13 mm Bone Knot Carving 108 Beads Mala

108 Meditation Prayer Beads

Buddhist mala or prayer beads is used for counting scared mantras (prayers). The main perspective of Buddhist mala prayer beads is to drive away evil and fill you and all beings with peace and bliss. The best use of Buddhist mala or prayer beads is for the recitation, chanting, or mentally repeating of mantra. These Buddhist prayer beads or mala is used during a period of recitation, like "Om Mani Padme Hum". Use of Buddhist prayer mala beads with the intention to bring greater happiness, joy, loving-kindness and serenity into the world. It will be the source of deep blessings in our life. Buddhist literature roughly means Mala as "Rose" or "Garland". A more direct translation is "garland from above", or "heavenly garland". In accordance with the active nature of practice in Buddhism, this ritual object is used as an accomplice for gaining merit on the path to enlightenment.

Traditionally, there are 108 beads on a strand of Buddhist mala or prayer beads. The origin of is the sacred number related astrologically to the 12 astrological houses, multiplied by the 9 planets in our solar system. This number is the Buddhist mala or prayer beads significant because it represents the number of mental conditions or sinful desires that one must overcome to reach enlightenment or nirvana. Monks usually have mala or prayer beads with 108 beads, where as a lay person may have a strand numbering in 30 or 40 beads. This difference in length may possibly be explained by understanding each person's distance traveled on the path to enlightenment. Commercial sellers of mala prayer beads have also suggested that individuals just beginning this prayer ritual begin with a shorter strand of beads. Just as variety exists for the number of beads, variety exists for the style, color, and material composition. Differences in the popularity and use of mala beads also exist cross-culturally. Typically, monks' mala prayer beads are made of wood from the Bodhi tree. In Tibet, mala strands often contain parts of semi-precious stones. In this culture, the most valued strands are made of bones of holy men or lamas. Typically, there are 108 beads divided by 3 beads. The end pieces on these strands are “dorje” (a thunderbolt) and “Drilbu” (the bell). These end pieces represent the Three Jewels, or Buddha, the doctrine, and the community.

About our 108 Meditation Prayer Beads

We carefully hand select all the beads while making a mala so that all the beads in a mala get perfectly calibrated and all the mala we make have our own design.