Many of us love our brands. We’re proud to wear them. We identify with them. We stick them on things that are personal to us. Some even tattoo them on their bodies. This competition sparked this post- the goal is to come up with the most creative placement of the Wordpress logo. The image of the Wordpress logo on the wheel rim made me think of you know what. I think we need a little less brands everywhere and more mantras what about you?

In India you will see Hindu gods everywhere. I just returned from a 14 day trip with Salaam Garage. Salaam Garage is an NGO that provides anyone with the opportunity to become a citizen journalist. You get to travel the world and share inspiring stories about the important work that other NGOs are doing. I’ll be posting more on those stories soon. What I wanted to share now was my utter amazement at seeing how Indians of all kinds decorate their cars, trucks, motorcycles, and tuk tuks. In this post you will see images of three motorcycles on one street within a few feet of one another. All of them have images of Hindu gods including Ganesh, Krishna, and Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva as Omh/Aum symbol. Got to make a video of Ganesh riding a motorcycle! How cool would that be?

In which order does the mantra go? This depends on the direction of wheel rotation. You want to have the mantra so that as the wheel spins it goes through in the order of Om Mani Padme Hum. If we think about a car the passenger side wheel spins clockwise. So the order should be Mani, the second and third symbol, to the left of Om, the first symbol, and so on. On the driver’s side the wheel spins counter-clockwise. So the order should be Mani to the right of Om and so on.

Does it matter which way the mantra spins? In essence as long as the mantra is spinning in the order according to it’s direction it does not matter if it is clockwise or counter-clockwise. A traditional prayer wheel is spun clockwise but if you were to look at it from the bottom it is spinning counter-clockwise it’s really about your point of view. According to Wikipedia some advanced Buddhists sometimes turn prayer wheels in a counter-clockwise direction.

The practitioner most often spins the wheel clockwise, for the direction the mantras are written is that of the movement of the sun across the sky. However, on rare occasions advanced Tantric practitioners such as Senge Dongma, the Lion-Faced Dakini spin prayer wheels counterclockwise to manifest a more wrathful protective energy. Before, during and after the practitioner turns the wheel, it is best to focus the mind and repeat the Om Mani Padme Hum mantra, as this increases the merit earned by the wheel’s use.

I rolled on over to Hacienda Heights to visit the Hsi Lai Temple. It’s a traditional Chinese Buddhist mountain monastery. My intent was to speak with a monk about Karmacar. I wanted to make sure we wouldn’t be upsetting Buddha in any way. Some people working at the temple directed me to the tea room where I sat waiting. The monk came after a few minutes and asked what my question was. I explained Karmacar and the monk understood it in a flash and smiled. The monk said the most important thing is- for us to share the teachings of Buddha. For Karmacar to work people have to be aware or mindful of the teachings. The monk explained that the wheel was on the road, the car on the wheel, and the person on the car – the teachings are what connects the wheel to the person. The monk explained that the wheel signified the Dharma rolling on in time. With this he got up excused himself for being very busy and left. Mission accomplished- I think we’re in the clear.

We finalized the new packaging design for Karmacar. You can click on the image to see a bigger version. We really wanted to convey that the product is about its positive benefits- spreading spiritual blessings and well being. Although the first product is focused on car wheels we are after all kinds of wheels. Karma wheels, soon rolling near you.