To Bill about mala (was It's lonely when you're drawn to an infinite...God)

[Guest guest]

Bill asked:

What is a mala?

Dear Bill ~ just in case nobody answered this question yet (I am a digest behind...) a mala is both:

 

1. a thing ~ a type of "rosary" comprised of 108 beads, plus a "guru bead," and malas can be

made of different items such as rudraksha beads (recommended for

the EMS sankalpa

mantras), sandlewood beads, crystal beads, etc.

 

2. a practice, as in "to recite a mala," still meaning that one uses the mala as an aid to the

recitation of a particular mantra, 108 times

 

For the EMS Sankalpa, if you are participating, you know that we are

chanting the 9 Planets Mantras, and if you look at the information in

the Fies section of the Page, you will notice that a certain

number of malas are suggested for each planet in two ways: a certain

number of malas if doing the mantra without the fire pit, a certain

number of malas if one is doing the mantra with the fire pit.

 

A mala (the thing, and the number of times) may be applied to any

mantra. For example, as sadumaa shared earlier in this digest: "One

is that every Thursday (traditionally a day to honor the Guru), at

minimum, I do one mala each of mantra for Shree Maa and for Swamiji.

I hold them in my mind and heart and look at their pictures while I

do this. This brings me closer in my heart to them..."

 

I like to recite the Durga Mantra, just about any time, so, in this

case, I would recite the mala 108 times. Durga mantra: Om Hrim Srim

Dum Durgayai Namah

 

There is a way to do the 108 times for a mantra, using the fingers

instead of a mala (very helpful if one is in a doctor's office). I

don't know how to do that one, and I think it would be wonderful if

someone who knows this method could post in the photos or files

section of our Page a written description and possibly pictures

(as was done for the hand positions for the EMS mala). This would be a

wonderful aid for those of us who have not been fortunate enough to

have been taught this method.

 

Jai Maa , Jai Swamiji ~ Linda