Earth Sanctuary, a nature reserve and meditation parkland on Whidbey Island, has installed Tibetan prayer wheel artworks that contain 1.3 trillion prayers, more prayers than any other prayer wheel ever created.

The largest prayer wheel in Old Tibet once held 100,000,000 prayers, traditionally printed with hand-carved wood blocks. The "modern" Tibetan prayer wheels, created by Sakya Monastery of Tibetan Buddhism and Earth Sanctuary, dwarf that, containing 1,349,580.000,000 mantras stored. As the prayer wheels are turned, Tibetan Buddhists believe that they radiate an incalculable amount of peace, kindness, and relief from misery for all beings.

The new modern Tibetan prayer wheels create a new "state-of-the-art" in modern spiritual technology, which Chuck Pettis, Sakya Monastery's president and Earth Sanctuary founder, calls "Tibet-Tech ."

In Tibetan culture reciting prayers is one of the most effective ways in which a person can achieve a peaceful, relaxed, and happy state of mind. For instance, Tibetans believe that mindfully turning a prayer wheel containing 1.3 trillion prayers for peace produces the same benefits as having recited 1.3 trillion prayers. This turning is accomplished through the clockwise spin of the prayer wheel, which activates and releases the power of the prayers inside.

At one prayer recitation per second, it would take approximately 42,776 years to recite 1.3 trillion prayers. A good "spin" of the Tibet-Tech prayer wheel will cause the prayer wheel to go around 100 revolutions, which releases 27,000 prayers for each of the five billion human beings on the planet. If placed end-to-end, these prayers would stretch from the Earth to the Moon and back 607,500 times!

According to His Holiness Jigdal Dagchen Sakya (Dagchen Rinpoche), Head Lama of Sakya Monastery of Tibetan Buddhism in Seattle, the practice of the prayer wheel has many benefits: immediate relief from suffering; long life; healing sicknesses and protecting people from contagious diseases and epidemics; transforming one's home and property into a very peaceful, pleasant, and "high heavenly realm;" purifying body, speech and mind; and divine realizations.

Tibetan prayer wheels were traditionally filled with prayers that were very carefully block-printed on paper and wound up inside the prayer wheel. The Tibet-Tech prayer wheels are the first to use DVDs (the new generation of optical disc storage technology) to store prayers inside a prayer wheel. Each of the eight prayers contained in the prayer wheel were copied onto 16 DVD's so that a total of 128 DVDs are contained in each wheel.

The design and construction of the Tibet-Tech prayer wheels was directed by Dagchen Rinpoche who was raised and trained as a religious leader in old Tibet. As Head Lama of the Sakya sect of Tibetan Buddhism, one of four sects of Tibetan Buddhism, Dagchen Rinpoche holds a position third only to His Holiness the Dalai Lama in rank.

The inspiration and desire to build these "modern" prayer wheels came from Chuck Pettis, Sakya Monastery President. "Dagchen Rinpoche and his wife, H.E. Dagmo Kusho Sakya (Dagmo Kusho), recommended that I use prayer wheels in my daily practice," explains Chuck Pettis. "They gave me two prayer wheels as gifts. One was electric and revolves continuously on my shrine. I hold the other prayer wheel in my hand and spin it while I do my daily prayers as Tibetans have done for hundreds of years. When I started spinning the prayer wheels, my wife immediately noticed an increase in the spiritual feeling around our altar. One day, while meditating, the question arose in my mind, 'How many prayers could be put in a prayer wheel?' The result is the Tibet-Tech prayer wheel."

After the prayer wheels were assembled, they were blessed and consecrated by Dagchen Rinpoche with the assistance of Dagmo Kusho and Yeshi Tulku. The blessing ceremony had three parts. The first part was a praise of the prayers, then the prayer wheels were consecrated. Finally, a Dedication of Merit prayer was recited to benefit all sentient beings and to work for a more peaceful world.

The first set of three Tibet-Tech prayer wheels are installed at Earth Sanctuary at the Dolmen and Cottonwood Stone Circle where they can be turned by Earth Sanctuary visitors and retreatants to help bring peace to Earth.

These new, exquisite Tibet-Tech prayer wheels are available for purchase by individuals and organizations who would like a spiritual artwork that can be installed in both public and private places. The mission of the Tibet-Tech prayer wheels is to foster World Peace with each spin. For information, contact Chuck Pettis of Earth Sanctuary (www.earthsanctuary.org) at 425-637-8777 or cpettis@earthsanctuary.org.