Prayer Flags

The Gyaltsen Tsemö Pungyen prayer should be printed. On top of where you put the banner [the tip of the pole], there is a round piece of wood, lying flat.

Put the White Umbrella deity protection and Namgyalma protection inside the round wood. There should be two round pieces of wood; you carve a bit in the middle—make it hollow—and put the protections inside, to protect them from the elements. 

On the tip of the pole, there is the sun and moon, then a trident (with the three points).

This will then help to have success overall. If you are able to make it well, then it can help other people who also want success, so they can make the same thing.

Print and fold the Namgyalma and White Umbrella deity protections and put them inside the round wood.

Print the protections on thin paper or on thin cloth, then fold and put them inside, in between the two pieces of round wood. If possible, make it like that.

You can have three or five poles with banners around your house.

If we raise prayer flags, they bless the elements that touch the mantras, for example, the wind. Then, animals and insects who feel this wind are purified of their negative karma, and it transfers their consciousnesses to higher realms. Also, when rain and water touches the flags, it blesses worms and other creatures in the ground and liberates them from the lower realms.

Dear Simon,
I heard you put the prayer flags up with lots of good energy and I appreciate that, but the day was not a good day to put them up. I did a mo and it also came out bad to put up prayer flags on that day. It is better if you can take them down, as I don’t want to have unnecessary obstacles for the people in the house or the FPMT. These things are a dependent arising and can lead to difficulties arising due to our karma.

When the next good day comes, please put up the prayer flags with the short prayer that I have. I will send it to you.

Much love and prayer...

I wanted to pass this message on to all of you. Thank you. I had a good time. Thank you for your service; it was very good.

For the future, please keep in mind regarding the banners that traditionally the monasteries have them on the roof at the corners. You should have a good design for the corners of the roof, not too thin, a bit thick. They can be made of cement or stone. Inside there should be lots of mantras of Gyaltsen Tsemö Pungyen [Skt. Dhvajagrakeyura], many of White Mahakala mandala, the Migtsema wheel (to draw the Sangha), as well as Kurukulli for controlling wealth and sentient beings, etc. The design should be very good. Examples can be used from the Potala or Jokhang, etc.

When you put up prayer flags, pipes are better than wooden poles. Then, these keep the flags straight. The flags should be of good quality material and you should change them when they get old, on the correct day. Again, Gyaltsen Tsemö Pungyen mantra should be used for things to go smoothly. I have also designed other prayer flags which are good to use.

With much love and prayers,

Lama Zopa