Prayer flags are an important component of the culture in areas of the world where Tibetan style Buddhism is practiced. They are hung around homes, monasteries and any important place such as rivers, lakes and mountain passes. Prayer flags are hung as an offering to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as well as to the guardian spirits that inhabit sacred lakes and mountains, etc. There are many different designs that may be utilized with prayer flags, and they range in intent from the rather general to fairly specific objectives.

Prayer flags, by virtue of the particular prayers and images printed on them, have the capacity to increase positive circumstances and dispel inauspicious phenomena in the vicinity of where they are hung. The wind activates and caries the blessing of the flags with it where ever it blows. The flags on auction here feature the 3 long life deities. The 3 long life deities are Tsepame (Amitayus), Dolkar (White Tara) and Namgyalma (Ushnivijaya). Each of these 3 is a powerful bestower of health and longevity in their own right, and of course when they are combined the power and blessing is increased exponentially.

Not only are rituals invoking these 3 used to restore health and increase life span, but they also avert the negative potential for illness and threats to life force before they manifest. Of course, the main benefit with regard to increasing one's longevity is that then it will be possible to practice more.

This string of prayer flags consists of 25 separate cotton flags ( 5 flags in each of the 5 colors representing the elements) each with the long life deities printed on them. Our flags are made the traditional way - by hand, using wood blocks to impart the hand carved image and prayer text on to the fabric.