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| diamond eyed dragon bracelet made with Tibetan mala beads made from yak bone |
Mala beads - those strings of beads you see wrapped around peoples wrists or subtly tucked under their collars. You've seen them in other Eastern practices such as on Buddhist monks, but what are they? What do they really represent?
On a mala, or set of mantra counting beads, there are generally 108 beads. The question often arises: Why are there 108 beads on a mala? there are quite a few meanings -- I'll just list a few:
Desires: There are said to be 108 earthly desires in mortals.
Lies: There are said to be 108 lies that humans tell.
Delusions: There are said to be 108 human delusions or forms of ignorance.
Heart Chakra: The chakras are the intersections of energy lines, and there are said to be a total of 108 energy lines converging to form the heart chakra. One of them, sushumna, leads to the crown chakra, and is said to be the path to self-realization.
Goddess names: There are said to be 108 Indian goddess names.
1, 0, and 8: Some say that the number 1 stands for God or higher Truth, the number 0 stands for emptiness or completeness in spiritual practice, and the number 8 stands for infinity or eternity.
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| Snakeskin zip-a-long w/beaded wrist-let blessed Tibetan mala beads |
