Anatomy of Buddhist Prayer Beads

We all love making long silk knotted necklaces with gemstones and even adding tassels to them. We have tons of them! When we get new rounds in- of course, we all have to make ourselves a new silk knotted tassel necklace. Have you ever called one of these a mala or prayer beads? I know we sure have- and now that we’ve learned so much about all of the different parts of prayer beads, we want to make even more! Even the process of silk knotting your prayer beads is a major component to it. Let’s learn a little bit more about these Buddhist Prayer Beads. These are also commonly known as yoga beads.

The Beads

Choosing beads for your mala can be very fun. Reflect and think about what intention you want to set with this prayer beads. You can use as many types of gemstones as you like too. Choose a gemstone that speaks to you. You don’t even need to research the meanings, sometimes while you are in the store, a certain stone or color just speaks to you and maybe that’s what you need to go with. Often times when the Beadworks girls use this method to choose our beads, we research the meanings of the color and stone after and are moved by how and why we were connected to those stones at the time.

Guru Bead/Focal Bead

This is the bead that will be at the center of your mala. This bead can be anything you want. A metal bead, a pendant, a big gemstone, a glass bead and even add a tassel too! You can also use a bead that has symbolic meaning, like the Om symbol.

108 Beads

108 is a sacred number in the Buddhist and Hindu faith. It is said that there are 108 lines of energy flowing through your seven chakras. When meditating with your prayer beads you say your intentions 108 times. You can add spacer beads to your prayer beads which to do count as part of the 108. The spacer or counter beads are used to bring your mind back if it’s wandered during meditation.

Silk and Knots

The silk that you use to knot your prayer beads signifies the universe. It holds your mala together. We come from the universe and so does your silk. As you know your silk between each bead you are supposed to say your intention and meditate while making your prayer beads.