At Radiant Heart Studios we have been printing a wide variety of traditional Tibetan prayer flags for nearly 50 years. We make horizontal displays on rope from 30 inches long to 30 feet long. The flags are printed on 5 colors of cloth (yellow, green, red, white and blue) representing the 5 elements (earth, water, fire, air and space), We offer several sizes and designs, pre-sewn on rope in sets of five, ten and twenty-five. We also make prayer flags 3 feet tall to 10 feet tall for poles The pole flags are fully hemmed; many with streamers. We use two printing methods: traditional woodblock and modern silk-screen printing.

Woodblock Printing

For centuries traditional Tibetan prayer flags have been printed using woodblocks; the same method used for printing Buddhist texts on paper. For this method the designs are meticulously carved in reverse on flat slabs of wood, usually tight grained hardwoods. Ink is applied with a roller or ink soaked pad to the block and a blank piece of cloth is laid over the block. A clean roller or padded weight is pressed on the back of the cloth, transferring the ink from the woodblock to the cloth. The new flag is carefully peeled from the woodblock and hung up to dry. The woodblock ink used these days is usually kerosene based. When dry, the ink is non-toxic and waterproof. The major disadvantage of these inks is that light colored inks cannot be printed on dark backgrounds. Essentially, everything gets printed with black ink.

Woodblock carving is becoming a lost art. There are fewer and fewer artisans that can accurately carve Tibetan script in reverse, and it is difficult to obtain as fine a detail as can be obtained with more modern printing techniques. The clear detail produced from our woodblocks, however, are amazing.

We searched for several years for the collection of woodblocks we use to print our prayer flags. Since 2000 we have been collaborating with our friends, Kazi and his sister Kuisang, producing traditional prayer flags in our Kathmandu Studio – Radiant Heart East. Using woodblocks carved in their mountain village in Yolmo, we are printing prayer flags in the traditional way. We feel that these are some of the best woodblock printed flags available in the world today.flags.

We chose the 5 best medium size (14" X 18") woodblocks to print most of our line of traditional prayer flags. To keep things simple, we print each design on a different color. For example: when you order a blue flag it will always be printed with the Health and Longevity design, the Vajrasattva design will always be on white, etc.

Blue Flag with white ink - Medicine Buddha (Healing and Longevity)

White Flag with blue ink - Avalokiteshvara(Compassion)

Red Flag- Guru Padmasambhava (Wish Fulfilling Prayer)

Green Flag-with yellow ink Green Tara (Protection from All Harm)

Yellow Flag with red ink - Windhorse with Victory Banner Sutra

Silk-screen Printing

Many studios in Asia have switched to silk-screened printing with acetone and other lacquer thinner solvents. This method produces a fine waterproof print in nice colors. Unlike the woodblock inks, with lacquer inks it’s possible to print light colors on dark backgrounds. Unfortunately, the inks are quite volatile and printing without proper ventilation, can pose health problems for the printers. Because of these drawbacks, we resisted silk-screening in our Kathmandu studio until recently. For several years, our printing team has been asking to expand our line of prayer flags to include the more popular colored inks. We added a well ventilated covered outdoor area to the studio allowing silk screening to be done during fair weather. We will continue to print using traditional woodblock but we’ve expanded our line of prayer flags to include the more modern silk-screened prints.

The silk screens are made photographically from black & white drawings, so they are much easier to make and produce clear and detailed prints. The categories of prayer flags in the screen printed sets are similar to the designs of the woodblock printed sets except for the white flags. These depict Avalokiteshvara (Tib: Chenrezigs), bodhisattva of compassion, instead for Vajasattva, the embodiment of purification found on the white woodblock prints.

Blue Flag with white ink - Medicine Buddha (Healing and Longevity)

White Flag with blue ink - Avalokiteshvara(Compassion)

Red Flag- Guru Padmasambhava (Wish Fulfilling Prayer)

Green Flag-with yellow ink Green Tara (Protection from All Harm)

Yellow Flag with red ink - Windhorse with Victory Banner Sutra

Back in 2014 I attended a Long Life Blessing ceremony led by H.H.Sakya Trizen held in a high school gymnasium in Berkeley, it was hot and, I must admit.... pretty boring. I noticed that many participants were playing with their cell phones instead of reciting mantras which is the recommended activity during Tibetan Buddhist pujas. This got me thinking about designing a cellphone app on which one could count mantras. The idea germinated for a few months and I eventually got around to designing one. ~Timothy

The image above shows the original concept. The app comes preprogrammed with 10 well-known deity images image and their corresponding mantras in written and audio form. The screen can display a deity image and a workable mala on which to count mantra recitations.The mala can be displayed on the screened, superimposed on the Deity image or the scrolling mantra "prayer wheel." One merely taps the screen to advance the mala. For practitioners that do several practices, the app will keep running totals of all the various mantra repetitions. There are a dozen different malas to choose from. The scrolling mantra function can display in Western or Tibetan script and it's background colors and speeds are easily programmable. My wife and brother and I recorded the audio mantras. They're not bad, but there are hundreds of more beautiful mantra recordings available for downloading from the internet. Adding other deity images, mantras, and recordings to the app is not difficult. A Sangha friend/ programmer, Ryan Zander, took my mock- up and made it into a cool little iPhone app which we launched in 2015 through our LLC, "Wisdom Eye Studios." If you have an iphone and would like to purchase the app ($3) click on:

www.buddhistmantramala.com.

The Tibetan 7th month goes from August 7 to September 14. During this month, the Nagas are partaking and enjoying the essences of their food. If you make offerings to them on a teb day this month, the area will not suffer from drought and you will never go hungry. If you make offerings to the Nagas during a dok day, no Naga will attend your ceremony - which means there will be no result.

The Tibetan 8th month goes from September 15 to October 14. During this month the Nagas are busy to make their clothing. It is the season for dressing. If you make offerings to them on teb days, you will never suffer from the lack of food and clothes. Whatever they are getting, you will also get. However, if you make offerings to them on a dok day, even if you offer very precious things, they will be too busy to attend. There will be no result.

There are many very good days (teb) to perform offering ceremonies for the nagas during this month - September 3, 5, 6, 7, 13,,16, 23, 26, 29. There is only one days that is a dok, September 24.

A friend recently sent me a photo of the Shrine Hall at "Yeshe Rangsal,"

Tsoknyi Rinpoche's retreat land in Crestone, CO. It's such a beautiful setting.

I hope no one minds that I'm sharing it.