Optimal seed size for bodhi mala from practical point of view

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Archie2009
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Optimal seed size for bodhi mala from practical point of view

Post by Archie2009 »

What would you consider the most comfortable size for bodhi seeds on a mala? The smaller sized seeds like 9mm make for very expensive malas, but wouldn't 10.5mm or even 11.5 mm be more comfortable? What is your experience? What bead size do you find most comfortable for a (wooden) mala regardless of monetary value?

I currently have a sandalwood mala, bead size I would guess a little over 9mm, and it is not the most comfortable for my fairly large hands. I am considering purchasing a bodhi seed mala (Ziziphus budhensis, phoenix eye) in the future.

A few years ago, there was a good, informative thread on the correct, authentic bodhi seed mala here. What I am concerned with now is simple utility.
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Konchog Thogme Jampa
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Re: Optimal seed size for bodhi mala from practical point of view

Post by Konchog Thogme Jampa »

I used to have a huge mala when I was a Monk it was a lot of fun huge beads and dropping from my hand by my side down to my knees
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Tukaram
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Re: Optimal seed size for bodhi mala from practical point of view

Post by Tukaram »

My japa mala (108 beads) is tulsi wood, and the beads are oval. About 1 cm wide, 1.5 cm long. My wrist mala (54 beads) is jade and probably 7 or 8 mm beads. I find the larger wooden beads much more comfortable to use - both the size and the feel of the wood.
Terma
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Re: Optimal seed size for bodhi mala from practical point of view

Post by Terma »

I have a bodhiseed mala with normally large beads. For the purpose of doing recitations, I think it is great but that is all I really use it for.

Most bodhiseed malas that I have seen have beads that are probably 11, 12 mm or more.
Archie2009
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Re: Optimal seed size for bodhi mala from practical point of view

Post by Archie2009 »

I settled on a bodhi seed mala (Ziziphus budhensis) with 11.5 mm average diameter beads for the price of €62.80.
Here is a stock photo from the seller's website:

Image
Image

https://dharmacraft.shop/product_667/tr ... 15-mm.html
Ships from Lithuania.
Giovanni
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Re: Optimal seed size for bodhi mala from practical point of view

Post by Giovanni »

This reminds me of the time I bought a huge mala. The beads were the largest Bodhi seeds I had ever seen and it was the full 108. I bought it largely to support the shop which was owned by a Lama known to me. Looped around double it still reached my waist when I wore it around my neck. I got some odd looks on the train home. But it was many years ago when I was young and dashing!
Malcolm
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Re: Optimal seed size for bodhi mala from practical point of view

Post by Malcolm »

Archie2009 wrote: Sun Jul 31, 2022 12:31 pm I settled on a bodhi seed mala (Ziziphus budhensis) with 11.5 mm average diameter beads for the price of €62.80.

https://dharmacraft.shop/product_667/tr ... 15-mm.html
Ships from Lithuania.
:thumbsup:
ohwedodzogchennow
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Re: Optimal seed size for bodhi mala from practical point of view

Post by ohwedodzogchennow »

Following is a bit offtopic, but could be important.
Archie2009 wrote: Sun Jul 31, 2022 12:31 pm https://dharmacraft.shop/product_667/tr ... 15-mm.html
Ships from Lithuania.
The shop looked rather inviting until I came across this:

https://dharmacraft.shop/62-mandala-tal ... n-rinpoche

As far as I understand, Gangchen Rinpoche was one of the influential teachers who went against the advice of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on you-know-what taboo topic.

Would anyone here particularly trust or recommend acquiring "neutral" materials bought from a shop that carries blessed items by people who associate with you-know-what?

Of course, everything is meant to be purified and consecrated for one's use in practice, but I personally feel like taking maximum distance anyway and not support a type of business which acquires supplies from the aficionados of you-know-what.
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yagmort
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Re: Optimal seed size for bodhi mala from practical point of view

Post by yagmort »

Archie2009 wrote: Sun Jul 31, 2022 12:31 pm ...the price of €62.80...
jeez, these damned preposterous prices..
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Malcolm
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Re: Optimal seed size for bodhi mala from practical point of view

Post by Malcolm »

yagmort wrote: Sun Jul 31, 2022 5:43 pm
Archie2009 wrote: Sun Jul 31, 2022 12:31 pm ...the price of €62.80...
jeez, these damned preposterous prices..
No they aren't. I paid $125 US for a good bodhiseed māla in Lhasa in 2009.
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yagmort
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Re: Optimal seed size for bodhi mala from practical point of view

Post by yagmort »

what do you mean "good"?

around Swayambhu in KTM it is possible to find 11 mm seeds mala for 3,5 USD. if they see white face the price will be 4 times more though.
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Malcolm
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Re: Optimal seed size for bodhi mala from practical point of view

Post by Malcolm »

yagmort wrote: Sun Jul 31, 2022 6:04 pm what do you mean "good"?

around Swayambhu in KTM it is possible to find 11 mm seeds mala for 3,5 USD. if they see white face the price will be 4 times more though.
Good, well made, will last a lifetime. I don't do street haggling. I liked it, paid the price asked, and that was the end of it. We in West are wealthy, compared to Tibetans. We can afford it. It helps everyone. There is a saying in ceremonial magick, "Thou shalt buy the single egg of a black hen without haggling."
Archie2009
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Re: Optimal seed size for bodhi mala from practical point of view

Post by Archie2009 »

ohwedodzogchennow wrote: Sun Jul 31, 2022 4:49 pm Following is a bit offtopic, but could be important.
Archie2009 wrote: Sun Jul 31, 2022 12:31 pm https://dharmacraft.shop/product_667/tr ... 15-mm.html
Ships from Lithuania.
The shop looked rather inviting until I came across this:

https://dharmacraft.shop/62-mandala-tal ... n-rinpoche

As far as I understand, Gangchen Rinpoche was one of the influential teachers who went against the advice of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on you-know-what taboo topic.

Would anyone here particularly trust or recommend acquiring "neutral" materials bought from a shop that carries blessed items by people who associate with you-know-what?

Of course, everything is meant to be purified and consecrated for one's use in practice, but I personally feel like taking maximum distance anyway and not support a type of business which acquires supplies from the aficionados of you-know-what.
Frankly, it hadn't crossed my mind. I had never heard of Gangchen Rinpoche.

It is hard enough to find a shop like this selling authentic dharma implements that is located within the EU instead of the USA. I will have to pay only €7.30 shipping and no customs and import duties. Shipping and customs duties from the USA these days would have more than doubled the price of the object.

Furthermore, I had email contact with the store and they seemed fine people.
Archie2009
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Re: Optimal seed size for bodhi mala from practical point of view

Post by Archie2009 »

yagmort wrote: Sun Jul 31, 2022 6:04 pm what do you mean "good"?

around Swayambhu in KTM it is possible to find 11 mm seeds mala for 3,5 USD. if they see white face the price will be 4 times more though.
Are you suggesting I cancel my order, buy a return plane ticket to Kathmandu, haggle my way into a $3.50 11.5 mm average diameter bodhi mala of the type Ziziphus budhensis, and make it safely back home all for less than €62.80 + €7.30?
Terma
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Re: Optimal seed size for bodhi mala from practical point of view

Post by Terma »

Malcolm wrote: Sun Jul 31, 2022 6:10 pm
yagmort wrote: Sun Jul 31, 2022 6:04 pm what do you mean "good"?

around Swayambhu in KTM it is possible to find 11 mm seeds mala for 3,5 USD. if they see white face the price will be 4 times more though.
Good, well made, will last a lifetime. I don't do street haggling. I liked it, paid the price asked, and that was the end of it. We in West are wealthy, compared to Tibetans. We can afford it. It helps everyone. There is a saying in ceremonial magick, "Thou shalt buy the single egg of a black hen without haggling."
Yup. They are getting a little harder to find these days as well. I was lucky 5 years back when I went into my local "new-agey" type store that has a small Dharma corner. Their guy had just come back from Nepal with a bunch of stuff. They had 2 really good bodhiseed malas that were kept hidden behind the counter, and lucky I asked about one. I wasn't thinking twice about the price either.

Turns out that was the last time they brought anything like that back due to the sky rocketing prices. Someone said that a lot of Chinese were now trying to "capitalize" on the popularity of these kinds of items and were snapping them up where they could to resell at a nice profit.
Archie2009
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Re: Optimal seed size for bodhi mala from practical point of view

Post by Archie2009 »

In contrast to the scary Gangchen Rinpoche talismans ;) quoted above, here is another item they sold:

https://dharmacraft.shop/product_155/bu ... 45-cm.html

"Buddhist Thangka "Great Dzogchen Teacher Garab Dorje", painting in accordance with instructions from Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche. Traditional Tibetan painting — real colors on canvas — 35 x 45 cm"

"This real painted thangka (tib.: ཐང་ཀ་) of Great Dzogchen Teacher Garab Dorje (Tibetan: དགའ་རབ་རྡོ་རྗེ་, Wylie: dga’ rab rdo rje) also known as Prahevajra was painted by old Tibetan family living in Kathmandu.

Garab Dorje was the semi-historical first human teacher of the Ati Yoga or Dzogchen (Great Perfection) teachings according to Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

This paintins was made precisely in accordance with instructions received from Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche. So it completely fits for ritual purposes of the member of Dzogchen Community.

IMPORTANT!!! THIS IS REAL PAINTING, NOT PRINT!!!

Unlike most cheap (and sometimes not so) thangkas sold for the tourists in the shops of Thamel, this painting is made in accordance with all religious canons. So, you can be sure - all the proportions and colors are correct.
"

Image
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Sādhaka
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Re: Optimal seed size for bodhi mala from practical point of view

Post by Sādhaka »

I thought that I remember Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche saying that Guru Garab Dorje’s right leg should be tucked inward and his left leg slightly extended (in other words the opposite of the above Thangka. Perhaps I’m mistaken here, but I’m pretty sure that I remember the Chögyal saying this).

Of course sometimes it’s the opposite with other Deities, however in this case I believe that his right leg should be tucked inward and his left leg slightly extended, as I’d mentioned:

[image link removed]
Last edited by Sādhaka on Mon Aug 01, 2022 10:00 am, edited 3 times in total.
Archie2009
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Re: Optimal seed size for bodhi mala from practical point of view

Post by Archie2009 »

Sādhaka wrote: Mon Aug 01, 2022 9:28 am I thought that I remember Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche saying that Guru Garab Dorje’s right leg should be tucked inward and his left leg slightly extended (in other words the opposite of the above Thangka. Perhaps I’m mistaken here, but I’m pretty sure that I remember the Chögyal saying this).

Of course sometimes it’s the opposite with other Deities, however in this case I believe that his right leg should be tucked inward and his left leg slightly extended, as I’d mentioned:

[image link removed]
See the drawing in the book Guruyoga, page 119. Left leg tucked inward, exactly as the above thangka.

Image
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Sādhaka
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Re: Optimal seed size for bodhi mala from practical point of view

Post by Sādhaka »

I’ve noticed that in every other Dzogchen Community text including the Tun Book, that Garab Dorje is depicted with his right leg tucked more inward, and left leg slightly extended.

https://cdn3.volusion.com/a2fgn.7fypc/v ... 1353915173

And as I’d said, that’s just what I remember Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche saying. Yet as I’d said too, I could also be misremembering what he had stated during that teaching. I mean not that he said the opposite of what I’m saying; just that he could have ended that teaching with saying that it doesn’t matter either way. But I’m pretty sure that he said that it does matter, and is as I’ve said above….
Last edited by Sādhaka on Mon Aug 01, 2022 2:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Archie2009
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Re: Optimal seed size for bodhi mala from practical point of view

Post by Archie2009 »

In The Precious Vase on page 16 there is a drawing of Garab Dorje with the right leg drawn inwards as well. In everything else it is identical to the image from Guruyoga. What to make of this?
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