According to traditional commentaries, the practice of prayer wheels was transmitted from Arya Nagarjuna to the Lion-Faced Dakini, and then to Guru Padmasambhava, who brought it to Tibet. Historical evidence suggests that prayer wheels were used at Nalanda Monastic University in India, with their practice first spreading throughout Central Asia. In recent decades, the creation and use of prayer wheels have reached communities around the world, and interest in them continues to grow.

The practice of making and turning prayer wheels is one of cultivating love, compassion, and mindfulness. 

Based on traditional commentaries from Tibet and Mongolia, the benefits of prayer wheels are totally inconceivable! However, the following lists some primary benefits:

• Purifies the ten non-virtuous actions and all bad karma. 
• Grants blessings by the Gurus and realizations by the Vajrayana deities.
• Invokes the care of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and the protection of the Dharmapalas.
• Dispels inner and outer obstacles for oneself and others.
• Blesses the environment. Prayer wheels turned by hand, water, wind, heat or electricity bless the elements and all beings connected with the elements. 
• Blesses one’s home. Simply having a prayer wheel in your home is said to transform the space into one equal to the Potala Pure Land—the pure land of the Buddha of Compassion Avalokitesvara. 
• Aids one in the transference of consciousness. H.E. Garchen Rinpoche teaches that having a prayer wheel beside you when you are dying and thinking of it will serve as an effective transference of consciousness practice, enabling you to be reborn in Sukhavati or Potala pure lands. 
• Increases mindfulness, love, and compassion for the practitioner.
• Brings great benefit to all who come in the presence of the prayer wheel. For example, even an insect passing through your shadow as you spin the wheel is purified of negative karma.

Turning a prayer wheel just once is said to generate the same karmic benefit as reciting all the mantras contained within it. Prayer wheels made with microfilm or nanofilm often contain millions, billions, or even trillions of mantras. Therefore, spinning such a prayer wheel for even a few minutes while meditating on compassion for all beings is said to be equivalent to having completed many years of personal retreat.

One commentary states that turning a prayer wheel even once is more beneficial than completing one, seven, or even nine years of retreat—and surpasses listening, reflecting, and meditating for countless eons. Of course, the practitioner must have genuine bodhicitta and the aspiration to liberate all sentient beings from suffering.

In brief, if you wish to develop deeper love, compassion, and mindful concentration, making and using prayer wheels is a supreme practice. If you wish to purify negative karma, accumulate vast amounts of merit quickly, and receive blessings and protection from the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Dharmapalas, then engage in this practice. Simply having a prayer wheel will bless the earth, your homeland, and your place of dwelling, and send healing and blessings to those around you.

Citations

Ladner, L. (2000). The wheel of great compassion : the practice of the prayer wheel in Tibetan Buddhism (Thubten Zopa, Trans.). Wisdom Publications.

Lundberg, C. (Director). (2013). For the Benefit of all Beings – The Extraordinary Life of His Eminence Garchen Triptul Rinpoche [Film]. Garuda Sky Productions.

Rinpoche, G. (2003-2004). Winter Retreat at Garchen Buddhist Institute [Dharma Talk].

Rinpoche, G. (2016). Garchen Dharma Institute.

Drikung Dharma Surya Center (n.d.). Construction of the Prayer Wheel Pagoda. Retrieved September 12, 2025, from https://drikungdharmasurya.org/construction-of-temple-prayer-wheel-pagoda/

Rinpoche, T. (04/08/2025). [Dharma Talk]