Obviously, I’ve been a bit irritated lately. It’s been very noticeable by Adam so he reminded me that I haven’t meditated in a loooonnnnnngggg while and that always helps me stay mellow and balanced. He was absolutely right. So the last couple of days, I’ve been spending a few minutes each day medidating with my mala beads. Mala beads are used by buddhists, like catholics and rosary beads. Here’s a quick definition.
A mala is a string of 108 beads with one bead as the summit bead called a ‘sumeru’. It is a tool used to keep your mind on the meditation practice. Malas are generally made from different materials such as tulsi (basil) wood, sandal wood, rudraksh seeds or crystal. Each type of material has certain properties which subtly affect the subconscious mind of the practitioner. The mala beads are moved in rhythm with the breath and the mantra, so that both-sleep as well as excessive mental distraction-are prevented by this action upon the beads.
So I say the mantra “Om Mani Padme Hum” (Sanskrit) which can’t really be translated but sort of means “a jewel in the lotus.” I learned about this mantra while studying under a Buddhist monk while at college at USC. Here’s some basic info on this mantra.
Buddhists believe that saying the mantra (prayer), Om Mani Padme Hum, out loud or silently to oneself, invokes the powerful benevolent attention and blessings of Chenrezig, the embodiment of compassion. Viewing the written form of the mantra is said to have the same effect — it is often carved into stones and placed where people can see them. The Dalai Lama is said to be an incarnation of Chenrezig or Avalokiteshvara, so the mantra is especially revered by his devotees and it is commonly carved onto rocks and written on paper which is then inserted into prayer wheels to increase its effects.
Now that I’m working on becoming more centered again, I’m realizing once again how detached I was from myself. Sometimes I get so caught up on so many things that I completely identify myself as my to-do list, my worries, my future rather than as a human being. We forget what’s important – life, moment to moment. What I love about Buddhism is that it teaches you to live a life of balance, but full of happiness and compassion. If all our worries, fears and doubts drip away from us, think about how happy we would all be. We have to live in the moment and not what we concoct in our heads which is something I do all the time. I live so much in my head that I forget there’s a whole world out there to experience. And the more good energy we throw out there in the world, the better we make it and the better we make our next lives.
