What is a "World Peace Prayer Wheel?"
We started our journey crafting Buddhist prayer wheels back in the year 2008 after meeting H.E. Garchen Rinpoche in Israel and falling in love with him and his prayer wheel.
We felt an urge that can't be explained to craft these holy objects, even though we had no prior experience working with wood… but this feeling that came over us we could not ignore.
So, we set out to learn all we could about crafting prayer wheels and started on our way. Not so long after we started this journey, a good friend asked us: "I love this prayer wheel! And it is so beautiful! And the concept of spinning holy mantras and prayers to all is amazing! But I don't know Buddha… can you make me a Jewish prayer wheel?"
We were stopped in our tracks.
The first thing we did was ask for advice from H.E. Garchen Rinpoche, and this was his answer:
"Of course it is OK to make a Jewish prayer wheel. Whatever you do that comes from a wish to help others is virtuous. When we pray for the happiness of others it is very powerful, when we pray for our own happiness, there is not much benefit. You should definitely also ask the Rabbi for permission and if it is OK with him then it is fine. When spinning the prayer wheel, it is important to be mindful because virtue comes from the mind. Everything we do with conscientiousness becomes virtuous."
This answer was perfect! We started to ask Rabbis we know for their advice on the subject and we got only positive answers from them all. They gave us some advice as to what not to do, and what to do since there is no Jewish text regarding prayer wheels. It took us 3 years to have the courage to craft the first Jewish prayer wheel. So, we made our first Jewish prayer wheel. It was loved!
Then later on a Christian friend asked for a Christian prayer wheel. So, we went to the closest church to our home and talked with the head priest there. We asked him what he thought about which prayer should be in a Cristian prayer wheel and after some thought he said: "The Lord's prayer would be the best. You two should take a trip to Jerusalem and go to the Church where Christ said this prayer for the first time. There you can get it in Aramaic script which is the original language spoken then." We did, and that is the prayer we have in our Christian prayer wheels.
Not long after that, one of our good friends, a Sheikh of a village not far from our home asked us: "Why is there no Muslim prayer wheel? I want one please." The Sheikh said that the most appropriate would be the Surat El Fatiha prayer from the Koran. We asked him to write it for us in his own hand writing and explain the meaning of it, and he did. We made copies of that hand written Sura and that is what we have in our Muslim prayer wheels.
We have become prayer collectors in a sense… And we are the only ones who made these prayer wheels for all faiths.
One of our good friends, Sagi Shalev asked us one day: "Can you make me a world peace prayer wheel? One that has ALL prayers and mantras in it? I want to build a big outdoor one next to our clinic in the north of Israel and I want a Baha'i prayer added to it too." This was the most amazing of all requests--to put it ALL together and spin it all to send out a one unified collective energy of oneness, of unity, instead of the separation we all feel and experience. We loved that idea!! Sagi has just invented the World Peace Prayer Wheel.
We built that large outdoor prayer wheel. We travelled up north and set it up. Chamtrul Rinpoche, who was visiting Israel at that time, came to bless and consecrate the prayer wheel in a big ceremony with many people and the first World Peace Prayer Wheel was born.
We then started making handheld peace prayer wheels, and we offered one to H.E. Garchen Rinpoche when he came to teach in Israel in 2018. Rinpoche absolutely loved the idea of a world peace prayer wheel and accepted our offering. A month later we were at the Garchen Buddhist Institute for the yearly Vajrakilaya Drubchen where we showed this world peace prayer wheel for the first time to the people who came to the Drubchen, and it was accepted with much joy! A woman came to us and said that she loved this world peace prayer wheel, that she taught meditation in US prisons, and that it would be amazing if our world peace prayer wheels could include a prayer from the indigenous people of north America. This conversation sent us searching for a Native American prayer. It was an amazing journey which ended with us getting permission to make Wapaktas, prayer knots from the Lakota people because they had no written language. We learned how to make them and started putting them in our world peace prayer wheels when we came back home.
The following year, 2019, Garchen Rinpoche asked us for all the prayers we had collected form all various faiths, and he had a large metal outdoor World Peace Prayer Wheel built in his center in Arizona at the Garchen Buddhist Institute. When we came that year for the annual Drubchen, Rinpoche had a big ceremony to consecrate and bless this world peace prayer wheel he had made. A man from the Hopi tribe came with his family and the ceremony began. It was an amazing ceremony. At its conclusion, we spoke with that man and asked for a prayer from his tribe, the Hopi, so it too could be added to our world peace prayer wheels. He of course agreed but asked us to come to the reservation and ask it from the elders. We were very honored, and a few days later we showed up at his home on the reservation. We sat with the elder listening to his stories. We showed him a world peace prayer wheel we had made, explained what we want the prayer for, and were kindly offered a peace prayer from the elder. It was a very moving event where many tears of sadness and of joy were shared.
Two weeks later that elder passed away. We were so fortunate to have met him and receive this prayer and blessing from him.
This is how the World Peace Prayer Wheel came to be.
Later on, Ayelet got a request to make a spherical globe design for our prayer wheels. We felt that a globe was a wonderful symbol for them! One of our friends at the Garchen Buddhist Institute asked for this globe prayer wheel and we crafted it for her. When it arrived, she asked Rinpoche to bless it for her. He loved the globe design and asked for one to be made for him. We were so over-joyed! We made one and shipped it to Rinpoche who spins it till this day.
Our World Peace Prayer Wheels have the following in them:
1. Buddhist mantras
2. A Jewish prayer
3. A Muslim prayer
4. A Christian prayer
5. A Baha'i prayer
6. A Hopi prayer
7. H.E. Garchen Rinpoche world peace prayer
And that is the story behind the World Peace Prayer Wheel and how it was born
