Prayer Bead dilemma

Vegan_Jackie

First I would like to say that I am not new to Buddhism, but I do have a bit of an odd question and wasn't sure where I should post it so I thought here would be a nice place.

Now onto the dilemma, this past Sunday at Temple I was given a new set of prayer beads from one of the monks. When I got home I took them out of the box and was looking at them and decided to wear them. Well after a little while my hands, neck, and face started to get these red spots all over them and started to swell. My boyfriend ended up having to take me to the hospital because of the reaction I had. That is when I found out that it was the prayer beads that caused the reaction. The prayer beads are made from Rudraksha seeds, which I am apparently allergic to. :skeptical

Right now they are sitting on a scarf that I made from when I saw the His Holiness the Dalai Lama since I can't touch them. Now my question is should I bring them back to temple and give them back to the monk and explain what happened or keep them?

I feel I should accept them and keep them since they were a gift. I do have another set of prayer beads I use for meditation so I could just keep that set as part of my alter.

I have never had this happen to me so I am a bit torn on what I should do with them.

username_5

I would return them and explain what happened. It's not the monk's fault you have this allergy and it's not your fault either. It's simply what it is and what happened. Someone else will be able to benefit them and the monk might appreciate knowing that some people have allergies to the seeds.

dorje

You could offer it back to the temple, and explain to the monks what had happened to you. I'm sure they had no ill intentions, and they didn't know anyone could be allergic to rudraksha seeds at all.

Alternatively you could leave it with the scarf, and use it as an offering on your altar, if you have one.

Or you could look out for someone who is looking for a mala, and offer it to them instead.

So long as you treat it as a gift and treat it with respect, I suppose you could do no wrong.

Vegan_Jackie

dorje wrote: »

You could offer it back to the temple, and explain to the monks what had happened to you. I'm sure they had no ill intentions, and they didn't know anyone could be allergic to rudraksha seeds at all.

Alternatively you could leave it with the scarf, and use it as an offering on your altar, if you have one.

Or you could look out for someone who is looking for a mala, and offer it to them instead.

So long as you treat it as a gift and treat it with respect, I suppose you could do no wrong.

Yes, I do have an alter and that is where my scarf sits. I know he didn't have any ill intentions when giving them to me. This tree isn't here in the US so no one could have known that would have happened. I treat everything with respect, especially something given to me from the monks at temple.

I might just keep them as an offering or give them to my boyfriend since he doesn't have a set and is just starting to get into Buddhism.

Mason-sChild

I would pass them on to somebody who could use them. It would be more proper than returning them.

Vegan_Jackie

Mason's Child wrote: »

I would pass them on to somebody who could use them. It would be more proper than returning them.

Actually the monks said I could have gave them back and it wouldn't have been improper, but I ended up giving them to my boyfriend