Meditation Beads

I was reading something about a Tibetan meditation teacher using prayer beads, and I was thinking that a rosary type thing might not be a bad idea for staying in the present with noting. Note, move on to the next bead, note, etc.

"I was reading something about a Tibetan meditation teacher using prayer beads, and I was thinking that a rosary type thing might not be a bad idea for staying in the present with noting. Note, move on to the next bead, note, etc."

I have used prayer beads (malas) before when my concentration was shot. I also used my wife's rosary beads when i couldn't find my mala. Interesting that both had 108 beads.

jack

Probably more useful for concentration than noting to be honest, besides noting should keep you present anyway if you're sticking to what's arising and passing in awareness rather than becoming distracted. Just an opinion of course, so just go with whatever works for you.

I used to do rosary's all the time. When done properly it's a pretty potent practice. By properly I mean that one is careful to say the prayers with the mouth while at the same time visually contemplating the mysteries in the mind. It takes a good bit of mindfulness to do this as if the mind strays you have to bring it back to the contemplation of the current mystery and you also have to keep the prayers you are saying going. By contemplating the mystery, for example, you would put yourself in the scene of Jesus' scourging and visualize it as if you were actually there.

Did my noting practice this morning with beads and it went well, i.e. non-distracted and aware. Meditation time passed more quickly than usual, and I would tentatively say for equanimity this was helpful. I would move to the next bead at the end of every breath, and note one or more times per breath as needed. It's possible that the novelty of it kept me more alert, I'll have to get a bit more experience with it and report back.

Very interesting. Seems like you're incorporating another feedback loop into the practice: If you fail to move a bead after an exhalation, you might notice that this has happened and be brought back to the present as a result. Hmmm...

After a couple of more sessions, I think it was the novelty. One thing I noticed is that it was taking a lot of my concentration just to figure out how to manipulate the beads, but once you get your technique down that goes away. I then realized that I was just performing an action once per breath, and figured out that I could just use my thumb position instead of the beads, alternating which thumb is on top of the other each breath. And then it just began to seem extraneous. Could just as well go to rising and falling which is already happening. For certain people and practices I do think it could be useful.

One thing I did very much like, that I will miss, was that it gave me an idea of how much time was passing. It would take me a bit over 3 rounds thru the 108 beads to hit my 40 minutes, so once every 10 or so minutes I would hit a marker which would give me a sense of accomplishment and an idea of the time left in the session.