Prayer Beads

Across various religions, cultures, yoga studios to fashion runways, lots of people are wearing prayer beads, spiritually known as malas, as fashionable necklaces around the world. Yet these little beaded necklaces have a deep, powerful history and significant meaning steeped in tradition and symbolism. Every mala necklace traditionally have 108 beads along with what is usually called a guru bead, and each bead evokes an energetic frequency based on its material, whether stone or seed.

So what is the Significance of 108?

The number 108 has a range of significance across many different cultures and disciplines. For example, this number informs the architecture of sacred texts that are central to yoga and eastern philosophy. There are 108 recognized chapters of the Rig Veda, 108 Upanishads and 108 primary Tantras. These texts are written in Sanskrit, a language comprising 54 letters, each with a masculine (Shiva) and feminine (Shakti) form, 54 x 2 = 108. Listed below are just a few of the many relationships that carry this number.

According to traditional Buddhism, 108 represents the number of mortal desires of mankind which one must overcome to achieve Nirvana. - Mala Beads are often used as a meditation tool. For this purpose, there are 108 beads so that a mantra can be recited 100 times as you move your fingers along the beads.

Ayurveda, Sanatana Dharma and Other Religions

In in the field of Ayurveda, there are 108 sacred places, or marmas, in the body, identifying intersections of matter and consciousness. When manipulated, these points can awaken and align the vital energy. Members of the Vedic tradition see this number as denoting the wholeness of the universe: one represents the solar masculine, zero represents the lunar feminine and eight represents the infinite nature of all things. In the classic japa mala, used in Buddhism and Hinduism, there are 108 beads used for prayer and mantra.

Mathematics, Astronomy, Sacred Geometry & Vedic Astrology

Mathematicians favor the number 108 for its countless patterns and potential divisions. For example, it is divisible by the sum of its parts and most of its proper divisors, making it a semi-perfect number. Through the lens of astronomy, the diameter of the sun is approximately 108 times that of earth and the distance from our planet to its solar star is, on average, 108 times the diameter of the sun. A similar parallel relationship also exists between the earth and the moon.

According to Vedic cosmology, 108 is the basis of creation, represents the universe and all our existence. In Hinduism, we believe that outer cosmology should mirror our inner spirituality because our ultimate realization is that we are one in the same.