Prayer wheel

Devotional Equipment

Some ritual tools are utilized in daily devotional practices. Prayer beads are used to track the number of times a prayer is recited, training the mind to remain fixed on a single subject for an extended period. A prayer wheel is used, not to count prayer recitations, but to generate them. Mantras inscribed on its exterior, together with prayers written on paper and rolled up inside its drum, are virtually recited with every revolution.

Ritual apparel is another kind of devotional equipment. In the Vajrayana, a crown is used to identify the wearer with the Five Buddhas it represents. Bone aprons, in contrast, facilitate a practitioner’s transformation into the wrathful deities that typically wear the garment.