Welcome to Spiritual Sunday. Every Sunday going forward…. we will feature an interesting piece of spiritual knowledge…. to help build our inner spirit. Today we are starting with Prayer Beads….
Welcome to Prayer Beads 101….
I was in Bali for my first time in April of this year… with a group of women and we were on a Spiritual Quest… kind of a Healing Adventure. Almost every single shop we went into in Ubud… the spiritual capital of Bali… sold prayer or what is known as Mala beads. Mala is part of everyday life there. Prayer Beads have a metaphysical, psychological and physical effect on us. Since the beads are touched in an automatic manner…. they allow us (the user) to keep track of how many prayers or mantras have been recited… with a minimal amount of conscious effort. Which in turn allows greater attention to be paid to the prayers or mantras. Kind of a spiritual abacus….
Prayer beads can be made from a number of materials… Glass, wood, bone, jet. amber, jasper, crushed flowers, crystal, coral… even silver or gold.
The number of beads varies depending on the religion. Buddist and Hindus use the Japa Mala which has 108 beads… or 27 to be counted 4 times. Islamic prayer beads have either 99 or 33 and are known as Tesbih, Misbaha or Tasbih. Catholic Rosary (meaning rose garden) has 54 beads with an additional 5…. and Orthodox Christians use a knotted “Rosary” with 100, 50 or 33 knots. In China malls are called Shu-Zhu and in Japan they are called Juzu.
According to the “Spirititual Voyage” Blog…
There are accupressure points on each of the fingers that work on different parts of the psyche and the brain. When the beads press the meridian points in the finger, you can work on a specific result. The meridian point you are trying to activate is located on the side of each finger, in the center point between the tip of the finger and the upper knuckle.
The properties of the meridian points for each finger are as follows:
– Index Finger (Jupiter Finger): Wisdom. Knowledge. Prosperity
– Middle Finger (Saturn Finger): Patience.
– Ring Finger (Sun Finger): Health. Vitality. Strengthen the Nervous System.
– Little Finger (Mercury Finger): Communication. Intelligence.
Mantras and Malas:
When reciting a mantra with a mala meditation, you recite the entire mantra on each bead (not one bead per word). You can also use affirmations with your mala, repeating the affirmation with each bead. The recitations can be done silently, as a whisper, in song or spoken out loud.
Three of our favorite mantras….
