We are making rosaries again, mostly brown, black or natural (pale) wooden beads, 8 or 10mm with divider beads in a variety of complementary colours (glass, pearl effect, faceted or other). A three-hole bead allows three extra beads and two tassels.
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27 bead - 3 sets of nine beads with dividers & tassels. £7.50 |
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108 bead - The traditional Buddhist rosary, with 12 sets of nine beads, with dividers and tassels. £12.50 |
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Wrist rosary - Elasticated for wearing on the wrist. We make these using a variety of beads and colours. A selection is shown here. £6.00 |
The traditional way is to hold the beads while reciting a mantra or short verse e.g. the Three Homages, or Three refuges. After each recitation, move one bead through the fingers.
The 108 bead rosary has a long tradition. It is said that people have 108 afflictions, which are also 108 means of seeing the truth, if they are seen, as they show us the particular ways in which we cling, or reject. We learn in our practice to recognise these, acknowledge them - and allow them to pass without acting on them. They then become our teachers.
The calculation of 108 is complex: there are six sense organs (in Buddhism the brain is a sense organ, with thoughts as its 'objects') multiplied by three reactions to what we receive from them (positive, negative or neutral) making 18 feelings. Each of these can be actively either 'attached to' or 'rejected', making 36 'passions', each of which can be manifest in the past, present or future, which makes 108.
In some Buddhist ceremonies the bell is rung 108 times.
In some practices, where 100 recitations are made, 8 extra are added on to compensate for any errors.
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Updated June 2009
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