Rudraksha mala

[dust]

A good friend in China spent around 8 months on his first necklace -- bought a few hundred 'fresh' (uncleaned) seeds, picked out 108 of the 'best', drilled them, cleaned them, and polished/brushed them daily until the day I left Beijing, when he gave the mala to me...which, understandably, overwhelmed me. What a gift, and what a responsibility!

 

So I'm hoping that by doing what he suggested (wearing it, rubbing it, brushing it every so often) it will remain in good condition, and even improve over time. But is there anything else? Are certain oils beneficial? Some more than others? (or will the oil from my skin suffice?)

 

Any advice would be appreciated. I'd like to know I'm keeping it well.

Edited July 5, 2016 by dustybeijing

[joeblast]

thumb one by every time you feel you've performed a good enough breath

[Vmarco]

Or....thumb one for each direct experience between breaths, that offers the realization that meditation often becomes an avoidance of truth.

 

"The practice of meditation is represented by the three monkeys, who cover their eyes, ears and mouths so as to avoid the phenomenal world. The practice of non-meditation is ceasing to be the see-er, hearer or speaker while eyes, ears and mouths are fulfilling their function in daily life." - Wei Wu Wei

[GrandmasterP]

108 =

Tao is 1

We are 0

Infinity symbol is 8

 

Old boy in Taiwan told me that one.

 

Edited September 5, 2014 by GrandmasterP

[Vmarco]

108 =

Tao is 1

We are 0

Infinity symbol is 8

 

Old boy in Taiwan told me that one.

 

 

The "old boy" was incorrect.

 

The Tao is not One. One cannot exist without two,...nor two without one.

 

Lao Tzu correctly said, "The Tao gives birth to One. One gives birth to yin and yang. Yin and yang give birth to all things....The Tao gives rise to all form, yet is has no form of its own."

[GrandmasterP]

I'll be sure and tell him next time I'm over here.

 

[dust]

The "old boy" was incorrect.

 

The Tao is not One. One cannot exist without two,...nor two without one.

 

Lao Tzu correctly said, "The Tao gives birth to One. One gives birth to yin and yang. Yin and yang give birth to all things....The Tao gives rise to all form, yet is has no form of its own."

 

Well if we want to get technical, I believe that the first people who decided to have 108 beads on a mala would have been using sanskrit, so the 8 wouldn't have been an infinity symbol to them in the first place! So indeed the old boy wasn't technically "correct". But it's a nice thought, even if "incorrect"

 

Personally, I think it's a cool idea that 1 and 0 represent the binary system (i.e. yang and yin), 8 infinity, and together: the Dao....

Edited September 6, 2014 by dustybeijing

[Vmarco]

Well if we want to get technical, I believe that the first people who decided to have 108 beads on a mala would have been using sanskrit, so the 8 wouldn't have been an infinity symbol to them in the first place! So indeed the old boy wasn't technically "correct". But it's a nice thought, even if "incorrect"

 

Personally, I think it's a cool idea that 1 and 0 represent the binary system (i.e. yang and yin), 8 infinity, and together: the Dao....

 

Yang and Yin do not represent the Tao,...any more than a lever, and its position, represent a fulcrum. Yes, Yang and Yin effect their motion from the stillness of the Tao, but are not of the Tao.

 

108 goes back into antiquity,....most likely from the Bönpo,...for whom multiples of 9 was most important. Nothing is more or less than Nine. For anyone wishing to understand that last sentence, try Russell's "New Concept of the Universe."

[GrandmasterP]

Well if we want to get technical, I believe that the first people who decided to have 108 beads on a mala would have been using sanskrit, so the 8 wouldn't have been an infinity symbol to them in the first place! So indeed the old boy wasn't technically "correct". But it's a nice thought, even if "incorrect"

 

Personally, I think it's a cool idea that 1 and 0 represent the binary system (i.e. yang and yin), 8 infinity, and together: the Dao....

 

Yep, it's just one way of looking at the mala.

Quite a nice one IMO.

Still and all, some folks just have to be 'right' about everything.

Best left to it are those sorts.

 

[Aetherous]

Your mala sounds like an amazing treasure.