Mandarin Course

MAKING PRAYER FLAGS

ABOUT PRAYER FLAGS OM MA NI PAD ME HUM When you hang them and don’t allow the flags to torch the floor The hoisting of flags to ensure good fortune is one of the many customs within the nomadic communities of Tibet that have changed very little for several thousand years. However, the meaning of this ritual has gradually evolved from being of militaristic to religious significance. That the original use of flags in Tibet was militaristic is illustrated by the term Ru-dar or banner. Ru refers to gathering of nomads before moving on together to fresh pastures and thus, in an archaic sense this assembly referred to a kind of army. The banners (ru-dar) found in ancient literature were military flags. The flying of flags began to acquire religious significance in the Bon tradition and it may be observed that the actual design of the flags also gradually changed. In the corners of some of these flags were images of a tiger, a snow lion, a garuda, and a dragon, and in the center was a horse, around which was written a Bon mantra and a line which read, “May the horse of good fortune run fast and increase the power of life, influence, fortune, wealth, health, and so forth.” This writing of mantras on cloth to produce a flag of religious significance can be traced to the immaculate g.Yung-drung-gtsang-ma-zhang-zhung, a collection of Bonpo teachings, which say that when a mantra is wrapped in five colored silk and placed high in the mountains, it will provide whoever sees it with …