Selecting a mala

Discussion of meditation in the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions.
Post Reply
avatamsaka3
Posts: 879
Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2019 6:11 am

Selecting a mala

Post by avatamsaka3 »

How does one select a good mala? I'm just worried about the thing not falling apart.
User avatar
Hazel
Former staff member
Posts: 2090
Joined: Mon Sep 23, 2019 11:15 pm
Location: she/her

Re: Selecting a mala

Post by Hazel »

avatamsaka3 wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 11:48 pm How does one select a good mala? I'm just worried about the thing not falling apart.
Is there something particularly bad about a mala breaking?

Side story: I had a teacher whose mala broke mid zoom stream.
Happy Pride month to my queer dharma siblings!

What do you see when you turn out the lights?
Inedible
Posts: 275
Joined: Sun May 02, 2021 6:00 am

Re: Selecting a mala

Post by Inedible »

A wrist mala I wore made of lapis lazuli snagged on something at a Dollar Tree store and beads went all over the place. I couldn't find most of them. It lasted several years. I had a Rudraksha bead mala, too, and it also eventually snapped. I think you can be sure that, given enough time, if you use your mala it will break. Then you get another.
avatamsaka3
Posts: 879
Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2019 6:11 am

Re: Selecting a mala

Post by avatamsaka3 »

Is there something particularly bad about a mala breaking?
Yes, it will be annoying. And no more mantra repetitions on that one. I'm asking about testing the quality of the mala, not asking for something that will never break.
SilenceMonkey
Posts: 1448
Joined: Mon Jul 23, 2018 9:54 am

Re: Selecting a mala

Post by SilenceMonkey »

You can often find good ones in a good Dharma center.
Inedible
Posts: 275
Joined: Sun May 02, 2021 6:00 am

Re: Selecting a mala

Post by Inedible »

Get the nicest one you can afford. It helps if you like your mala because you will use it more.
User avatar
PadmaVonSamba
Posts: 9438
Joined: Sat May 14, 2011 1:41 am

Re: Selecting a mala

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

I always heard that if a mala breaks during regular use, such as while saying mantras, this is a good sign. It shows that you’ve practiced so much, you have worn through the ‘material’ aspect.

I worked in a store for a few years selling semiprecious stone beads, and we also sold malas.

Many people like stone malas. Personally, I have always preferred some kind of wood beads. They seem less pretentious to me, more simple, and they are also lighter in weight. Stone also wears down the cord more than wood or seed malas do.

But sometimes a certain mala is appropriate for a particular practice. If Avalokiteshvara is your main practice, then you might go with crystal. For Medicine Buddha, perhaps lapis lazuli.

Avoid bone malas unless instructed by your teacher to use one for certain practices.
EMPTIFUL.
An inward outlook produces outward insight.
User avatar
KathyLauren
Posts: 967
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 5:22 pm
Location: East Coast of Canada
Contact:

Re: Selecting a mala

Post by KathyLauren »

All things are impermanent, even mala threads! :namaste:

It will break, sooner or later. You get some new thread, and a needle small enough to go through the holes in the beads, and you re-thread it.

Om mani padme hum
Kathy
User avatar
Tlalok
Posts: 251
Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2017 10:29 pm

Re: Selecting a mala

Post by Tlalok »

KathyLauren wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 3:26 pm All things are impermanent, even mala threads! :namaste:

It will break, sooner or later. You get some new thread, and a needle small enough to go through the holes in the beads, and you re-thread it.

Om mani padme hum
Kathy
This is in itself a powerful meditation on patience. The guru bead's holes are a nightmare. Does anyone have any tips on how to actually thread them?
User avatar
KathyLauren
Posts: 967
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 5:22 pm
Location: East Coast of Canada
Contact:

Re: Selecting a mala

Post by KathyLauren »

Tlalok wrote: Fri Jul 30, 2021 6:50 pm This is in itself a powerful meditation on patience. The guru bead's holes are a nightmare. Does anyone have any tips on how to actually thread them?
Yes, no doubt it is easier said then done. The only one I have re-threaded used a regular bead for the guru bead.

You can find everything on the Internet: :D
How to thread the guru bead 1
How to thread the guru bead 2
How to thread the guru bead 3

Om mani padme hum
Kathy
emaho
Posts: 917
Joined: Sun May 06, 2012 8:33 pm

Re: Selecting a mala

Post by emaho »

I try to check my mala's string every now and then and when it starts to wear out I replace it before it breaks. Also, when your mala string breaks often, it is maybe because the drill-holes haven't been filed properly. You can buy special needle-shaped files to soothen the holes of the beads. I don't know how they're called, you can buy them in arts and crafts shops.
"I struggled with some demons, They were middle class and tame..." L. Cohen
User avatar
PadmaVonSamba
Posts: 9438
Joined: Sat May 14, 2011 1:41 am

Re: Selecting a mala

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

Tlalok wrote: Fri Jul 30, 2021 6:50 pm The guru bead’s holes … Does anyone have any tips on how to actually thread them?
Think of hole in the guru bead as an upside down letter T.



This bead has an end hole where both ends of the mala cord will eventually emerge, where a tassel might have attached. And there is a hole on the left and one on the right. The problem is getting your mala cord to make that sharp turn and go up through the end hole.
So, you need to send another string down there to fetch it.

Make a long loop of another thread, and use something really thin, like dental floss.

So, this loop then, is like a long letter U except you’ll need to twist it so it looks like a single thread, to go through the holes in the guru bead.

Push the bottom (closed end) of the U into the the end hole of the guru bead and use a needle to push it out through either the left or right hole, so just the loop, the ‘bottom of the U’ is sticking out of whichever hole you want you’d mala cord to enter.

Use that as a snare, to catch your mala cord:
Push one end of the mala cord through it. Through the loop in the floss. Then, use the floss, which is now holding the mala cord, to pull the mala cord up and out through the end hole.

If your mala cord is very thick, this may be challenging because for a brief time it will be doubled over as you pull it up through the guru bead. But keep trying.
Attachments
String a guru bead
String a guru bead
56AFC141-9F1A-4A73-8D72-9EBE8BFBDF33.jpeg (19.51 KiB) Viewed 6527 times
EMPTIFUL.
An inward outlook produces outward insight.
User avatar
Tlalok
Posts: 251
Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2017 10:29 pm

Re: Selecting a mala

Post by Tlalok »

Kathy and PadmaVonSambhava, thank you very much. I'd never thought of threading it like that and I was just jamming the thread hoping it would magically come out like an Orangutan or something!
emaho
Posts: 917
Joined: Sun May 06, 2012 8:33 pm

Re: Selecting a mala

Post by emaho »

emaho wrote: Fri Jul 30, 2021 8:39 pm You can buy special needle-shaped files to soothen the holes of the beads.
I meant of course to smooth the edges by filing the holes from the inside, hope that's better :shrug:
"I struggled with some demons, They were middle class and tame..." L. Cohen
Post Reply

Return to “Meditation”