Impermanence and human bone malas, prayer beads
Posted on Jul 4th, 2008
by 
Silverpony
Silverpony
I was looking at malas, buddhist 'rosaries', on a few websites last night. I encountered a site that offered scores of different malas in different materials and styles, among them ones that blew my mind:
They were made of bone. Human bone. 108 beads made from the skulls of departed Buddhist believers. The beads were certified to be genuine in origin, though no more information was offered. (If genuine, are they from a monastery/nunnery?) There were also three photos of malas made from this material. The site warned that they could get one only once in a great while. As I did a search for them, I encountered another website that also sells human bone malas, and their picture is clearer. Here's a link to it; natural on the left, 'antiquated' on the right, and it's the identical picture the first site I saw, Four Winds, uses.
http://www.tiger-tiger.com/catalog/mala/ML601.jpg
What really got my attention were those photos. They were certainly bone, no doubt about it. Genuine or not, I think it is the very best lesson in impermanence I've -ever- had. I've seen animal bone malas, but they didn't have nearly the same effect. Wow. No wonder medieval philosophers kept a human skull on their desks.
They were made of bone. Human bone. 108 beads made from the skulls of departed Buddhist believers. The beads were certified to be genuine in origin, though no more information was offered. (If genuine, are they from a monastery/nunnery?) There were also three photos of malas made from this material. The site warned that they could get one only once in a great while. As I did a search for them, I encountered another website that also sells human bone malas, and their picture is clearer. Here's a link to it; natural on the left, 'antiquated' on the right, and it's the identical picture the first site I saw, Four Winds, uses.
http://www.tiger-tiger.com/catalog/mala/ML601.jpg
What really got my attention were those photos. They were certainly bone, no doubt about it. Genuine or not, I think it is the very best lesson in impermanence I've -ever- had. I've seen animal bone malas, but they didn't have nearly the same effect. Wow. No wonder medieval philosophers kept a human skull on their desks.
Access: Public
buddhism
July 2008 
