Japa is a type of mantra meditation that is a series of repetitions that you do every day. They are recited in multiples of 108. Each repetition helps to release an endless amount of negative emotions and thoughts. Mindfulness meditation is very similar to Japa. The same principles of mindfulness can also be applied to meditation. In mindfulness meditation, one pays careful attention to the present moment. You don’t need mala beads or Buddha beads to do this, but you do need to count to 108. There’s a lot of conventional ways that you can do these 108 mantras and different ways to keep count.
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Three ways to count 108 mantras
1. Use a notebook
If you want to, you can use a little notebook and make checkmarks for each mantra. You can also draw om symbols or anything else that will help you focus. It would be best to use grid line paper so you can easily calculate blocks of 108 marks.
2. Count on your fingers.
There is one cool way that I saw on YouTube was on your hands on your four fingers. You have three parts, and you can count in multiples of 12 mala beads are 108 beads, starting with the guru bead, which is at the end of the 108 beads.
3. Use Buddhist Prayer Beads
There are many benefits of using mala beads for meditation. The beads themselves have powerful spiritual and physical qualities. The Buddhist Prayer Beads has been very helpful in helping me deal with all kinds of spiritual problems, physical diseases, and even problems with the body and mind. The gemstone and wood beads can help reduce anxiety, stress, chronic pain, and even eczema, skin conditions, and menstrual pain. One of the core benefits of using mala beads is that the beads can serve as a visual “external support system” for the mind and body during periods of meditation.
What you do is you think of a phrase or a word that is something you want to invite into your life and cultivate. Something you want To bring mindfulness towards is best. It can be anything, for example, you want to bring strength or love or hope. You can say I am strong; I am hope I am love. As you’re going through the beads, you hold the beads. You’re never supposed to use your index finger again; I see people do it, but you’re not supposed to. It’s supposed to represent the ego. So you can use your three other fingers and your thumb. And then say your mantra. I am love. You can turn the beam, take a breath, and move to the next bead when you get all the way around. If you’re going to start over, you don’t cross over the guru bead. You flip it and go back again the other way. So that’s how I use them all but like I said, You don’t have to use them all to do this.
There are plenty of lovely options out there for buying a set of Buddhist Prayer Beads. If you’re looking for a cheap DIY alternative, you can make your own, and you can also buy very lovely mala beads at japamalabeads.com for a good price.
The number 108
The number 108 has so many meanings. It’s a spiritual number. There’s a lot of reasons, but the one that resonates with me and I don’t know if it’s because I love yoga. It said that we have 108 meridians in our body and that they all lead to the heart center. And so, when you are using a mantra, you are opening those meridians and therefore opening your heart center. There are other reasons that there are reasons that have to do with astrology. There are reasons that have to do with the distance between the Sun and the Earth and the Moon. They’re all there. They all add up.