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Turquoise, Coral, Mila amber, and yakbone beads are the most used materials for the tibetan & Nepal craftsmen to created tibetan malas and buddhist prayer beads. Also sandal wood, bohdi seed are commonly used.
How to use your Tibetan Buddhist Mala
Recite one mantra; move your thumb and forefinger along the next bead of the strand; then repeat.
The Tibetan Buddhist mala, or beaded rosary, aids the practitioner in counting mantra recitations while also helping one to focus concentration and awareness. As one works the mala's beads with one's fingers, recites the mantra and visualizes the deity, one is at once involving the body, speech and mind.
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Some Mala Basics
The mala is held with gentleness and respect, generally in the left hand. One bead is counted for each recitation of the mantra, beginning with the first bead after the "guru" bead- the larger, more decorative bead at the mala's end. The first bead is held between the index finger and thumb, and with each count the thumb pulls another bead in place over the index finger.
After completing a full circuit of the mala, the practitioner flips the mala around 180 degrees (this takes practice to accomplish) and continues as before, in reverse order. One aims to avoid passing over the "guru" bead, as doing so is symbolically like stepping over one's teacher.
Choosing a Mala
Discover the benefits & healing properties of our Tibetan Buddhist malas.
A mala of 108 beads is used for general purposes by most practicing Tibetan Buddhists. Beads of bodhi seed generally are considered auspicious for any practice or mantra, and red sandalwood or lotus seeds also are widely recommended for universal use.
A variation of the standard 108-bead mala is the wrist mala of 27 beads - four circuits total 108 mantra repetitions.
Besides the multi-purpose malas described above, there are other types of malas that are deemed auspicious for various purposes.
Mantras can be recited for four different purposes: to appease, to increase, to overcome, or to tame by forceful means.
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The beads used to count mantras intended to appease should be of crystal, pearl or mother of pearl, and should at least be clear or white in color. A rosary for this purpose should have 100 such beads. Mantras counted on these beads serve to clear away obstacles, such as illness and other calamities, and purify one of unwholesomeness.
The beads used with mantras intended to increase should be of gold, silver, copper or lotus seeds, and a rosary is made of 108 of them. The mantras counted on these serve to increase life span, knowledge and merit.
The beads used with mantras which are intended to overcome are made from a compound of ground sandal wood, saffron and other fragrant substances. There are 25 beads on this rosary. The mantras counted on them are meant to tame others, but the motivation for doing so should be a pure wish to help other sentient beings and not to benefit oneself.
The beads used to recite mantras aiming at subduing beings through forceful means should be made from raksha seeds or human bones in a string of 60. Again, as the purpose should be absolutely altruistic, the only person capable of performing such a feat is a Bodhisattva motivated by great compassion for a being who can be tamed through no other means, for example extremely malicious spirits, or general afflictions, visualized as a dense black ball.
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Labels: Buddhist prayer beads, malas, tibetan malas, buddhist malas, turquoise malas, handmade turquoise malas, buddhist mala, tibetan mala, tibetan mala beads, tibetan buddhist mala, tibetan prayer beads, malas prayer beads, rudraksha malas, wrist malas, buddhist prayer beads bracelet, bodhi seed malas, fine wood malas |
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Buddhist Prayer Beads in Different Cultures
Prayer beads or japa malas are used in many forms of Mahayana Buddhism, often with a lesser number of beads than the Hindu japa malas 108 (number)--usually a divisor of 108. In Pure Land Buddhism, for instance, 27-bead rosaries are common.
Mahayana Buddhism
In Chinese culture such rosaries are named shu zhu 数珠("counting beads"), Fo zhu 佛珠 ("Buddha beads"), or nian zhu 念珠 ("prayer beads"). Chinese court beads (Chinese: 朝珠; pinyin: cháozhū) also derive from Buddhist prayer beads.
In Japanese Buddhism, they are known as "juzu" (数珠, "juzu" counting beads) or "nenju" (念珠, "nenju" thought beads), and both words are usually preceded by the honorific 'o-' (as in "o-juzu" (御数珠, "o-juzu")). Female speakers make use of the honorific o- more often than male speakers.
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Japanese Buddhism
Jodo Shu
In the Japanese Jodo Shu sect of Buddhism, double-ringed rosaries are used to aid in the counting of recitations of the nembutsu, or Amida Buddha's name. The outer ring counts the individual recitations, while each bead in the inner ring counts one full revolution. In addition, many such rosaries contain two pairs of tassels containing additional beads to count full revolutions of the second ring, or even revolutions of the first tassel of beads. A full count, including all the beads on the rosary, can equal up to 60,000 recitations, though many practitioners chose smaller goals to suit their ability.
Jodo Shinshu
In the Japanese Jodo Shinshu sect of Buddhism, there is no emphasize on counting recitations of the nembutsu, so rosaries are used more for ornamentation and ritual, than for counting. Typically the rosary will be draped over both hands, while in gassho, to symbolize the one-ness of the individual with Amida Buddha.
Labels: Buddhist prayer beads, malas, tibetan malas, buddhist malas, turquoise malas, handmade turquoise malas, buddhist mala, tibetan mala, tibetan mala beads, tibetan buddhist mala, tibetan prayer beads, malas prayer beads, rudraksha malas, wrist malas, buddhist prayer beads bracelet, bodhi seed malas, fine wood malas
Shingon Buddhism
In the Japanese Shingon sect, another branch of Vajrayana Buddhism, the traditional 108-bead rosary is used for the counting of mantra recitations. Often during rituals, followers will vigorously rub the rosary between their hands as a symbolic gesture of purification.
Theravada Buddhism
Theravada Buddhists in Myanmar also use prayer beads, called ba-di [bədí]. Such beads are typically made of fragrant wood, with a series of brightly-coloured strings at the end of the beads.
Tibetan Buddhism
In Tibetan Buddhism, traditionally malas of 108 beads are used. Some practitioners use malas of 21 or 28 beads for doing prostrations. Doing one 108-bead mala counts as 100 mantra recitations.
Number Of Beads And Significance
In traditional Buddhist thought, people are said to have 108 afflictions or klesas. There are 6 senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and consciousness) multiplied by 3 reactions (positive, negative, or indifference) makes 18 "feelings." Each of these feelings can be either "attached to pleasure or detached from pleasure" making 36 "passions"-- each of which may be manifested in the past, present, or future. All the combinations of all these things makes a total of 108, which are represented by the beads in the ojuzu. This same number is also used in Japanese New Year services where a bell is run 108 times.
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In addition, practitioners of Vajrayana Buddhism, use the number 108 for a different purpose. After reciting 100 mantras, 8 extra mantras are done to compensate for any errors.
Tibetan prayer wheels (called Mani wheels by the Tibetans) are devices for spreading spiritual blessings and well being. Rolls of thin paper, imprinted with many, many copies of the mantra (prayer) Om Mani Padme Hum, printed in an ancient Indian script or in Tibetan script, are wound around an axle in a protective container, and spun around and around. Typically, larger decorative versions of the syllables of the mantra are also carved on the outside cover of the wheel.
Tibetan Buddhists believe that saying this mantra, out loud or silently to oneself, invokes the powerful benevolent attention and blessings of Chenrezig, the embodiment of compassion. Viewing a written copy of the mantra is said to have the same effect -- and the mantra is carved into stones left in piles near paths where travelers will see them. Spinning the written form of the mantra around in a Mani wheel is also supposed to have the same effect; the more copies of the mantra, the more the benefit.
Tibetan Buddhists believe that saying the mantra (prayer), Om Mani Padme Hum, out loud or silently to oneself, invokes the powerful benevolent attention and blessings of Chenrezig, the embodiment of compassion. Viewing the written form of the mantra is said to have the same effect -- it is often carved into stones, like the one pictured above, and placed where people can see them. Spinning the written form of the mantra around in a Mani wheel (or prayer wheel) is also believed to give the same benefit as saying the mantra, and Mani wheels, small hand wheels and large wheels with millions of copies of the mantra inside, are found everywhere in the lands influenced by Tibetan Buddhism.
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People who learn about the mantra naturally want to know what it means, and often ask for a translation into English or some other Western language. However, Om Mani Padme Hum can not really be translated into a simple phrase or even a few sentences.
All of the Dharma is based on Buddha's discovery that suffering is unnecessary: Like a disease, once we really face the fact that suffering exists, we can look more deeply and discover it's cause; and when we discover that the cause is dependent on certain conditions, we can explore the possibility of removing those conditions.
Buddha taught many very different methods for removing the cause of suffering, methods appropriate for the very different types and conditions and aptitudes of suffering beings. For those who had the capacity to understand it, he taught the most powerful method of all, a method based on the practice of compassion. It is known as the Mahayana, or Great Vehicle, because practicing it benefits all beings, without partiality. It is likened to a vast boat that carries all the beings in the universe across the sea of suffering.
Within the Mahayana the Buddha revealed the possibility of very quickly benefiting all beings, including oneself, by entering directly into the awakened state of mind, or Buddhahood, without delay. Again, there are different ways of accomplishing this, but the most powerful, and at the same time the most accessible, is to link ones own mind with the mind of a Buddha.
In visualization practice we imagine ourselves to be a Buddha, in this case the Buddha of Compassion, Chenrezig. By replacing the thought of yourself as you with the thought of yourself as Chenrezig, you gradually reduce and eventually remove the fixation on your personal self, which expands your loving kindness and compassion, toward yourself and toward others, and your intelligence and wisdom becomes enhanced, allowing you to see clearly what someone really needs and to communicate with them clearly and accurately.
In most religious traditions one prays to the deities of the tradition in the hopes of receiving their blessing, which will benefit one in some way. In the vajrayana Buddhist tradition, however, the blessing and the power and the superlative qualities of the enlightened beings are not considered as coming from an outside source, but are believed to be innate, to be aspects of our own true nature. Chenrezig and his love and compassion are within us.
Traditionally wheels were not used at all in Tibet except for spiritual purposes -- carts and similar wheeled devices were known from other cultures, but their use was intentionally avoided. The earliest known mention of prayer wheels is in an account written by a Chinese pilgrim, in 400 AD, while traveling through the area now known as Ladakh. The idea is said to have originated as a play on the phrase "turn the wheel of the dharma," a classical metaphor for Buddha's teaching activity. Mani wheels are found all over Tibet and in areas influenced by Tibetan culture. There are many types of Mani wheels, but small hand-held wheels, like the one shown here, are the most common by far. Tibetan people carry them around for hours, and even on long pilgrimages, spinning them any time they have a hand free.
Larger wheels, which may be several yards (meters) high and one or two yards (meters) in diameter, can contain myriad copies of the mantra, and may also contain sacred texts, up to hundreds of volumes.
They can be found mounted in rows next to pathways, to be spun by people entering a shrine, or along the route which people use as they walk slowly around and around a sacred site -- a form of spiritual practice called circumambulation.
Wheels are also placed where they can be spun by wind or by flowing water. Smaller mounted wheels can be spun by the heat rising from a flame or by steam from a stove, or placed on a tabletop to be spun by hand.
Labels: Buddhist prayer beads, malas, tibetan malas, buddhist malas, turquoise malas, handmade turquoise malas, buddhist mala, tibetan mala, tibetan mala beads, tibetan buddhist mala, tibetan prayer beads, malas prayer beads, rudraksha malas, wrist malas, buddhist prayer beads bracelet, bodhi seed malas, fine wood malas
Tibetan Buddhist Mani wheels are always spun clockwise, as viewed from above, for any or all of several reasons: It rotates the syllables of the mantra so that they would pass a viewer in the order that they would be read, it follows the direction of the sun, and it matches the clockwise circumambulation of stupas. Practitioners of Bon, the pre Buddhist spiritual tradition of Tibet, spin their prayer wheels counter-clockwise, the same direction they use in circumambulation.
Much of Tibetan culture has now had to take refuge outside its homeland. In Tibet under Chinese rule, mechanical wheels are everywhere, on trucks and busses and cars and tanks, but spiritual training and practice, and even learning the Tibetan language, are severely restricted.
With the introduction of Tibetan Buddhism into the West, new types of Mani wheels have come into being. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said that having the mantra on your computer works the same as a traditional prayer wheel. Since a computer's hard disk spins hundreds of thousands of times per hour, and can contain many copies of the mantra, anyone who wants to can turn their computer into a prayer wheel.
People who feel more strongly connected to prayers other than the Om Mani Padme Hum mantra of Chenrezig can create prayer wheels, of either the mechanical or the electronic type, with the prayers that mean the most to them -- and people who feel a connection to the modern ecumenical or "Great Awakening" movements can include prayers from many traditions, written in any number of languages.
Labels: Buddhist prayer beads, malas, tibetan malas, buddhist malas, turquoise malas, handmade turquoise malas, buddhist mala, tibetan mala, tibetan mala beads, tibetan buddhist mala, tibetan prayer beads, malas prayer beads, rudraksha malas, wrist malas, buddhist prayer beads bracelet, bodhi seed malas, fine wood malas |
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