རླུང་རྟ་

The title in Tibetan characters means “wind horse”, in transcription “rlung rta”. In German and English, people like to talk about Tibetan or Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags. But wind horses are something else. They are cotton fabrics printed with blessings that are hung in the wind so that it can carry the blessing all over the world, regardless of whether someone believes in it or not. Sometimes a picture is also printed on it. The five different colors each have their own meaning: blue stands for the sky, white for the wind or air, red for fire, green for water and yellow for the earth. They are the five elements, in a way. The blessings flow through everything.

During my field research in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in Switzerland, India, Ladakh and Nepal, the flags were blowing in the wind everywhere. Buddhists hang them in special places, often near monasteries. The “wind horses” can also support your own meditation while sitting under the wind horses moved by the air. The breath follows the wind horses. The mind becomes calm and can relax.

2025, acrylic on canvas, 30×40 cm