I was buying groceries the other night and the cashier lady noticed the beads on my wrist. She asked if she could see them, I gladly removed them for her to see up close. Before the grocery store I was at the temple doing a bunch of recitations so I had a long mala with a bunch of markers and things on it, the cashier was facsinated with all the accessories on my beads and thought I was making a fashion statement.
Is that how these beads are being looked as nowadays? I guess so. People wear them for various reasons, and they come out in many different kinds of materials. For example, for those that are into quartz there are beads that are made from quartz that carry the same healing properties, or those that are into precious stones, there are those available as well. Most people I’ve encountered with wear beads for good luck, protection, or some combination of the two. I’m not saying that’s bad, that was how I started out too.
Back in ancient India, these beads were meant to count things like currency, days, or something to that extent. When Buddhism came around, especially when the practices of recitation became popular, these beads were used to calculate quantity of recitations. For example, you would recite the name of the Buddha, you move one bead, you recite the Buddha’s name again, you move another bead, and so on. Or you can mix it up a little by reciting one round on a long strand and count that by moving one bead on a sort strand. If you look at the beads used at the Japanese Jodoshu temples and how they’re being used, you might have a better picture.
The best explanation, and I think is the common explanation that most Buddhist masters give, is that wearing beads on your wrist, whether long or short strands, serves as a reminder that one is a practicing Buddhist and one should always maintain a connection with the Triple Gem.
The material of the beads is really of personal preference. Of course different schools of practice prescribe different materials for specific types of practice, but I personally tend to choose a material that lasts. Since these things have become so popular, everybody is mass-producing them as fast as sliced bread. Especially with some of the wooden ones that are out in the market combined with the dry, hot weather that we’ve been having in the SGV, the beads tend to crack and break apart. Maybe in the future I can share about some of the wooden materials that are being used to make these beads, like green sandalwood, black sandalwood, boxwood, etc.
There’s this one wrist mala I’ve been wearing for at least ten years–it’s a red carnelian material with drum-shaped beads and carvings of the eight auspicisous symbols on them. When I made a recent visit back to the store I originally bought this mala from, the manager asked to look at it and showed it to her staff on how the material does transform gradually with constant human contact. This is sort of like how jade transforms when people wear jade bangles for long periods of time. I honestly didn’t pay much attention until the manager mentioned it but now every once in a while I hold it up to a bright light, or the lighted magnifying glass I got the other day, and examine it. If you wear similar material beads, do yours transform in color?
The Buddha wears Glasses 