December 5, 2004

9:35 PM

A friend of mine is a fairly recent Buddhist convert, and his birthday is coming up. I (at least like to pretend to) know about Buddhism, so I thought of getting him some juju beads, which he doesn't have yet. What would be an appropriate style/shape/number/anything for juju beads?
posted by anarcation to (7 comments total)

Juju beads? Not sure what you mean there, but if you mean something like a mala - which looks like a rosary - they should ideally have 108 beads, I think. You would get bonus points maybe for finding a mala with one or two short cords hanging off it, with even more beads on, which can be used to count multiples of the number of times you went around the 108 beads.

But IANAB.
posted by carter at 9:58 PM on December 5, 2004

that place sells the counters also.
posted by rhyax at 10:10 PM on December 5, 2004

Any info on the particular school/style of Buddhism?
posted by falconred at 11:45 PM on December 5, 2004

People practising in the Tibetan tradition use a mala, as described - 108 beads, sometimes with three different-coloured spacer beads making it up to 111, as here, dangling counters so the mala can keep track of mantras chanted, and a tassel at the end. The most common material for these is bodhi seeds, which are also pleasing to handle and age nicely: malas made entirely of semi-precious stone beads, crystal or glass may look prettier, but are cold and tend to wear through the cord a lot faster.

You can also find Tibetan-style rosaries made of bone, sometimes with each bead carved into a little skull. These malas are interesting artifacts, but most people won't be doing practices traditionally associated with them, at least at first, and the beads are simply not so comfortable to use.

Japanese Buddhists use beads, but I'm not sure about the details - there's a page here suggesting every major sect may have its own style.
posted by zadcat at 8:22 AM on December 6, 2004

I think that the best gift you can get your friend is not to refer to religious articles by dismissive slang names.

I'm not a Buddhist, but just seeing malas referred to as "juju beads" made me feel like someone had punched me in the stomach.
posted by Sidhedevil at 9:26 AM on December 6, 2004

Well, I am, and "juju beads" didn't offend me so much as puzzle me... though a mala is neither a plaything (from the french, apparently) nor a charm or amulet with magical powers, nor a style of Nigerian popular music. I've only ever heard people call them "rosaries" in ignorance.

In fact, in most Buddhist traditions (to my knowledge) malas are purely practical (though often sentimental) objects.

Getting back to your question, 108 is the most common number; 54 and 27 are also fairly common (for portability). The extra counters are, in my experience, somewhat rare among non-Tibetan Buddhists.
posted by onshi at 9:54 AM on December 6, 2004

I should add that you can find malas made of everything from wood to bone and semi-precious stones, sandalwood is both satisfying (looks nice but is also austere - compared to onyx or somesuch) and inexpensive. Some people prefer the weight of something heavier, though. For the most part these are considerations of style only rather than deep religious significance.

Certain materials are thought of as being 'auspicious' in one way or another, but that is more regional custom and culture than religion per se... similar to the minerals and semi-precious stones you can buy at museums along with little tidbits about their supposed healthful qualities and such in North America
posted by onshi at 10:05 AM on December 6, 2004