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bone dilemma

trevmarrtrevmarr
edited August 2010 in Buddhism Basics
I am fairly new and naive in the world of mantas and malas. i have recently set up a sacred space and embarked on new spiritual discipline, chanting, (om mani padme hum) and purchased a mala from an Oxfam store to enhance my practise. the woman at the store told me that the mala was made of bone and that it was tibetan. i have done little research ( how i got to this forum) and am reading that the Bone Mala is not for the novice. do these object posses inherent qualities or is it the meaning we give them. should i find a new mala to begin this journey? did this mala choose me? ..... i need a teacher.

Comments

  • SherabDorjeSherabDorje
    edited August 2010
    It may be true that a bone mala is a little much for a beginner- maybe try sandalwood or something similar first?

    It may also be no big deal. If you feel a need to play it safe, something else may work.

    There is a temporal relationship between my own acquisition and use of a bone mala and some bad times, but I certainly can't say it's cause and effect. It's just something that happened and it's just one story.
  • ValtielValtiel Veteran
    edited August 2010
    do these object posses inherent qualities or is it the meaning we give them.

    Depends entirely on who you ask. It's best to consider this question yourself. Or at least consider the perspective you give more credence to (For example, not everyone here practices Tibetan Buddhism and a Tibetan Buddhist would be coming from an entirely different angle than others) and ask an appropriate teacher.

    Personally, I would say the qualities we project.... which incidentally can be more powerful than the real thing.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited August 2010
    A bone mala should be treated with the same reverence - or irreverence - we treat everything else.
    The reason Tibetan malas are made of bone, is to remind us that everything is impermanent, and ultimately, it is not the physical that matters, because the physical changes from second to second and as such, really should attract no attachment at all.
    Look up 'sky burials' and see how Tibetans deal with their dead.
    This is how unattached they become to the physical body.
    They practice rituals expressedly designed to cultivate non-attachment.
    Using skulls as chalices and thigh-bones as musical instruments.
    All is versatile, because nothing is truly what it is.
    It just...."is".
    Until it isn't.
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