Saturday, October 13, 2007

Don't forget about beads

Rosaries are used as a meditative practice in many spiritual traditions:

Use a rosary of meditation beads if you practice a school of meditation that involves the repetition of a mantra. Advance one bead per repetition of your mantra, and continue in reverse when you reach the point you started from if you want to keep going.
Beads not only help us count our prayers or mantras; they also give us something to do with our hands. Personally, I find the use of a rosary (or mala) helps minimize distractions. Here are some sources:

Anglican and Lutheran rosaries

Buddhist malas

Baha'i prayer beads

Orthodox prayer ropes

Goddess rosaries

Catholic rosaries

Worry beads

Finger rosaries (I love these!)

Islamic prayer beads

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the encouragement and the links. You're a good resource, Ellie!

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  2. Dear Ellie, I have made Anglican Rosaries for years now and given them to friends and family. I create my own chain with 11/0 seed beads as I string them and I find it to be very calming and peaceful, because I pray on each little bead as I string it. Often I do this when I am in the middle of some crisis. For example, when a friend's daughter was in the hospital having a breast biopsy, part of my day was devoted to running laps and praying for her as I ran and then coming home and stringing Rosaries with prayers for her and her family on each of the beads. I find this to be very helpful in my prayer life.

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