Why did the great Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava teach that your mala “should accompany you like your shadow.” What else did Guru Rinpoche teach regarding Malas?
*Reposted as an excerpt with permission from https://buddhaweekly.com/buddhist-mala-guru-rinpoches-complete-guide-mala-should-follow-you-like-a-shadow/
Gyatrul Rinpoche, in his book The Generation Stage in Buddhist Tantra, writes:
“Your mala represents not only the form of the deity but the speech of the deity as well. For example, if you recite the One-Hundred Syllable mantra, the guru bead represents the syllable Om and the other beads represent the remaining syllables.”
Can You Wear Your Mala?
Gyatrul Rinpoche taught, “It is appropriate to either wear one’s mala around one’s neck, or keep it in a pocket on one’s upper body. It is inappropriate to keep it in a pants pocket.” Normally, if you wear on your wrist, you wear on your passive hand. If you’re right handed, wear on your left and if you’re left handed on your right.
Why Does a Mala Have 108 Beads?
The next top mala question is “how many beads should your mala have?” Or, the question “Why 108 beads?”
In Buddhism, the number 108 connects us to our place in the Dharma. By tradition, the heart chakra is formed of 108 lines of energy or nadis and 108 pressure points or marmas. On a cosmic level, the distance between the sun and the Earth is 108 times the diameter of the sun. The number 108 connects us both to ourselves and to the world around us. In Buddhism, there are 108 delusions to be purified.
Choosing the Right Mala Materials
In the book The Generation Stage in Buddhist Tantra, by Gyatrul Rinpoche, he cites the advice of Padmasambhava regarding materials and practice protocols. Don’t despair, however, if you can’t afford a “ruby” mala!
A bodhi seed mala is considered versatile and suitable for all forms of practice. It is traditionally regarded as supporting peaceful, expansive, powerful, and wrathful activities without limitation.
In Guru Rinpoche’s teaching, different materials are associated with different types of activity. Natural materials such as seashells, earth, wood, seeds, or fruit are linked with peaceful practice. Gold is associated with expansive activity, while red coral is connected with powerful practices. Steel or turquoise is linked with wrathful activity, and precious stones are understood to support all types of karmic activity.
Other specific correspondences include apricot stones for expansive activity, raksha beads for wrathful practice, bodhi seed for all dharmas, bodhi tree wood for peaceful activity, mulberry for powerful activity, and mahogany for wrathful activity. Stone beads are connected with expansive practice, while medicine beads are linked with wrathful practice.
Some traditions also describe numerical effects of certain materials. Iron or steel is said to generally multiply mantra accumulation, copper multiplies recitations fourfold, silver multiplies by one hundred thousand, and ruby or pearl by extremely large magnitudes depending on the lineage. Raksha beads are described as multiplying recitations by twenty million.
Within this framework, bodhi seed stands out as a balanced and all purpose material, traditionally described as carrying limitless benefit across all types of practice without restriction.
What Happens When a Mala Breaks?
What happens if your treasured, blessed mala one day breaks, as it inevitably will? This is merely symbolic of the nature of impermanence. The teachings advise us to recover the beads and re-string as soon as possible. You then consecrate and bless as before. We dedicate the merit of this presentation to the benefit of all sentient beings.
*See original article in full: https://buddhaweekly.com/buddhist-mala-guru-rinpoches-complete-guide-mala-should-follow-you-like-a-shadow/
See our curated collection of Bodhi Seed and Natural Tibetan Malas at our Mala Shop
Discover more from Sakura Designs
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
