What are Meditation Beads or “Mala”?
Mala are strands of beads used to count prayers or mantras. Almost every culture and religion has some form of this, from the Catholic Rosary, to Eastern Orthodox knotted rosaries, to Muslim Subha, to Hindu and Buddhist Mala – even good old “worry beads” and “love beads”. Each culture and religion uses a different number of beads to match their particular religious practices. Some even group the beads into particular patterns to match a pattern of changing prayers, like the decades on the Catholic Rosary. For Serene Beads meditation work, I’ve chosen the Buddhist mala for several reasons. First, there is no pattern…it is a simple, uncomplicated string of beads with a larger bead called the “guru” bead to let you feel the beginning / end of the circle. Each bead usually has a knot or tiny bead in between the main beads to give you room to put your fingers as you move along from one bead to the next. Another reason is the length. In my experience, 108 is long enough for relaxation, but n
