Prayer beads?

misterCope

I've recently accidentally acquired some prayer beads. They are pretty, they make a pleasant little rattle, and they even smell nice (sandalwood). But I don't really know what to do with them.

I've read up on how to hold them and the method for counting them. I know that Christians, Muslims, and other fine folks use them to count prayers, but I'm not praying. I guess I could count breathes using them.

My questions are: does anyone here use them? If so, in what way?

I will note that cats are obviously smarter than humans as they knew exactly what to do with the beads without any instruction -- which was smell them, flick them around, try to eat them, ignore them.

lobster

I use them. Not very often at the moment. Another way of focusing the awareness. I am assuming you have 108 beads? Maybe less if a mala? Would recommend slightly audible mantra, unless you particularly want to impress the cat - unlikely.

http://yinyana.tumblr.com/post/57234975984/buddhist-mantra-faqs
As for particular mantra . . . find something that resonates . . . and away you go :om:

TheEccentric

Mala beads aren't really prayer beads if you ask me as they are used to coint mantra recitations which aren't really prayers imo.

I use mine to count recitations of Om Mani Padme Hum, Dorje Shugden's mantra and Green Tara's.

misterCope

Hmm. Yeah, it's a mala, (male, insists autocorrect [It's a boy!]) with 108 beads. I guess that what I really don't know about is the subject of mantras. Thanks for the link, @lobster!

cvalue

I use 108 beads every morning. For each bead, I recite Namo Amitabha Budha 10 times. If I get distracted and let a thought to get in, I must repeat the 10 recitations for this bead. Sometimes, I manage to get to the count # 8 or 9 but then I let a thought come in, so I must reset the counting back to 1 for this bead. Because I fail a lot and must restart my counting each time, it takes me an average of 45 minutes to go through 108 beads. But I am making progress every day. Hopefully, one day I won't have to recount any bead.

misterCope

"-Isn't this just some form of 'Buddhist cult' brainwashing?
-Yes.
-What if I pronounce them wrong?
-You will turn into a pumpkin."

Kundo

I use my mala beads for mantra chanting - usually Om Mani Pedme Hum or the Green Tara Mantra.

In metta,
Raven

ysmael

i do my mantra chants with my 108 mala beads Om Mani Padmi Hum