Beads are an ancient, multi-faith way to enhance the experience of prayer and meditation.
The word “bede” in Anglo-Saxon means “prayer”. Beads have been used for prayer for millennia, all over the world, in many religious traditions.
The Hindu mala is a necklace of 108 beads. Each bead is fingered while repeating a mantra. The Buddhists use mala beads in a similar fashion.
The Muslims may have copied the use of beads from the Hindus and Buddhists. They have a rosary of 99 beads, each one marking one of the names/attributes of Allah – with a head bead for Allah. An alternative form is 33 beads, used 3 times to complete the 99 names. The Bahá'í faith uses a similar rosary.
The Catholic Christians may have copied the Muslims in creating rosary beads. “Praying the rosary” involves a series of prayers marked by five “decades” of beads, with a cross at the head of the necklace.
Martin Lonnebo, a Swedish Lutheran bishop, created a bead bracelet called “pearls of life” as a means of meditation. It's a modern Protestant Christian expression of the long, interfaith tradition of rosary bead
Make your own prayer bead necklace of any number of beads, with a "head" or larger bead on it. Here's a way to use it.
Hold the necklace in your hand. Hold a bead next to the head bead in your fingers. Get into a comfortable position where you'll stay alert. Practice mindfulness: observe, one at a time, each thought, sensation, emotion, or urge that arises - with compassion and releasing judgment about it. As a new experience bubbles up into awareness, roll a bead in your fingers until that experience naturally dissipates. As the next experience arises into your loving, curious, open-hearted and open-minded attention, move to the next bead and roll it with your fingers. When you get to the head bead, hold it in your fingers and savor the source and center of your attention itself. Some call this pure consciousness or open awareness, some call it the experience of "no-self", others call it Atman or Brahman, others call it God or the Christ....
A giant prayer bead on display in the courtyard of the University Religious Center
at the University of Southern California
JIM BURKLO
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Associate Dean of Religious Life, University of Southern California