Gemstone Prayer Beads are a superb way to help yourself to inwardly grow, and to protect yourself while doing so. You are combining, in your work, the power of prayer with the power of an ancient tradition devoted to spiritual growth, and the inherent super-ancient energy inherent in the stones themselves.
Aventure Prayer Beads Mala
I started crafting prayer beads back in the early 1990s, and my company, Crystal Life, was one of the very first to offer classic style gemstone prayer beads on the internet.
Over the years, in response to customer questions, we developed our own information on how to use prayer beads, and why we have selected specific types and numbers. We brought this together and posted it on our informational website gemstoneprayerbeads.com – check it out!
Included is Crystal Life’s explanation of why a classic count mala (prayer beads) has 108 beads:
The meaning of the classic count
The classic prayer bead count is 108 beads plus a guru bead. The significance of this classic number has been explained in many ways. Here are some of them:
1 stands for God or higher truth, 0 stands for emptiness or completeness in spiritual practice and 8 stands for infinity or eternity. Astrologically, 108 signifies the 12 houses times the 9 planets.
In the human body, there are 108 nadis or lines of subtle energy that converge to form the heart chakra. There are 108 marma points (concentrated centers of energy) in the human body. There are 108 human feelings, with 36 related to the past, 36 related to the present, and 36 related to the future. The average number of breaths per day is 21,600 with 10,800 being solar energy and 10,800 lunar energy (108 x 100 = 10,800). And there are 108 Sanskrit names for different aspects of God’s existence.
In the mathematical connection of ourselves to the universe, working with a 108 count signifies, in Vedic mathematics, a harshad (“great joy”) number, which is an integer divisible by the sum of its digits. We also know today that the diameter of the Sun is 108 times the diameter of the Earth. The distance from the Sun to the Earth is 108 times the diameter of the Sun. The average distance of the Moon from Earth is 108 times the diameter of the Moon.
You can learn how to work with prayer beads as well at our gemstoneprayerbeads.com website. Here is some of that information:
How to Utilize Prayer Beads in Your Practice
Prayer beads help you focus on the meaning of your prayer, or mantra, rather than having to keep track of the number of repetitions. You can use prayer beads to chant an affirmation, prayer or mantra. Chants include love, wisdom, joy, peace and the names of God.
You may chant your intent out loud and fast to ground it in your physical body, or silently and slowly to inwardly enter this energy. Eventually, you will be able to sit in silence and enter directly into the energy of your intent.
How to hold a mala for japa
When working with a mala, it is usual to rotate the beads between two fingers. Most usually the thumb rotates the bead as it is perched between the index and middle fingers. Every time a mantra is completed, the thumb moves the bead clockwise, until you arrive at the large focal bead. This bead, also known as the guru, meru or guide bead, is the large bead that holds the garland together. It signifies the guiding energy of your discipline, or of your current prayer. Out of respect for this energy, you do not continue by moving over the guide bead, but reverse the garland in your hand and continue on.
When you wear or carry the prayer beads, it resonates your intent inside its circle. When worn around the neck or on the wrist, this includes the main energy flows of your body. Some like to keep the prayer beads in a small bag, on a shrine, or by the bed.
One exercise is to chant your intent six rounds, increase one round a day until you reach eleven rounds, then decrease back to six rounds. If you are sincere in your chanting, by the end of this period you will have made significant progress entering into the world of your intent.
When you wish to change your chant, mentally clear your beads or pass them through the smoke from incense.