Japa and the mala: why 108 beads

Japa comes from a root meaning to mutter, or to repeat quietly. It is among the oldest meditation practices still in continuous use, and it has the considerable advantage of giving your hands something to do.

What japa is

You choose a mantra and repeat it. That is the whole instruction. It can be spoken aloud, whispered, or repeated silently — the tradition ranks these in that order of increasing subtlety, with silent repetition considered the most refined and, usefully, the most portable.

The beads exist to count without counting. Keeping a tally in your head would defeat the purpose; moving a bead lets a part of you track the number while the rest of your attention stays on the sound.

Students who have failed at breath-watching meditation often take to this immediately. The mind that wanders away from a breath has less room to wander when it is producing a sound and moving a finger.

Why 108

You will be told with great confidence that the reason is one specific thing. Be a little suspicious of that. There are several traditional explanations and no agreed single origin.

• There are 27 nakshatras, lunar mansions, each with four quarters or padas: 27 × 4 = 108.
• The distance from the earth to the sun is roughly 108 times the sun’s diameter, and the same holds approximately for the moon — a coincidence that was noticed a very long time ago.
• The Sanskrit alphabet has 54 letters, each counted in masculine and feminine aspect: 54 × 2 = 108.
• Some traditions count 108 Upanishads, and 108 names for various deities.
• 1, 0 and 8 are read as one thing, nothing, and infinity.

My own view is that the number acquired meaning by being used, rather than being used because of its meaning. It is also, practically, a good length: long enough to settle into, short enough to finish.

The guru bead

A mala has 109 beads, not 108. The extra one — larger, often with a tassel — is the guru bead or meru, the mountain.

It is not counted. When your thumb arrives at it you have completed a round, and you do not pass over it. You turn the mala around and travel back the way you came. Crossing the guru bead is traditionally avoided as a matter of respect, and it also gives you an unmistakable marker so you never lose your place.

How to use a mala

• Hold it in the right hand, draped over the middle finger.
• Move each bead towards you with the thumb, one bead per repetition.
• Keep the index finger away from the beads — it is traditionally associated with ego and kept clear.
• Let the hand rest at the level of the heart, or on the knee. Holding it up becomes tiring within a few minutes.
• At the guru bead, turn and go back.

Sandalwood, rudraksha and tulsi are the traditional materials; any of them work, and so does a plain wooden mala bought in a market for very little. The bead you can feel distinctly is better than the bead that is beautiful.

Choosing a mantra

If you have received one from a teacher, use that. If you have not, there is no shortage of traditional options that ask nothing of you doctrinally.

Om alone is complete and is what we most often suggest to begin with — what Om means covers why. Om namah shivaya and Om namo narayanaya are common. So-ham, which follows the breath naturally — so on the inhale, ham on the exhale — is the gentlest entry point of all, because the breath is already doing it.

Pick one and stay with it. Changing mantra every fortnight is the japa equivalent of restarting a book every time you lose the thread.

Making it a practice

One round, daily, at the same time. Early morning if you can — the same reasoning that puts practice at dawn applies here.

Expect it to be boring at first and stay with it anyway. Somewhere around the third week most people notice that the mantra has begun continuing on its own at odd moments during the day, which is the point at which the practice starts doing something.

Sit comfortably — how to sit matters more than people expect — and if you finish a round and want to continue, turn and do another. Nobody has ever been harmed by a second round.

Common questions

What is japa meditation?

The repetition of a mantra — aloud, whispered or silently — usually counted on a mala. The repetition gives the mind a single steady object, which is why it suits people who struggle to settle with breath awareness alone.

Why does a mala have 108 beads?

There are several traditional explanations rather than one. The number appears throughout Indian cosmology and astronomy: 27 lunar mansions across four quarters, the approximate ratio of the sun and moon’s distances to their diameters, and 54 Sanskrit letters counted twice. No single answer is definitive.

How do you hold a mala?

Traditionally in the right hand, draped over the middle finger, moving each bead towards you with the thumb. The index finger is kept off the beads. When you reach the guru bead you do not cross it — you turn the mala around and go back the other way.

How long does one round of japa take?

About eight to twelve minutes for 108 repetitions of a short mantra, depending on pace and whether you recite aloud or silently. Silent repetition is usually a little faster.