OM MANI PADME HUM

This is something about a flag which we have seen but never understood what it would meant.

Yesterday, my friend gifted me this precious flag after his trip to Ladakh. I think from this you would have guessed the flag. Yes, it is the Tibetan Prayer Flag.

Tibetan Flag

A Tibetan prayer flag is a colorful rectangular cloth, often found strung along trails and peaks high in the Himalayas. They are used to bless the surrounding countryside and for other purposes. Prayer flags are believed to have originated with Bon.

The above paragraph is taken from Wikipedia.

The flag consists of multiple colors which represents elements and the direction.

The red, blue, yellow, white and green Buddhist prayer flags represent elements like air, fire, water and earth. White symbolizes air, red is fire. Green is water, yellow is earth, and blue is wind. They also represent directions — North, South, East, West and Center.

Significance of OM MANI PADME HUM

OM MANI PADME HUM prescribed in the flag has a very deep meaning.

Om- The sacred syllable

Mani- Jewel

Padme — Lotus

Hum — Spirit of enlightenment

This mantra does not have one particular meaning. It’s a combination of values like compassion, ethics, patience, diligence, renunciation and wisdom. It is said that if you recite the mantra during meditation, it can cure pride, jealousy, ignorance, greed and aggression.

Beliefs about the Flag

It is believed that the flag should not be kept on ground as they emit positive spiritual vibrations and that the prayers are carried by the wind like silent prayers.

It is said that if it looses the color after sometime then your prayers were carried by the breeze.

So this was all about the Tibetan Flag. One more thing I would like to add on is that the best way to get flag is to get as a gift from your friend so what are you waiting for, ask your friend who had planned for Ladakh/Leh trip to get it for you.