A lovely, rustic Tibetan prayer made from carved bone with inset stones. Unfortunately the ball and chain that spins around the center is missing. Circa 1900
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Each turn of the wheel counted as a repetition of those mantras. A key Buddhist belief is that people are reborn or reincarnated into a new life when they die, and that a person’s actions effect what they will be reborn as. If a person does good deeds in their life they will accumulate merit, or good karma, and they will be reborn as a human. If they have bad karma they could be reborn as an animal or even a ghost. The ultimate goal of Buddhist practice is to achieve nirvana, or ‘enlightenment’ and an escape from the endless cycle of rebirth. The reciting of mantras, along with the commissioning or making of Buddhist objects and statues, is considered to help a person accumulate merit which will help them in their next life. Turning a prayer wheel is considered to be the same as reciting many mantras.