L00k at this Lucky Lock I just bought at a Tibetan shop in the SF Bay Area! The lock actually works!
Anyone know what the symbols represent? It is Buddhist.
The front is the Eight Auspicious Signs, or at least the common Tibetan versions. They like putting them on things, makes them lucky. The key is a vishvavajra, which is a pair of thunderbolts forming a cross, another old Buddhist symbol for the nature of the entire world of the four elements in a single moment (see my avatar). On the back you have the Sanskrit dharani of Avalokiteshvara (
om mani padme hum) in some moderately squished Tibetan characters. It doesn't make a coherent sentence, but it is believed that saying it aloud or even just reciting it in your mind causes the power of the bodhisattva of infinite compassion to manifest in the world, which helps lead all beings a little closer towards true happiness and liberation. Consequently it's Tibetans' favorite six syllables in the world (I don't even read Tibetan, but I recognize it because they like to put it on everything, the better to spread happiness far and wide). Not sure what the middle bit is supposed to be.
It's a neat item. I've never seen anything like it.
Will the lock rust if I use it outdoors on the outside of a door or gate?
All things are impermanent.
(Really I have no idea.)