Prayer wheel
Tibet, 19th century
Brass and wood
Collection of The Newark Museum
Gift of Mrs. E.N. and Mr. A.M. Crane, 1911(11.658)

Portable prayer wheels are embossed with a mantra -- symbolic, vibrating syllables whose particular combination of sounds protect the mind, invoke a specific deity and provide a positive state of being. The prayer wheel at the Ackland altar is marked with: O Mani Padmi Om ("Hail, the Jewel in the Lotus" -- a reference to ultimate enlightenment through the union of wisdom and compassion), the mantra of Avalokitesvara.

Prayer wheels function to set a mantra in motion. Each turn of the wheel is comparable to reciting the mantra. Prayer wheels assume many forms and sizes. In early Buddhism, the wheel became a symbol of the Dharma or teaching. The term "Turning of the Wheel" refers to the first sermon preached by the Buddha in Sarnath, India, and other teachings.