What Is A Mala?

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Also called prayer beads and mala beads, a traditional mala is a string of 108 beads plus a guru bead(s) and a tassel. The 108 beads are used for counting mantra, like a rosary is used for counting prayers. It is said that there are 108 reasons that the number 108 is considered to be sacred. A few of my personal favorites: 108 lines of energy converge to form the heart chakra, there are 108 names for the divine, and there are 54 letters in the Sanskrit alphabet, each with masculine and feminine form, for a total of 108.