What are Mala beads? 

Mala beads or Buddhist prayer beads are a string of beads  — 108 is a common number — of uniform size. They have a large role in Buddhist and Hindu meditation practices.

We first were introduced to Mala beads by Rory Trollen while on a yoga retreat in Thailand.

How do I use Mala beads?

Hold the mala in your hand at the head bead (the bead with string attached). Then choose the name of a Buddha, Bodhisattva, mantra, prayer or a chant. Each time you recite the name or mantra, you move your thumb up the mala by one bead.

For example, when reciting the name of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, you say, “Namo Di Jang Wang Pu Sa” and then you move your thumb up one bead.

There are a certain number of beads on malas – usually 108 is standard. Malas are used as instruments for counting each individual recitation of a  mantra/prayer, so that you don’t have to remember how many times you’ve recited. Once you get back to the head mala bead, you know you’ve said your mantra/prayer 108 times.

This is helpful in prayer and chant because certain Dharmas require you to recite a holy name or a mantra a certain amount of times. For example, for Earthstore/Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, you can recite his name 10,000 times within 7 days for certain responses that are detailed in his Sutra.

Separately, holding the mala itself is also a form of mindfulness of the body, which helps return your attention to the present moment whilst reciting.

How do you use mala beads in your practice?

Living in an urban area with green spaces has a long-lasting positive impact on people’s mental well-being, a study has suggested.

UK researchers found moving to a green space had a sustained positive effect, unlike pay rises or promotions, which only provided a short-term boost.

The authors said the results indicated that access to good quality urban parks was beneficial to public health.

The findings appear in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

Read more at the BBC 

~ Albert Schweitzer

Via Eye and Pen

When you come to Perth, you visit a city on the edge of the world.  Modern, yet growing, with a hold on it’s past. However, you can find all the entertainment to rival even the biggest tourist destinations in the world. From world class restaurants and nightclubs to theaters and concerts of every variety of music, this city is bustling with nightlife. Even the streets are alive with amusements of all sorts after the sun goes down.

Fremantle

Freemantle is easily accessible by public transport or by taxi. Many pubs and bars are here. The former offer quieter, English-style opportunities to enjoy a drink while the latter are the louder, more exciting kind of establishments. Try either kind of locale to enjoy different musical styles or do your own pub crawl while walking the streets.

West End
If you have a night in Perth over a weekend, the West End is a particularly interesting place to look for entertainment. Find a surprising mixture of cafes and bars as well as local breweries. Just because you only have a night in Perth does not mean that you have to forgo shopping either. King Street is open for late-night shoppers so that you can find just what you wanted to take with you when you leave Perth.

Northbridge
If you get the chance to travel to Northbridge, take it. The most famous spots for Perth nightlife are found in this section of town. You can find more adult clubs as well as the more conventional bars, restaurants and cafes. Listen to live soul music and funk pouring out of places like the Bird and the Universal Bar.

Click to read more about Perth, the major city on the west coast of Australia. 

Ai Wei Wei’s ground-bound installation ‘he xie’ collects the forms of hundreds porcelain crabs situated in a heap in the main exhibition space.

The work is saturated in social symbolism; ‘he xie’ translates to ‘river crab’ but sounds very similar to the mandarin word meaning ‘harmonization’, the state’s euphemism suggesting censorship.

The political double meaning evident in the sculptural work is emblematic of the artist’s dexterity in creating metaphorical solutions in art.

~ Buddha