101 Ways Tibetan Buddhists Pray

The Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet - the historic winter residence of the Dalai Lama

Growing up in a Catholic household I learned to pray in what I thought was the ‘traditional way’ – prayers and singing at Church on Sunday, and kneeling to say bedtime prayers. Little did I know that Buddhists were way ahead in terms of the number of ways to pray.

Buddhism is one of the world’s great religions … and some would say it is both a religion and a philosophy. Buddhism, and its associated traditions, beliefs, and practices, is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama or Buddha (the Awakened One). The basic concept is that we should live our lives with compassion… respect all life and don’t succumb to the pressures of evil.

Tibetan Buddhists don’t pray to Buddha (or to God) per se … their praying is more a combination of meditation and devotion. Tibetan Buddhists pray a lot and do so by chanting mantras, setting up prayer flags, spinning prayer wheels (water wheels, hand-held wheels, huge wheels) and also through devotional prostration.

Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims from across Tibet and neighboring regions do pilgrimages to Monasteries to pray and express their gratitude for the Buddha's Teachings.

I visited a large number of Monasteries some with just a few monks and visitors … while others had hundreds of Monks and thousands of visitors!

The highlight for me was without a doubt the Potala Palace. I was first introduced to the mystique of Tibet by a photo taken by Galen Rowell, an American National Geographic photographer in the 70s. His image of a rainbow above the Potala Palace struck me as outstanding… and it was partly due to this image that I had a keen interest in one day visiting the famous winter residence of the Dalai Lama (the summer residence is a short three kilometres away). The Potala Palace (located at an altitude of over 3650m) is the highest ancient palace in the world.


Who then is the Dalai Lama? (A name synonymous with Buddhism in Tibet, and other parts of the world). The Dalai Lama, a high lama in the "Yellow Hat" sect of Tibetan Buddhism, is thought of as the latest reincarnation of a series of spiritual leaders who have chosen to be reborn in order to enlighten others. The 14th Dalai Lama (the one alive today) has been in exile since the invasion (or liberation in the words of China) of Tibet in 1959.

The Dalai Lamas were religious leaders and teachers… and it was the 5th Dalai Lama who added the political leadership role in addition to the religious role to the duties of the Dalai Lama.
Personally I do find Buddhism fascinating and am particularly impressed with the commitment and reverence for all life on Earth. If all religions of the world also had this perspective I think we would have a healthier planet, and could look foreward to a healthier future for generations yet to come.