"Keep your mala private."
"It is very important to protect your mala from contamination by non-virtuous persons. Even a special mala of Bodhi seed or gold can cease to be of benefit to anyone. If it contacts the hands of a person who has committed any of the five heinous crimes, you will fail in whatever you try to accomplish."
Generally it is best to keep one's personal practice, including Yidam images, ritual implements associated with that practice such as a mala sadhana texts, etc. hidden from public view. One's personal practice is meant for gathering "power" and when one keeps it this way secret and hidden from the eyes and ears of other sentient beings, whereas if one displays it, the "power" easily dissipates like evaporating mist or boiling water in a pot without top.
Guru Rinpoche says: “The best type of mala to use to increase the number of recitations is a mala made from some type of precious jewel. A mediocre type of mala is made from the seed of a tree or fruit, and inferior type of mala is made from wood, earth, stone or medicine.”
A mala made from seashells, earth, wood or seeds from trees or fruit is meant to be used to accomplish peaceful sadhanas and peaceful action.
A mala made from gold will accomplish expansive karmas.
A red coral mala is best for accomplishing powerful sadhanas. A steel or turquoise mala is good for wrathful activity.
A mala made from dzi or other precious stones can be used to accomplish any of the karmic activities you are doing.
A mala made from apricot stones will accomplish expansive activity.
A mala made from “lot ton” (a tiny, round black seed within a fruit) accomplishes powerful activity.
A mala made from raksha beads accomplishes wrathful practices.
A mala made from bodhi seeds accomplishes all dharmas.
Malas of bodhi tree wood accomplish peaceful karmas.
A mala of mulberry beads accomplishes powerful karmas.
Malas of mahogany wood accomplish wrathful practices.
Malas made of ivory, especially from an elephant’s tusk, will accomplish all concerned activity.
Beads made of stone are good for expansive practice.
Beads made of medicine are good for wrathful practice.
Malas with many different types of jewels are good for any practice.
Next, the text mentions the different kinds of benefits that are derived from using different types of malas. An iron or steel mala multiplies the virtue that is accumulated with each recitation in a general way.
A copper mala multiplies each recitation four times. A raksha mala multiplies each recitation by 20 million, and a pearl mala by 100 million. A silver mala multiplies by 100,000 and a ruby mala by 100 million. A bodhi seed mala manifests limitless benefits for any form of practice, be it peaceful, expansive, powerful or wrathful.
You should all know the mala’s meaning and the best way to string it. String your mala using three, five or nine strings, and no other number. Three strings symbolize the three kayas, five strings symbolize the five buddhas, and the nine strings symbolize the nine vehicles.
 |
| (His Majesty the King with Rosary at Paro Tsechu) |
The main guru bead may be composed of three beads, symbolizing the three vajra states of being, the three kayas. The smallest bead on the outside should be blue, perhaps made of lapis. The color blue symbolizes the unchanging mind of ultimate truth. The bead in the middle should be red, to symbolize vajra speech, and the innermost bead should be white, to symbolize the vajra body.
Your mala must be blessed by a lama, and you should constantly bless your mala yourself by imbuing it with energy. You must put energy into your mala before counting recitations with it, to pro duce real benefit.
You should clean your mouth and hand, and then your mala, before using it. You may also scent it with sandalwood oil.
Next, generate yourself as the deity, place the mala in your left hand and arrange the beads with the guru bead placed vertically in the center. Recite the mantra that transforms all dharmas into the awareness of their true nature: OM SWABAVA SHUDDO SARVA DHARMA SWABAVA SHUDDO HAM. This mantra cleanses and transforms impure perceptions into the awareness of emptiness.
And recite: ༀ་རུ་ཙི་ར་མ་ཎི་པྲ་ཝརྟ་ཡ་ཧཱུཾ། OṂ RUTSIRA MAṆI PRAWARTAYA HŪṂ (7 times)
From emptiness, the guru bead appears as the central deity in the mandala, and the other beads appear as the members of the entourage. This part of the practice is the meditation upon the samayasattva. Next, invoke the jnanasattva. Invite the primordial wisdom beings to come forth, hooking them so that they dissolve into the samayasattva, just as you would in a sadhana. Invite the wisdom beings to come from their pure lands into the space in front of you. They then dissolve into your mala and remain firm there. Thus, every part of your mala is the entire mandala.
Your mala represents not only the form of the deity but the speech of the deity as well. For example, if you recite the One-Hundred Syllable mantra, the guru bead represents the syllable OM and the other beads represent the remaining syllables.
Guru Rinpoche said, “Whenever you recite peaceful mantras, use the tip of your thumb to count the mala.
Whatever kind of practice you are doing, whether peaceful, wrathful, powerful or expansive, always be aware that the thumb is a vajra hook which hooks spiritual powers, deities and other blessings. It is also easy to move the beads with your thumb.
The text does not elaborate, but there are some extensive teachings on how to move the beads on the malas when performing certain practices. In some wrathful practices, you jerk the beads with both hands and so forth. You can also choose number of end beads for meditation. Remember to stay mindful of the following qualities while feeling the end beads between your finger and thumb.
Three End Beads
The 3 end beads are a reminder to connect to all that is good, truthful & positive and represent the 3Jewels in Buddhism:
1. The Buddha - the Enlightened One
2. The Dharma - the teachings, the truth
3. The Sangha - the Buddhist community
Six End Beads
There are 6 end beads in total representing the Six
Perfections in Buddhism:
1. Generosity
2. Ethics
3. Patience
4. Enthusiastic perseverance
5. Concentration
6. Wisdom
Ten End Beads
The meditation for these malas is based upon the Buddhist 10 non-virtues.
Staying mindful & avoiding these 10 non-virtues is the foundation of ethical living:
1. No killing
2. No stealing
3. No sexual misconduct
4. No lying
5. No slandering
6. No harsh words
7. No gossip or idle talk
8. No coveting or craving
9. No aversion or ill-will
10. No incorrect views
The following teachings, which explain how to care for your mala when you are not using it, come straight from the mouth of Guru Rinpoche.
If your mala has been repeatedly blessed by great lamas, by your own teacher and by yourself as part of your deity practice, it should accompany you like your shadow. You keep the root samaya of the vajra mala by never letting it leave your body.''
Thank you for reading.
