Why do you have 108 beads in a mala beads?

When we talk about mala beads, most of us will immediately think about a 108-bead mala beads, right?

Adjustable 108 Mala beads and mala bracelet - Abundance

The majority of the mala beads are made with 108 counting beads and it can be made of wooden beads, gemstone beads or natural seed beads. The type of beads will assist the user in different healing purposes. We'll discuss this in later blogs.

Let's focus on the number 108 - why is it 108? What makes the number 108 so unique and so powerful?

The number 108 is considered as a sacred number in many religions and beliefs. I'll only share what I know and what I believe with you, and I do not represent any religions and beliefs. 

In Buddhism, the number itself is mentioned in many Buddhist scriptures, and the number 108 represents 108 different emotions/feelings we humans will encounter in this life time -  36 related to the past, 36 related to the present and 36 related to the future. (Some explanations use 108 earthly desires and 108 delusions.)

How do I get the 36 emotions/feelings? Here is how - we have 6 senses - eyes, ears, nose, tough, body and mind (眼 耳 鼻 舌 身 意), and each sense will experience bitterness, happiness and let-go (苦 樂 捨). When you multiply 6 by 3, you will get 18 different kind of emotions/feelings. (The number 18 is also used in mala bracelet or wrist mala.) Each emotion/feeling will be favored, disfavored or neutral (好 惡 平). So, when you multiply 18 by 3, you will get 36 different kinds of emotions and/or feelings which are related to the past, the present or the future. 

Adjustable Mala Bracelets - 18 Beads - Seven Chakra Balance

In addition, in numerology and angel numbers, the number 108 means support and encouragement. The number 108 can be broken down into 3 separated numbers: 1, 0, and 8. The number 1 means new beginnings, intuition and insight, the number 0 means listening to your intuition and developing your spiritual journey, and the number 8 means manifesting positive abundance, peace and love. When you add those three numbers up, you'll get a 9. The number 9 means unconditional love, universal love, spiritual enlightenment and awakening, and faith.

That's all what I know and what I believe.

 What's your thoughts on the number 108? Share your beliefs below. 😊