The Mala, the Count, and the Shared Technique

Japa is commonly counted on a mala, a loop of one hundred and eight beads with a distinct summit bead that marks the completion of a round and past which the practitioner does not cross, reversing direction instead. The number one hundred and eight carries a wealth of symbolic explanation in the tradition. The beads free the mind from keeping count and let the repetition become continuous. Devotees may vow a fixed daily number of rounds, and the more intensive practice of akhanda japa, unbroken repetition sustained by a community in relay, keeps a name sounding without pause for long periods.

The technique is not confined to Hinduism. Buddhist recitation of mantras and of the Buddha's name, the Sikh remembrance of the divine Name in simran, and, by independent development, the Christian Jesus Prayer and the Islamic dhikr all rest on the same principle that steady repetition transforms the one who repeats. Within Hinduism the practice ranges from the disciplined concentration of the yogic path to the tearful, absorbed name-taking of the devotional saints.