HOWLAND COLLECTION OF BUDDHIST ART. 748 



discussion of the philosophical basis of the doctrine. Measurements: 

 16 inches by 2^ inches by 1^ inches. — Burma. (Plate 11, Cat. No. 

 216139, U.S.N.M.) 



16. Prayer wheel. — Consisting of a metal cylinder through which 

 passes a wooden handle forming its axis. Around this axis a long strip 

 of paper is rolled, inscribed with sacred sentences or invocations. 

 A piece of metal fastened by a string to the cylinder facilitates the 

 turning of it. Prayer wheels are used especially by the Buddhists of 

 Tibet. The most usual invocation inscribed on the rolls in prayer 

 wheels consists of the words: "Om! Mani padme ! Hum!" — i. e., O 

 jewel in the lotus flower! The lotus, which is otherwise the symbol of 

 purity and perfection with Buddhists, is here employed in allusion to 

 Avalokiteshvara, or Padmapani, the present Dhyani-Bodhisattva. In 

 the theology of the northern school of Buddhism each earthly Buddha 

 (Manushi- Buddha) has his mystic or spiritual counterpart, or Dhyani- 

 Buddha in one of the heavens or the world of forms. Each of the 

 Dhvani Buddhas again has his Dhyani-Bodhisattva, who, after the 

 passing away or the Nirvana of the human Buddha, becomes his repre- 

 sentative on earth until the appearance of a new Buddha. Padmapani 

 is considered as the Dhyani-Bodhisattva of Amitabha, the Dhyani- 

 Buddha of Sakhya muni. By the Tibetans he is held in special venera- 

 tion as the protector and patron of Tibet. He is believed to have 

 appeared on earth from a lotus flower for the deliverance of mankind. 

 The Tibetans believe that his descent and incarnation in the Dalai 

 Lama, the head of Tibetan Buddhism, takes place by the emission of 

 a beam of light. 



Each revolution of the cylinder counts as an uttered prayer, pro- 

 vided that the turning is done slowly and from right to left, the latter 

 in order to follow the writing which runs from left to right. 



Besides the small hand-prayer wheels, usually measuring from 3 to 

 5 inches in height and from 2 to 3 inches in diameter, there are some of 

 large size permanently set up near temples and monasteries to be turned 

 by each person passing by them; or on gables of houses, or over the 

 hearth, where they are twirled by the wind or smoke. Sometimes a 

 wheel is fixed to the bed of a stream and kept in motion by the current, 

 thus praying night and day for the owner. Measurements: Height, 

 2i inches; diameter, 3 inches.— Burma. (Plate 12, Cat. No. 2 Hi Ho, 

 U.S.N.M.) 



IT. Pair of temple lamps. — Open fretwork. On the top is the 

 receptacle for oil in shape of a dish, from which fig leaves are sus- 

 pended. The whole has a kind of aureole as a background and is sur- 

 mounted Ijy Ganesa, the Hindu god of sagacity with the elephat head, 

 who also found a place in the Tibetan pantheon. Made of bronze. 

 Measurements: Height, 3 feet 9 inches; diameter of the base, 13£ 

 inches.— Tibet. (Plate 13, Cat. No. 216111, U.S.N.M.) 



