently sit and walk in meditation until midnight. At that time we will go in to the garden and take turns ringing the garden bell 108 times. Finally, we will enjoy tea, cookies, sweets and each other’s company. Please join us and bring a sweet or snack to share.

108 Bows Ceremony

We are back to our usual program of offering the 108 Bows ceremony the first Sunday of each month at 10 am. This month it is being led by Bro. Sraddha Karuna. This is a good prelude to our Sunday service. We invite you to join us.

Morning of Chanting and Meditation

Our Sunday service on December 30 will be a morning of chanting and meditation. We invite you to join us in preparation for the new year.

Prisoner speaks on forgiveness

As part of our prison program we have given 8 precepts to three different prisoners and have invited them to send us a talk. Bro. Ananda Abhaya Karuna has sent a provacative talk on the topic Forgiveness Among the Unforgiven, which will be read by Rev. Vajra Karuna as our Sunday talk on December 2.

December Events

Sunday Talks

12/2 Forgiveness among the Unforgiven
11AM Bro. Ananda Abhaya Karuna
a prisoner in Indiana, read by Rev. Vajra

12/9 Some Aspects of Mahayana Practice
Rev. Jñana Karuna Vajra

12/16 The Four Jhanas
11am Rev. Kusala Ratna Karuna

12/23 Could Christ Be a Buddhist?
11am Ven. Dr. Karuna Dharma

12/30 Morning of Chanting and Meditation
11am l ed by Ven. Karuna Dharma

Classes at IBMC

Classes of CBS are on vacation this month and will resume in January

Mon Certificate in Buddhist Studies
6:30 Dr. Wanisuriya

Wed Basic Tenets of Buddhism
6:30 Dr. Warnisuriya

Wed Applied Buddhism
7:00 Rev. Kusala

Special Events

12/2 108 Bows Ceremony, 10 am,
led by Br.Sraddha Karuna

12/7-9 Enlightenment Weekend Retreat

12/30 Morning of Chanting & Meditation

12/31 Meditation for the New Year

Meditation times

Wed evening: 7-9 pm, led by Rev. Kusala

Fri evening: 7:30-9 pm, led by Rev. Kusala

IBMC web page is found at: InternationalBuddhistMeditationCtr.org
Rev. Karuna’s email: Karunadh@earthlink.net
Karuna’s web page: www.karunadharma.org
Rev. Kusala’s email: Kusala@kusala.org
Rev. Kusala’s web page: www.kusala.org
Rev. Shanti’s email:Hshanti@earthlink.net
Rev. Vajra’s email: Madmonk88@aol.com
Rev. Jñana;s email: Lsipe@usc.edu
Bro. Sunya’s email: Sunya2@Earthlink.net
Bro. Ksanti and Bro.Sraddha’s email: VictorTom@aol.com
Sr. Hanasi’s email: Hasanakaruna@aol.com
Sr. Maitridasi’s email: MiraTweti@aol.com
Rev. Chitta’s email: kchitta@yahoo.com


Clockwise Devotion: the Tibetan Prayer Wheel
by Rev. Jñana Karuna Vajra

Eight or nine years ago I was fortunate to be able to travel to India, including a visit to the former kingdom, now region, of Ladakh, in the Himalayas at the extreme northern tip of India. This was my first venture into a Buddhist land at a time when my knowledge of Buddhism was rather limited, including that of Tibetan Buddhism, which has been part of the historical fabric of Ladakh for a millenium. Apart from the rugged and harsh environment, the prevailing sense of a poor society and the utter foreignness of it all to my Western eyes, I was struck by the odd practice of people turning or rotating these impressive, variously decorated, cylindrical objects at Buddhist temples and monasteries for no apparent reason other than that they were there. Since it appeared that anyone could do so, I mimicked the residents, as tourists often do, though having no concept of why one did what one did with the things. Upon inquiry I was told that these were prayer wheels, clearly with some connec-tion to Buddhism, but that was the extent of the explanation. The last prayer wheel I saw in Ladakh was also the biggest one I had encountered, one that was at least four feet in height, located on a street on the outskirts of Leh, the capital of the region. Apart from its size it was impressive for the fact that it turned constantly, apparently operated by an electric motor. Historically, prayer wheels have also been turned by wind, water or heat rising from a fire.

Except for my memories of Ladakh prayer wheels disappeared from my horizon of awareness until I traveled to Tibet, with Rev. Vajra, in the Fall of 1998. At that point I had studied Buddhism somewhat and had become a Buddhist lay person, though I still knew little more about Buddhist prayer wheels than I did earlier. In Tibet, of course, prayer wheels are a mainstay of the religious landscape. They range in size from the very small hand-held variety to the quite large; many are very elaborately decorated and frequently displayed under beautiful cloth or wooden canopies. The holiest temple in Tibet, the ancient Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, is encircled by dozens of prayer wheels around its perimeter. Pilgrims to the temple rotate each prayer wheel while circumambulating the temple in a clockwise direction. We did the same, with the difference between the pilgrims and the tourists being that the pilgrims were steeped in the history and ritual of their practice while the two tourists, though Buddhists, were just intrigued tourists.

My subsequent, and quite recent, discovery of just how much there is to learn about the practice of the prayer wheel is the basis of today's dharma talk. On a personal level this repre-sents yet another example that life provides us of "if only I knew then what I know now". The discovery comes largely from this book, Wheel of Great Compassion, which I will pass around, primarily so that you might view the illustrations of prayer wheels where I have marked the pages, to help you better visualize the physical objects we are discussing.

Before considering the whys and wherefores of prayer wheel practice let us first turn to some historical and contextual background for the prayer wheel. Knowledge of the prayer wheel practice only reached the West in the nineteenth century, primarily based on reports of Christian missionaries, who coined the term prayer wheel or praying wheel. The missiona-ries did not grasp the fact that the prayer involved in prayer wheel practice is not so much a prayer to an external, super-natural being, as it is one of compassion for the welfare of others. Subsequent to the initial missionary accounts scholarly translations of numerous Tibetan commentaries on prayer wheel practice have helped to clarify a previously mysterious subject.

Not surprisingly, the origins of the prayer wheel arise in Buddhist legend, within the uniquely Buddhist world view of historical time as stretching inconceivable eons into the past. The concept of lineage is fundamental not only to Zen but to Tibetan Buddhism as well and the origins of the prayer wheel is couched in terms of an ancient and mystical inheritance.

Understanding the Buddhist tradition's view of lineage can give one a sense of touching something timeless and remind one of the expansive bodhisattva world-view from which the prayer wheel practice comes. Details of the legend vary depending on which Tibetan commentary one consults, but a composite version of it goes as follows.

In a previous and distant eon, an ascetic named Sumedha, who would later become Sakyamuni Buddha after endless ages had passed, met a buddha named Dipankara to whom he made offerings and in whose presence he generated the wish to become a buddha himself. Dipankara, as the first of the twenty-four Buddhas preceding the historical Buddha, is considered the most important of all the predecessors of the Buddha Shakyamuni. Dipankara also held the lineage of the prayer wheel, which he passed on to the nagas. The nagas are powerful, long-lived serpents or dragonlike beings who usually live in oceans or other deep bodies of water and have the ability to magically take on human forms when visiting among human beings. The particular nagas to whom Dipankara Buddha gave the prayer wheel lineage were Mahayana Buddhist practitioners, and their king was a bodhisattva. Over the course of millions of years, these nagas, used the prayer wheel and many attained high levels of realization on the path to enlightenment.

Texts suggest that the prayer wheel lineage remained with the nagas for millions of years until the time of Nagarjuna, the great Indian Buddhist scholar, philosopher, and yogi. He is, of course, associated with the rise of Mahayana Buddhism during the first century B.C.E. and is the founder of the Middle Way School of Buddhist philosophy, the wellspring for all existing schools of Tibetan Buddhism and for the Ch'an and Zen traditions as well.

The traditional story says that, attracted by Nagarjuna's compassion and intelligence, the nagas took human form to invite Nagarjuna to their kingdom, where they held many Buddhist teachings that Sakyamuni Buddha himself had entrusted to their care until humans were ready to receive them. Since the Buddha had predicted that Nagarjuna's name would include "naga", one may infer that the Buddha had entrusted these teachings to the nagas so that Nagarjuna might later transmit them to the human realm and there disseminate them. There, under the sea, in the kingdom of the nagas, Nagarjuna received the Buddhist teachings that make up the heart of Mahayana Buddhism.

The legend continues that Nagarjuna saw in a pure vision Avalokitesvara, who instructed him to go to the king of the nagas and request a prayer wheel that had been given to the nagas long before by Dipankara Buddha. Avalokitesvara told Nagarjuna that if he did this, "the benefits to sentient beings will be enormous." While Nagarjuna holds a key place in the prayer wheel lineage, the association of the prayer wheel with Avalokitesvara, as the Bodhisattva of Compassion, is central to the prayer wheel's signi-ficance. One of the Tibetan terms for prayer wheel is indeed "the wheel of great compassion". Tradition further holds that Nagarjuna passed the prayer wheel lineage on to a dakini, a female, angel-like being, who had the face of a lion. Thus, one gets the impression that the practice is primarily a mystical one of powerful, divine beings, only temporarily loaned, through the kindness of the Buddha of Compassion, to some fortunate members of humanity.

In more historical times it is said that the eighth-century Indian master Padmasambhava brought the prayer wheel lineage to Tibet where it was later practiced by the Indian tantric Buddhist masters Tilopa and Naropa. Naropa's disciple Maropa later renewed the lineage in Tibet and passed it on to the renowned Tibetan meditator, Milarepa. From these and other great yogis the prayer wheel tradition was passed on.

Over the past hundred years, Western scholars have debated whether the prayer wheel originated in India, Tibet or China, though the vast majority of evidence, including all Tibetan commentaries, indicate that the practice arrived in Tibet from India. The symbolism of the practice clearly appears to be based on Indian imagery, and the Tibetan commentaries quote numerous sources that evince translation from the Sanskrit.

The practice of building large and small prayer wheels has become popular among many Western Buddhists since the 1990s. As part of a renaissance of Mahayana Buddhist arts and culture, an increasing number of Western artists and artisans have built very beautiful prayer wheels.

The symbolism inherent in the prayer wheel and the symbolic context from which it arises is a second important aspect of this practice that we should briefly address. One of the most universal symbols in the world, both in and out of the Buddhist context, is the wheel or circle as a solar emblem. The concept of the sun as a wheel was one of the most widespread notions of antiquity. This kind of symbolism was already present in India before the time of the Buddha, and it certainly influenced the understanding of the wheel as a symbol of Buddhism.

Three archetypal qualities of solar symbolism appear to relate to the prayer wheel practice. The first of these is evoked by the prayer wheel as the timeless image of the sun as giving protection against the demonic forces of darkness. Historical commentaries state that turning the prayer wheel is said to protect one from evil powers. This is not unlike ancient beliefs that the sun was believed to drive away darkness and demons from the gods in the sky as well as from the earth. In Buddhist terms, the principle demons to be overcome through practice are the inner, psychological demons such as self-centeredness, pride, anger, and ignorance. On the difficult, inner journey through the darker regions of the soul, turning the prayer wheel can bring light, just as compassion can lighten the darkest sorrows.

Another kind of solar symbolism that the prayer wheel seems to invoke is the sun as a source of warmth, light, and growth. The visualization practices described in the Tibetan commentaries make it clear that as the emanation of light-beams from the prayer wheel reaches beings, it primarily causes Dharma realizations to grow. The visualizations to be done while turning the prayer wheel specifically mention visualizing beams of light emanating from the prayer wheel “striking migratory beings”, causing them to “spontaneously develop the four immeasurable thoughts, (or Brahma viharas) -- loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity” and to “complete the practice of the six perfections (paramitas) -- giving, morality, patience, persever-ance, concentration and wisdom.” The spiritual light of the Buddha, like the spiritual light visualized emanating from the prayer wheel, has the particular character of inspiring the practice and completion of the six perfections, which comprise the heart of the Bodhisattva’s practice on the path to full enlightenment, of Buddhahood.

Finally, a third kind of solar symbolism evoked by the prayer wheel is the sun’s westward transit across the sky each day as a symbol of the right path. That the prayer wheel is spun clockwise, just as stupas are generally circumambulated clockwise, seems to be related to this symbolism. In the Buddhist tradition, clockwise circumambulation is a sign of respect; a number of Buddhist sutras describe disciples doing three clockwise circumambulations of the Buddha and prostrating to him before requesting teachings. It is interesting that the word clockwise is an adaptation of an earlier term translated from the Sanskrit as “sun-wise.”

It appears likely that our dual association with the word right --indicating one’s right side and also indicating what is true, moral, and just -- is associated with this ancient and archetypal idea of circumambulating clockwise, with one’s right side to the center. It has been noted that the Sanskrit word rita, originally used to identify the “path followed every day by the sun from his rising to his setting,” later came to mean “the eternal foundation of all that exists,” the law in general, and all that is right, good and true.

So, through the simple gesture of turning a prayer wheel clockwise or circumambulating a holy object, one is evoking a very ancient and pervasive level of symbolism related to paying homage, to doing what is right and to following a true and enlightening path. Awareness of the symbolic resonances in the ritual of the prayer wheel may help to understand what the ritual evokes. Just as the buddhas communicate with the conscious mind through teachings on subjects like impermanence, compassion and emptiness, so also do they communicate with the subconscious through rituals and symbols to awaken hidden potentials.

The association of kings with solar imagery is a common theme in many cultures, including India where there is an ancient tradition regarding the wheel-turning king or chakravartin. Here the wheel is a symbol of universal dominion. Stories of the Buddha’s birth are replete with such imagery, including the fact that he had natural marks in the shape of wheels on the soles of his feet and on his palms. A seer that the Buddha’s father, a king, consulted said that the Buddha had remarkable qualities; he would either become a wheel-turning king or became a Buddha, a fully awakened being.

As we all know, the Buddha renounced his option of become a wheel-turning monarch, rejecting the option of having unlimited worldly power. Even a wheel-turning king is not free from the sufferings of illness, aging, loss and death. Only enlightened wisdom can grant such freedom. After the Buddha’s enlightenment the gods eventually came to him and said: “Arise, O great ocean of compassion, and turn the holy wheel of Dharma.” Thus, rather than becoming a worldly, wheel-turning king, he became a king of the realm of truth, who by turning the wheel of Dharma awakens others to the true nature of things.

Accordingly, Tibetan commentaries on the prayer wheel refer to turning the prayer wheel as “turning the Dharma wheel”. One commentary says that by engaging in the practice of the prayer wheel, “one gains a connection to a Buddha’s turning of the wheel of Dharma.”

It should not be surprising then that symbolism is such a basic element in the design of any prayer wheel, however large or small, though the symbols employed are intended to point toward experiences that transcend symbolism. The Tibetan commentaries offer a variety of explicit instructions on how to design and construct a prayer wheel. Extending through the center of the prayer wheel is placed a “life tree” or central shaft. One commentary states: “The life-tree should be [from] a good tree like juniper, sandalwood, and so forth; any of the good trees, but not a poisonous tree. The root and tip of the tree should not be confused. The life-tree should be square or round.” Metal is obviously used in some instances today as well.

Attached to the bottom of the prayer wheel is the earth wheel and to the top is the sky wheel, with the life tree attached to the center of each. Both the earth wheel and the sky wheel face toward the center of the prayer wheel. Detailed instructions exist on how the earth wheel and the sky wheel should be designed. A six-petaled lotus should be drawn on each, with one of the syllables of the six syllable mantra, om mani padme hum placed on each of the petals. Additional mantras are placed at specific locations on both, such as inside a petal, outside a petal, on the spokes, around a rim, in a rim, etc.

On the life tree itself a variety of mantras are inscribed, again in a specific order, though each mantra is to be repeated as many times as space permits within its designated area. In place of, or in addition to, writing on the life tree comparable inscriptions are placed on paper or cloth scrolls, again repeated as many times as space permits, and the scroll is carefully wrapped in a specified direction around the life tree and carefully attached. This multiplication of mantras inside the prayer wheel is believed to expotentially increase the prayer wheel’s power. Modern technology now makes possible the insertion of the mantra scrolls in the form of computer generated microfilm, with hundreds of thousands of repetitions of the mantras.

Of course, none of the contents of the prayer wheel are visible to the devotee who might be turning the prayer wheel. Accordingly, the exterior portion of the prayer wheel, especially large ones, is frequently lavishly and beautifully decorated by embossing, engraving or painting of various iconographic elements, including the mani mantra, other mantras, the eight auspicious symbols, lotus petals and a variety of other design motifs. The prayer wheel, if free hanging, is frequently housed in a separate decorated housing unit within a religious structure or alongside decorated walls, under painted canopies or roofs, etc.

Clearly a prayer wheel is a physical material object in very much the same way that a Buddha image, a Kwan Yin image or a mandala are physical objects. To believers these are also holy objects. One might say that these holy objects are like books, and by relating to them we connect ourselves with the powerful crane of the Buddhas’ qualities, allowing ourselves to be lifted up. Tibetan Buddhists likely began engaging in the prayer wheel practice based on faith. It is likely however, that most continue to engage in it based on their own experience of its leading to more peaceful, joyful and virtuous mental states. It appears that by relating to a prayer wheel, even quite ordinary people can gain glimpses of that pure energy which is like otherworldly light shining through the veils of our ordinary perceptions.

Prayer wheel devotional practice is not so different than ours in that it too is focused on meditation and chanting, though it is done in connection with a prayer wheel and the meditation is highly focused. It is said that prayer wheel practice is designed to simultaneously engage one’s “three doors” -- body, speech, and mind -- in virtue. With one’s body, one turns the prayer wheel. With one’s speech, one recites the mantra of Avalokitesvara. And with one’s mind, one engages in specific contemplations and visualizations. The specific contemplations and visualizations focus on taking from others their suffering and its causes and returning to them love and compassion. One does this not only in this realm but in each of the six realms of existence. The prayer wheel is visualized as playing a key role in the taking and giving process. Reciting the mani mantra, om mani padme hum, is an essential part of prayer wheel practice. The mani mantra is the mantra of Avalokitesvara, the Buddha of Compassion. The Tibetan commentaries state that the benefits of doing so are immeasurable. The mani mantra, or any other mantra, is not like a prayer to a divine being. Rather, the mantra -- whether recited, written or spun -- is the deity, is enlightenment, immediately manifest. There is no difference between the deity himself and the mantra which is his essence. One is asserting with one’s body, speech, and mind that the Buddha of Compassion is manifest here and now, that this is his pure land, and that the universe is completely filled with the brilliant light of compassionate wisdom, manifest everywhere in order to awaken beings.

Reflecting the immeasurable benefits reputedly gained from prayer wheel practice, the Tibetan commentaries state that by turning the prayer wheel and reciting the mani mantra, one’s home becomes like the Potola pure land, and one becomes “equal in fortune to the Thousand Buddhas” and meaningful to behold by anyone with whom one has a connection so that “even sentient beings who are touched by one’s shadow will be liberated from the lower realms.”

This clearly challenges our modern, mechanistic view of reality, as such benefits seem highly implausible. Yet, this is also the same reality, as one Tibetan yogi has put it, that enslaves us in the “tyranny of ordinary appearances and conceptions”. So, it may well be that by means of symbolism, ritual, devotion, and practice, one may find the radiant prayer wheel of enlightened, universal compassion in one’s own heart.