- Prayer Beads
Buddhist prayer beads are
traditional devotional tools
of prayer used in various
forms of Buddhism. They
are similar to other forms
of prayer beads and the
Rosary used in various
world religions; thus this
tool has also been known
as the Buddhist rosary.
Prayer beads or japa
malas are used in many
forms of Mahayana
Buddhism, often with a
lesser number of beads
than the Hindu japa
malas's 108--usually a
divisor of 108. In Pure
Land Buddhism, for
instance, 27-bead rosaries
are common.
In Chinese culture such
rosaries are named, shu
zhu ("Counting Beads"),
Fo zhu ("Buddha Beads"),
or nian zhu ("Prayer
Beads"). In Japan they are
"Juzu".
In Tibetan Buddhism,
often larger malas are
used, for example 111
beads. One mala consists
of 100 mantras, with 11
extra taken to compensate
for errors.
 |  |  |  |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
