Description

This Mala Beads 108 Necklace is Hand-knotted with Amazonite and Wood Zen Style Mala with Marker Counters perfect for guiding your meditation practice or updating your style. Mala Necklace with 108 Yoga Prayer Beads makes a great gift and a bold statement.

What is a Mala Necklace?

A mala, meaning “garland” is a necklace also referred to as a string of Buddhist prayer beads. They are a traditional tool containing 108 beads used to count breaths or recitations of your chosen mantra, as well as a Guru bead and in some styles marker beads as well.
To use, hold your mala in your right hand, draped between your middle and index fingers. Starting at the guru bead, use your thumb to count each smaller bead, pulling it toward you as you recite your mantra. Do this 108 times, traveling around the mala, until you once again reach the guru bead.

Anatomy of a Zen-Style Mala Necklace
108 beads
4 marker beads
1 Guru bead
1 Tassel
Silk Cording

Why 108 beads?

The number 108 has a variety of significance across many different cultures and disciplines. For example, this number informs the structure of sacred texts that are central to yoga and Eastern philosophy: there are 108 chapters of the Rig Veda, 108 Upanishads, and 108 primary Tantras, all these texts are written in Sanskrit, a language comprising 54 letters, each with a masculine (Shiva) and feminine (Shakti) form, 54 x 2 = 108.

Why marker beads?

While meditating it is natural for thoughts to drift and for one to begin to daydream, the marker beads assist in acting as a physical “wake-up” call to make sure your focus is on the mantra and the practice of meditation.

What is the guru bead?

The Guru bead, similar to the marker beads, is not counted in the 108 beads of the mala. This bead symbolizes our Teacher, the Divine or God.
When practicing our meditation we must never cross over the Guru bead – as it would show extreme disrespect and is looked on as stepping over your teacher. Instead, you should turn the mala around 180 degrees and go back the way you came, in the reverse direction. Since the Guru bead is not counted during meditation, and is separate from the rest of the mala it illustrates that our Teacher, God, or Divine is beyond ourselves and our Universe.

Why the tassel?

The tassel represents our connection to the Divine as it is the link between our meditation beads and Guru beads and holds all of the threads and beads together.

Why silk cording?

The thread itself represents the bond that we have with the Universe. It holds the beads together, it is the thread of the Universe. The beads come from the Universe and so do we. The thread symbolizes that everything is interconnected and without separation.

Why overhand knotting?

The knots placed between the beads ensure that the beads do not touch each other and therefore they don’t distract us during meditation with a sound. They symbolize our connection to the divine Universe and help us to keep our distractions separate from ourselves in the same way that the beads are separated from each other.

The belief that the metaphysical benefits of stones can provide similar benefits to the wearer is centuries old.

AMAZONITE provides for improved temperament. It soothes the emotional processes, providing for the reduction of fears and anxieties. It soothes the nerves and dispels both negative and aggravating energies. It is soothing to all chakras but is particularly useful to the Heart and Throat Chakras; being a facilitator of communications regarding love.

This listing is for 1 mala necklace of your choice of 6 mm or 8 mm. The other items shown complement the mala necklace.  All natural gemstones and wood beads have their own unique markings and colors, so each piece may vary slightly from the picture, but is guaranteed to be just as lovely.

The sale is for the listed item only, all other items in photos are for illustrative purposes only and not included in the order.

As with any fine jewelry, take care and remove your pieces before showering, bathing, swimming, exercising, or any use beyond light activity to preserve the life of your jewelry. Avoid contact between the jewelry and perfume, hairspray, cream lotion, or hand cream. Store in a dry place.

Hang the Mala with the tassel facing down when not in use to avoid its bending.

All of our jewelry is handmade in our studio on LBI, NJ in the USA and we take great pride in creating each piece. We hope that you love your piece as much as we loved creating it.