Mala 念珠

July 13, 2018

念珠是古代印度用來記數的，由最初散亂獨立的每顆珠演變為現今的一串串。有沒有宗教信仰的也可以配帶念珠，有信仰的可以用念珠來提醒自己行住坐臥要依從正見正念來待人處世，心起煩惱可以用來念佛，轉煩惱為菩提。沒信仰的可視配帶念珠為一種保護作用，因為108這個數字與宇宙是有關繫的。

念珠取108為其數意義深遠，涵蓋整個宇宙。其中之一是，大陽的直徑是地球的108倍，兩者的相距也是太陽直徑的108倍。所以108是無處不在，象徴圓滿，天人合一，跟宇宙聯繫，開啟智慧。

一般大眾所用念珠的數目普遍為108，54及18。高僧大德所用的念珠數目為1080。
54是108的一半，相對108方便攜帶，更可以用上體積比較大粒的珠做念珠。

The Mala originally used by ancient India for counting, one bead representing a certain amount, and then developed to a string of beads for chanting. They used it to help them meditate, go for deeper consciousness. For many spiritual aspirants, simply having them nearby will help to keep you connecting to a meditative state, and become more calm and concentrated.

Going back to the ancient Vedic culture, their mathematicians knew that 108 was the number of existence. The Sun’s diameter is 108 times of the diameter of the Earth, while the Sun to Earth distance is 108 times the Sun’s diameter. So everywhere you turn, there’s 108! It is a connecting, perfection and intelligence symbol.

Generally, we use 108, 54 and 18 for the Mala, and the master will be using 1080.
54 is half of 108, it is relatively portable and allow to use bigger beads for the Mala.