Guest guest Posted January 3, 2003 Report Share Posted January 3, 2003 Jai Ma, I'd like to learn more about re-consecrating a mala and appreciate any ideas/discussion/suggestions orthodox or no. I was doing japa on the commute to school after work and my tulasi beads are carrying the harried/bustled/sleepy vibes I experienced on the rush hour city bus. I feel that waste is a big dis to SRIMATA for all She gives us and reusing is preferable to replacing. So I'd like some ideas to cleanse the 3 malas I have, tulasi, sandal, and rudraksha (thanks for the tip on mustard oil). I've had these malas for a decade, but I do wear tulasi or sandal bead necklaces in the Vaisnava way i.e. always until they wear away. When a necklace breaks, I never re-string because it's well worn or missing beads, what I do is either burn them to ash with incense resin in a brass pot, then put the ash in another brass pot I keep filled with ash & sand where I burn incense sticks. Once I was swimming in the ocean with a brand new strand of sandal and although it was tight, it was gone when I came out, so Yemaja, the ocean Devi took that one! In a message dated 1/3/2003 5:49:39 AM Eastern Standard Time, Ammachi writes: > Message: 4 > Thu, 02 Jan 2003 22:34:50 -0000 > "Tom <tomgull" <tomgull > Re: Question about mala > > Just re-string them. You didn't mention what kind of beads they > were. If they're wood or rudraksha, in which you'd be oiling them > occasionally, I pick a nylon string so that it doesn't wear out or > stretch. > > Ideally, a mala would have a particular focus, but it's more important > where you mind and heart are, than chanting only one mantra on it. > There are those that get a bunch of malas, with each having a > different "meaning", but this is a common mistake amongst worldly > newbies with too much money on their hands. Ideally, a mala you wear > shouldn't be the one you chant with and vice-verse, although some like > to wear their chanting mala so they always have it handy. I have a > 36+1 bead large rudraksha mala that I use for wearing around the > house, and only chant with it to re-energize it or if I'm too lazy to > get my chanting mala. I made it from a 108 bead mala that I took > apart, gently cleaning and oiling the beads with mustard oil. I used > metal spacers from the craft store and put the beads face-to-face, > tail-to-tail, rather than all the same direction. There's good > prices for malas at tibetanspirit.com > > Malas can always be re-consecrated, which should be done on a regular > or semi-regular basis anyways. If people are interested, I'll post > what little I know and what I've done. I'll need to find where I read > on how to make a tassel (I don't bother with 'em) I had gotten a > rudraksha mala and had Amma bless it when I first got a mantra years > ago, but I didn't really use it for a few years, and it seemed to take > on new life after I re-consecrated it, which basically is > using it as > a murthi and doing puja to it with the 5 elements. > tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 3, 2003 Report Share Posted January 3, 2003 om amritesvaryai namah if i can offer my two cents on the matter of cleansing japamalas... chanting with one-pointed concentration is the best way. while it's true that there is an accumulation of shakti due to japa, that accumulation isn't occuring outside of you, and it isnt the mala itself that you should be so concerned about...and besides, if you're not chanting with concentration, then you're not building up much shakti in the first place, and so what then is the point? yes, you should have reverence and devotion for your mala, seeing it as a form of your Beloved, but the whole point of japa is to focus the mind and heart on its Source, and only a devoted concentration will do this...and when that is there, no other purification is needed. i think people sometimes tend to get a little too caught up in the particulars, and miss the bigger picture....although, i can also see how all the attention given to these details cultivates that very focus and awareness of which i speak, so maybe i shouldn't say anything... but i'll send this to the list anyway, just as another viewpoint. In Amma, ~sucetas mon~ om lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu _______________ Help STOP SPAM: Try the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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