Blessing and Offering A New Mala

What do you do after you get a new mala? Let's say you've acquired a mala, either through purchase or as a gift. Maybe it's a special custom mala you have designed with a mala maker, or perhaps you have made it yourself. You are definitely delighted, but what do you do?

Let's imagine you already have a meditation practice.
You've sat down in your favorite meditation place, settled into your seat (hard or soft, it makes no difference here.)
You have set your intention—be it to settle your mind, come closer to peace, or all of the above—plus generating great happiness and reduced suffering for all sentient beings. You eagerly hold your mala in your hands (but not too eagerly, because that can be a hindrance) and begin to say a mantra. Maybe you've already heard a mantra that you like, or recently saw His Holiness the Dalai Lama or another teacher and been taught a mantra. Perhaps you're going to stick with a self-chosen mantra of your own, like repeating the words Peace or Love over and over slowly. You begin your recitation, but after a while you notice you're not getting any resonance from your mala. Here you ordered it with the best of intentions, chose the stones for their mineral significance to you, but nada. You are sitting with what feels like an inert bunch of beads in your lap. Do you pound away at the same mantra for a while and give up on the whole idea of having a "companion" to your meditations?

If you're like me (and you probably aren't, but just imagine this), you know there are two ways to break in a mala and make it "feel right" and speak with you in your practice. The first, the long hard way, is to practice with it over a long period of time until you identify with it and it has learned about fitting in with you. Objects soften with use.

The easier way, and much more delightful, is to offer it in your practice and bless it. You should go to a qualified master and have it blessed. That's always the best way. But on your own there's quite a lot you can do. The idea is to offer it to whatever higher power you identify with, dedicate its use to them for the benefit of all beings, and pray that whatever meditation and mantras you do with it will be blessed. It's kind of like the idea of blessing a crystal, for those of you who work with crystals. You can bless the mala energetically and spiritually.

There could be so many ways to do this. Just holding it in your hands while you say a blessing prayer would be one. You could hold it in open hands in an offering gesture. You could hold it with your hands clasped to your heart, eyes closed. Your way will be your own.

In the Lonchen Nyingtik Ngondro of the Nyingmapa sect of Tibetan Buddhism (there will be a question about that on the test, so please memorize all the foreign words), there is a lovely blessing practice. I am going to type it all out here, for any of you to use if you like. The instructions for this practice need to be given by a qualified master, but I still think it's useful for many.
I am not a meditation expert!

The Vowel Mantra

aa, ii, uu, ri ri, li li, e ai, o au, ang ah

The Consonant Mantra
ka kha ga gha nga, cha chha ja jha nya,
ta tha da dha na, ta tha da dha na,
pa pha ba bha ma, ya ra la wa sha sha sa ha ksha

The Mantra of the Essence of Interdependent Origination

om ye dharma hetu prabhawa hetun teshan
tathagato hyavadat teshan tsa yo nirodha
ewam vade mahashramanah soha

Mantras for Myultiplying the Power of Recitation

om sambhhara sambhara vimana sara maha
dzambha hung
om mara mara vimana kara maha dzaba
hung

Recite the mantras seven times; whatever you say will multiply beyond all measure.

Om rutsi ramani pravardhanaye svaha
hrih vajra dziha mantra dhara vardhani om

Recite this serven or three times, and the power of your mantras will be increased one hundred thousand times. Before beginning...recite this mantra, along with the vowels and consonants and The Essence of Interdependent Origination, to bless your mala.

Then you can lightly, ever-so-gently, without force at all, rub your mala between your hands and blow gently on it.

Pronouncing Sanskrit and Tibetan Words

A word about pronouncing sanskrit and Tibetan words: don't worry. Even if you are just reading it with a good intention and not saying it out loud, there is power to it. Spanish pronunciation works well for both the vowels and "h"s. "V"s both disappear and take a "B" sound in words. But intention is the main thing, and even if you just say the last mantra a few times (Om rutsi ramani...)
it has great value.

After a while with this practice, your mantra will remind you even more of your vows and commitments and develop an energy that will bring you back from your wandering thoughts as you meditate. It will be a good companion and tool for developing mindfulness, awareness, and compassion.


This post may only be useful for one or two people, I don't know, but it seems an important idea to get out.
Finally, a mantra is just a string of beads unless you use it somehow, even if your mala maker has made it with great love and prayers for you and all sentient beings.

That's it for now! Have a wonderful day.

Love,
Laura