Practice
Sit, and begin.
One hundred and eight beads to a round. The mantra once on each. Touch the centre as you finish a bead — or press the spacebar — and the mala will keep your count for you.
Practice
One hundred and eight beads to a round. The mantra once on each. Touch the centre as you finish a bead — or press the spacebar — and the mala will keep your count for you.
0 of 16 rounds
Kept in this browser only. Never sent anywhere, and there is no account to lose it to.
The mantra
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Sixteen names, thirty-two syllables. In the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition it is chanted once for each of the hundred and eight beads, and that is one round. Sixteen rounds is the vow taken at initiation — roughly two hours.
Or sit without counting
A bell at the beginning, a bell at the end, and a breath to follow in between. No count is kept and nothing is stored.
“I came to find great hope from the temple when I still lived in LA. I was alone and seeking a spiritual path. I\u{2019}m very thankful for my experience in meeting the monks and practicing the lifestyle. It has helped me greatly and will stay with me forever.”
— Kevin Wu, ISKCON News, June 2017
The practice described on this page is the tradition's own, set down as the tradition sets it down. It is offered here to be used, not as a statement about where Kevin Wu stands today. That account is his, and he will give it in his own words when he chooses to.
How it is actually done
The mala is held in the right hand. Each bead is moved with the thumb and middle finger — the index finger is kept off the beads. One full mantra on each bead, then move on. Many practitioners keep the mala in a cloth bag.
At the large head bead the round is over. You do not chant on it and you do not pass it: you turn the mala and come back along the same beads. The counter on this page does that for you, but it is worth knowing what it is imitating.
Chant loudly enough that you can hear it. In this tradition hearing is the practice — the mouth is only how the ear gets fed.
It will, within about four beads, and it will keep doing that for years. The tradition's instruction is not to fight it and not to grade yourself on it. You notice, and you come back to the sound. That is not the interruption of the practice — coming back is the practice, and a round full of returns counts exactly the same as a round without any.