Malas: A Simple Practice for Stillness, Intention and Mantra
Updated: 5 days ago
More Than Jewellery — My Journey with Malas
Jewellery making has been part of my life for many years. So when I first encountered malas, the world of gemstones, beads and creating jewellery was already familiar to me.
But through my own connection with mindfulness and meditation, I began wanting to create something more than simply a beautiful piece of jewellery. I wanted to create something meaningful — something that could also support a person's contemplative practice.
This curiosity introduced me to the world of malas and their rich spiritual traditions. As I explored their history, symbolism and practical use, I gradually developed my own approach to making them.
I also know from personal experience how difficult even a few minutes of stillness can sometimes feel. We may sit down intending to meditate or simply pause for a moment, only to discover how quickly the mind moves from one thought to another. Sometimes the busyness of the mind can even make us reluctant to slow down.
This is one of the reasons I find malas so useful.
A mala gives the hands something tangible to hold and the mind something simple to return to. Moving from one bead to the next can accompany a mantra, an affirmation, a prayer or simply the breath. Even when the mind wanders, the beads offer a gentle reminder to return.
Rather than trying to force the mind into silence, the mala becomes an anchor for attention.
And while malas can be beautiful objects in themselves, traditionally their purpose goes much deeper than jewellery.
What is a mala?
A traditional mala is a string of beads used for prayer, mantra and meditation. The word mālā comes from Sanskrit and means “garland”, reflecting its origins as a sacred garland of beads used in spiritual practice.
Many malas contain 108 beads, together with a larger or distinctive bead known as the Guru or Buddha bead.
Malas have a long history within spiritual traditions originating in India, particularly Hindu and Buddhist practice, although today they are used by people from many different contemplative backgrounds.
The beads provide a simple way of keeping count while repeating a mantra or prayer. Rather than mentally counting repetitions, you move through the beads one at a time. This allows your attention to remain with the practice itself.
A mala can be used for:
Mantra practice: repeating a mantra once for each bead.
Meditation: giving the hands and mind a physical point of focus.
Breath awareness: moving to the next bead with each conscious breath.
Prayer or reflection: repeating a prayer, meaningful phrase or intention.
Mindfulness: noticing the texture and movement of the beads as a way of returning attention to the present moment.
A reminder of intention: wearing or carrying a mala can become a physical reminder of something you are cultivating in your life.
You don't have to complete all 108 beads every time you use your mala. Sometimes a few conscious breaths or repetitions are enough to interrupt the momentum of the day and return to what matters.
A traditional 108-bead mala, handmade by Home of Bliss in McGregor, South Africa.
The significance of the guru bead
Most traditional malas include a larger or distinctive bead, commonly known as the guru bead, and sometimes referred to as the Buddha bead.
Depending on the tradition, it may symbolise the spiritual teacher, the Buddha or the wisdom of the teachings.
The guru bead also serves a practical purpose. It marks the beginning and completion of a full round of 108 repetitions.
Traditionally, when reaching the guru bead, we do not cross over it. Instead, we turn the mala around and continue in the opposite direction if we wish to begin another round.
In this way, the guru bead can also become a moment of pause — an opportunity to acknowledge the practice, reconnect with our intention and continue with awareness.
Why 108 beads?
The number 108 holds deep significance in Hindu and Buddhist traditions. For centuries, it has been associated with spiritual practice, contemplation and the journey towards greater awareness.
There are several interpretations of why this particular number is used.
In Hindu traditions, 108 appears in sacred names, prayers and mantra practices. Reciting a mantra 108 times is a longstanding devotional practice, with the number often understood as representing completeness and spiritual wholeness.
In Buddhism, 108 is traditionally associated with the mental afflictions that obscure our natural clarity and contribute to suffering. These include the many ways attachment, aversion and ignorance influence our experience.
Moving through 108 beads can therefore symbolise the gradual cultivation of wisdom and the transformation of these habitual patterns.
There is also a fascinating astronomical connection often associated with the number. The average distance between the Earth and the Sun is approximately 107 times the Sun's diameter, while the average distance between the Earth and the Moon is approximately 111 times the Moon's diameter. Both are sometimes expressed symbolically as approximately 108.
Although these relationships are not exact, and there is no established historical evidence that they determined the original number of mala beads, they offer an interesting reflection on the relationship between the human experience and the wider universe.
But for me, each bead represents an opportunity to return to awareness.
We may begin our practice with a restless mind, become distracted halfway through, and find ourselves returning again and again. That is part of the process.
The practice is not about rushing towards bead 108. It is about being present with the bead that is currently between your fingers.
And perhaps that is the deeper invitation of a mala: not to reach some distant state of perfection, but to cultivate presence, one bead at a time.
Gemstones, meaning and intention
Malas can be made from many materials, including wood, seeds and natural gemstones. Different stones have also accumulated symbolic and traditional associations over time.
I approach these associations as intentions and qualities to contemplate, rather than promises that a particular stone will produce a particular physical or emotional result.
For example, Rose Quartz is commonly associated with love and compassion; Carnelian with vitality and courage; and stones such as Moss Agate with grounding and connection to the natural world.
When I create a Home of Bliss mala, I choose stones that complement one another and the particular intention I have for that piece. That intention might be compassion, grounded courage, clarity, renewal, wisdom or simply returning to presence.
Sometimes a particular mantra is also part of the creation of a mala. Each finished mala therefore has its own character and intention rather than being a reproduction of a standard design.
How I create my Home of Bliss malas
My malas are individually made by hand in McGregor, South Africa.
Many are individually hand-knotted using silk and bamboo-cotton thread, while certain designs are strung differently when the shape, size or weight of the stones requires another construction method. Depending on the design, I may use a Tibetan-style guru bead, a gemstone guru bead or a meaningful pendant.
The tassels on my knotted malas are also handmade rather than bought ready-made. For me, they are part of creating the mala rather than something simply attached at the end. The tassels are the roots of the lotus. :-)
I work with the colour, texture and qualities traditionally associated with the stones and allow these to inform the intention of the finished mala.
Above all, my intention while making each piece is simple: that it may be of benefit to the person who eventually wears and uses it.
Each mala comes with information about the stones used and the intention behind the piece, so that its new owner understands something of what went into its creation.
How to use your mala
There is no need to make mala practice complicated.
Find a comfortable and quiet place and allow yourself a moment to arrive. Hold the mala in one hand, bring it close to your heart and begin with the bead next to the guru bead. Repeat your chosen mantra, prayer or affirmation once, or take one conscious breath. Then move to the next bead. Continue in this way for as long as you wish.
If you complete all 108 beads, you will eventually arrive back at the guru bead. Traditionally, the guru bead is not crossed. If you want to continue for another round, turn the mala around and move back in the opposite direction.
And if your mind wanders somewhere along the way?
Notice it.
Return to the bead.
Continue.
That returning is part of the practice.
Bringing the mala into everyday life
Your mala doesn't have to live on a meditation cushion.
You can wear it, carry it with you or keep it somewhere you will regularly see it. You can even wear it under your shirt to protect it and keep it closer to your heart. Before starting your day, when you are putting it on, you might hold a few beads and remember an intention. During a difficult moment, you might take five slower breaths while moving through five beads.
Before sleep, you might use your mala for a short mantra or gratitude practice.
Over time, even touching the mala can become a reminder:
Come back.
More than something beautiful
I love creating beautiful malas. But I don't want them to become merely another beautiful object that we own. A mala comes alive through practice.
The gemstones, colours, knots, tassel and guru bead may carry meaning, but ultimately it is what happens when you pick up the mala and begin that matters. Perhaps that is one of the quiet gifts of mala practice: it doesn't ask us to escape our ordinary lives. It simply gives us a tangible way of returning to them with a little more awareness.
Find a mala for your own practice
Each Home of Bliss mala is individually handmade in McGregor, South Africa. Explore the current collection and find the mala whose stones, intention and design speak to you.
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