THE JOURNEY
A PRAYER SHAPED
FOR THE JOURNEY
For generations, pilgrims crossed the Tibetan plateau on foot and on horseback. Some advanced through full-body prostrations, carrying their devotion across mountain passes and open valleys toward monasteries and sacred places.
RITUAL, ASPIRATION, AND OFFERING
RITUAL, INTENTION,
AND OFFERING
At monasteries and sacred sites, pilgrims walked the kora, offered prayers, lit lamps, and joined ritual gatherings.
Some carried molds and shaped tsa tsas from clay gathered near the site—leaving them as offerings or bringing them home as a connection to the journey.
A GATHERING OF PRAYER
MAY ALL BEINGS
KNOW PEACE
In many communal prayer gatherings, monastics and lay practitioners come together to recite prayers of aspiration.
The intention reaches beyond any one person—for peace in the world, for suffering to ease, and for all beings to know happiness and well-being.
THE TSA TSA
A SACRED IMAGE SHAPED IN CLAY
A tsa tsa is a small sacred image formed by pressing prepared clay into a carved mold. It may depict a Buddha, deity, teacher, stupa, or sacred symbol.
Made by pilgrims and devotees, tsa tsas have been placed within stupas, left at sacred sites, kept on household altars, and carried in portable shrines.
A PRAYER CARRIED HOME
A tsa tsa carries the memory of a sacred journey—and an aspiration for the well-being of all.