The rosary is an ancient spiritual tool. Throughout the Far East,
rosaries are called malas and consist of 108 beads. For spiritual
disciplines, rosaries are used the same way regardless of the religious
tradition: primarily to count the number of repetitions (japa) of the
mantra or prayer. While 108 beads had been used in Vedic malas for
thousands of years before the birth of Jesus, the Catholic Church
adopted fifty-four beads, one-half mala, plus a pendant consisting of
five beads. (While this five-decade version is the most familiar, the
“full” rosary consists of fifteen decades of beads plus the pendant.)
One might say, for example, that one has performed twenty rosaries or
ten malas of a specific prayer or mantra. As any practicing Roman
Catholic can tell you, saying the rosary is a powerful experience”.
HEALING MANTRAS, by Thomas Ashley Farrand
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