I have just returned from walking up a nearby hill. This region is a home for Tibetans in exile, including the Dalai Lama, so naturally enough the top of the hill was festooned with Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags. These flags come in groups of five different colours, representing five elements. As they flutter in the wind, the intention is that they send goodwill out into the world.
This particular hilltop seemed to be rather overloaded with prayers. The strings of flags criss-crossed each other, forming a monkish obstacle course for anyone intent on reaching the summit. There were brightly coloured new flags, faded old ones; flags fluttering livelily, flags fallen by the wayside. Saddest of all were the tattered remains of flags which had been torn apart by the merciless thorn bushes.
Seeing all this, it popped into my head that these prayer flags were rather like the hopes, wishes and expectations, the desires and cravings, in the mind. For surely the human mind is laden with a mishmash of conflicting desires, some new, some old, some still fluttering boldly, some long ago abandoned and trodden underfoot, torn apart by the harsh realities of life. These desires are the real obstacles on our spiritual journey to the top of the hill. And how we are festooned with them!
