Mala Tulsi prayer beads Tulsi, 6mm, knotted, 108 beads. Closely related to culinary basil, holy basil is known as TULSI in South Asia and is an important sacred plant. The name "tulsi" connotes " ;the incomparable one" ;. It is believed to protect against misfortune and represents purity, harmony, serenity and luck. The essential oil from holy basil contains a compound called eugenol which has antiseptic activity. It can kill germs such as bacteria, reduce inflammation and deter insects. An implement carried around by most Tibetans is the Mala or a rosary of prayer beads. These are not unlike the Christian rosary, or the beads used in Islam and Hinduism. They are used to focus ones" mind on the recitation of mantras, and to count them as part of a practice. The story of the beads" origin is as follows: andldquo;Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, paid a visit to king Vaidunyaandhellip;Sakya directed him to thread 108 seeds of the Bodhi tree on a string, and while passing them between his fingers to repeatandhellip; andlsquo;Hail to the Buddha, the law, and the congregationandrsquo;andhellip; (2,000) times a day There are for example practices for which one is required to recite 100,000 mantras; obviously a simple counter is needed to keep track of this huge number. The Tibetan mala usually has at least 108 beads - this number probably originates to the 108 names for Hindu deities (incidentally, the same number is used in Islam to refer to God).Tibetans often attach strings to their malas which have little sliding rings on them, these are to keep count of the number of malas; in such a way one can count up to 10,000 or even more on one mala. (The word "rosary," which has obvious similarities to the mala, is said to have come from "japa mala." When Roman explorers came into India and encountered the mala, they heard "jap mala" instead of "japa mala." "Jap" means "rose," and the mala was carried back to the Roman Empire as "rosarium," and into English as "rosary.")
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