How Just 10 Prayer Flags Will Give Miraculous Blessings
Mount Everest is often called the roof of the world. It is the world's highest mountain peak located in the Himalayas. It borders the countries Nepal and Tibet.
At the base camps for the Mount Everest climbing teams, these prayer flags are often flown to offer blessings for a safe trip to those on the ascent to the top of the mountain.
And generally, the Tibetan and Nepali Buddhists fly these prayer flags from their homes, in villages and from the monasteries to offer blessings to the whole world, from the highest height of the world. :)
The flags are most often made in monasteries or nunneries from a natural material such as cotton, and then woven with a low thread count and finished without a hem.
It is said that the unraveled threads from the flags are carried by the wind and around the globe; where they touch the ground to dissolve back into the earth, the ground is blessed. It could also be said that the space the threads travel through may also be blessed.
Each of the five flag colors represents an element. A flag "set" is most often 10 flags. On each flag a deity is pictured and a corresponding mantra prayer printed on it. Some flags sets have a variety of deities and mantras printed on them while others are of one deity and mantra only.
When the flags are worn down enough, then they are ceremoniously burned and new flags are raised.
In October I replaced my flags but also put up a rod on the patio to hang them more properly. My previous set was tied in such a way that was too awkward for my liking. I feel a lot better about the updated setup.
In my travels to replace my previous set of flags I saw a whole lot of different types out there besides the deity/mantra design. The flags can be made of scrap material from something like quilting. I saw some beautiful strings of DIY flags from all sorts of plaid and gingham motifs, as well as there are just solid flags, and also plain, blank flags.
I thought the non-traditional ones were especially beautiful because they were scrap material that represented the personal taste of the person who hung them up. (I chose mine to come from a Fair Trade Monastery in Nepal which produced the more traditional motifs which resonate with me the most.)
I have seen my flags on their new setup waving gently outdoors and then on other days the wind is aggressive and seems to move them quite intensely. It kind of puts things in perspective to experience how "life" and "time" treats the proverbial thoughts and feelings and wants and hopes that I treasure.
Some days my prayers are kissed by the sun and caressed by the current. On some days the gusts are playful and flirtatious and the flags have a lively dance. And then on other days it looks like the flags cannot withstand the beating they are taking out there. The wind can be so raging, I have wondered if the flags would become tangled and violently destroyed.
...short moment of terror to think that the world out there could so brutally wreck or mutilate my efforts towards fostering happiness and well-being. ...Sabotaging the things that I pray for.
The flags have been an interesting exercise for me on perspective, purpose, perseverance and forgiveness... to say the least.
But regardless of how the world treats them, they have one job to do:
Give blessings.
Rain or shine and through merciless conditions...give blessings...
♥ Violet
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