Telling the Beads - Mala for Everyone

© Copyright 2024 Fran Carey, All Rights Reserved.

Often described as a Buddhist rosary, mala beads are used in many more traditions than just Buddhism.

Like the Catholic rosary, they are used to track repetitions of prayers, chants, or mantras.  Unlike the Catholic rosary, mala traditionally contain either 27 beads for a wrist mala, or 108 for the longer ones.

Sometimes worn around the neck or wrapped around the wrist, the 108 bead style is passed through the hand between index or middle finger and thumb to count or tell the beads as the mantra is chanted either aloud or silently.

This adds tactile experience to the internal experience of prayer, and is said to have some reflexology benefit, as well.  The chant, prayer, or mantra is chosen by the practitioner or assigned by a teacher/spiritual leader and can have an end goal of personal healing, world healing, enlightenment, universal love, or a more personal objective.

The word mala, sometimes called japamala, is Sanskrit in origin, meaning "garland", and its use traces back hundreds of years in Hindu tradition.  From there, it went to Buddhism, then into the wider world.  Now beads are used by those traditions as well as Wiccans and other pagans, who also use them to track prayers.

Mala can be made of wood, seed, or stone.  Tulsi seed, or holy basil, is sacred to Krishna or Vishnu.  Rudraksha seeds are used in Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh traditions, and, in Buddhism, are said to be the seeds of the tree under which Prince Siddhartha was sitting when He achieved enlightenment and became the Buddha.

Stones can be chosen by their energetic properties or hand feel.  Popular woods include ebony, sandalwood, and rosewood.  Often woods or stones are combined.  When choosing a mala, run it through your hands.  Many are individually knotted after each bead, like fine pearls.  This serves two purposes.  It keeps the mala from falling completely apart when it breaks, and makes it more flexible and easier to use.  You want a mala that has enough space between the beads that you can feel the space and it can flow freely, but not so much that the space makes it awkward to use. Many people have more than one mala, choosing a different one for different prayers or practices.

Once a mala breaks, it has served its purpose.  Give it a nice, respectful goodbye, then place the beads under your altar or bury it under a tree.

Thank you to Dev Eos for your help!

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