Origin and meaning of rosary in Buddhism
(Baonghean.vn) - Like bells and wooden fish, rosary beads are one of the thousands of Buddhist practice tools. In Buddhism, all forms of dharma instruments or objects are tools. However, people do not display them without reason. Of course, each form of an object has its own special symbolic meaning.
Origin and quantity of rosary beads
Hindus who worship the god Siva use a type of seed called rudrāka to make rosaries. Legend has it that once, this god looked at the world and saw that all living beings were living in unspeakable misery. He was so heartbroken that he shed tears. These tears grew into trees and produced crimson seeds.
People used those beads to make rosaries to pray in memory of the compassionate heart of Lord Shiva. That seed is the diamond seed that we still use to make rosaries today.
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However, in Buddhist scriptures, the origin of rosary beads and reciting the Buddha's name is mostly based on the Buddha's teachings to King Prasenajit, which were recorded in the Sutra of the Wood-Eater.
The Sutra of the Wood-Eating Death says: "Once the Buddha and his Sangha traveled to the Grdhrakùta Mountain in the Rajagrha country. The king of that time was named Ba Lưu Ly. He sent a messenger to the Buddha to ask the World-Honored One to especially show mercy and give him the essential Dharma so that he could practice easily and in the future life be free from all suffering.
The Buddha told the messenger to tell the king that if the king wanted to destroy the obstacles of afflictions and retribution, he should string a rosary of 108 beads made of the seeds of the Tra tree (mộc hoan tử) and always carry it with him. When walking, sitting, or lying down, he should always concentrate, without distraction, and recite the names of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha each time, counting one Tra tree bead. And so on, one bead after another, such as: ten beads, twenty beads, one hundred beads, one thousand beads, up to one hundred thousand million beads.
In the rosary there is a bead called Sumeru or Meru, we often call it Tu Di or Amitabha bead, it is the 109th bead, the connecting point of the circle. According to the ritual, when counting the rosary, do not pass this bead, when counting to this bead, count back.
If one can practice it twenty thousand times, and one's body and mind are not scattered, and there are no flatteries, then when one leaves this body one will be born in the third Diêm Thiên realm. There, one's clothes and food will be natural, and one will always be at peace and happy. If one can practice it one hundred thousand times again, one will completely end one hundred and eight karmic bonds, and then one will be called a person who has attained the fruit of Srotapanna (going against the stream of birth and death), heading towards the path of Nirvana, completely ending the roots of afflictions, and attaining the unsurpassed fruit.
The Buddhist rosary was born from there. Monks often carry rosary beads with them as a treasure, an important dharma instrument to support them on the path of studying Buddhism.
The meaning of rosary
Based on the total number of dharma beads that it represents according to Buddhist concepts, the use of rosary beads with different numbers of beads also has different symbolic meanings:
- The 108-bead necklace represents the attainment of 108 Samadhi methods to eliminate 108 afflictions.
- The string of 54 beads represents the 54 levels of Bodhisattva's practice, namely the Ten Faiths, Ten Abodes, Ten Practices, Ten Dedications, Ten Grounds, and the Four Good Roots and Causes.
- The string of 42 beads represents the 42 levels of Bodhisattva's practice, namely the Ten Abodes, Ten Practices, Ten Dedications, Ten Grounds, Equal Enlightenment, and Wonderful Enlightenment.
- The string of 27 beads represents the 27 levels of Hinayana practice of the Four Fruits, which are the 18 levels of Learning of the Four Fruits and Three Fruits before, with the 9 levels of Non-Learning of the Fourth Fruit of Arhat.
- The 21-bead string represents the 21 positions, namely the Ten Grounds, the Ten Paramitas and Buddhahood.
- The 14-bead necklace represents the 14 Fearless Dharmas of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.
- The 1,080 bead chain represents 10 realms, each realm has 108, so the total is 1,080.
The meaning of the 36-bead and 18-bead rosaries is considered by many to not represent any dharma number in Buddhism, and that it is similar to the 108-bead rosary. Accordingly, for convenience of carrying, the 108-bead rosary is divided into 3 strings, each string has 36 beads, or divided the 108-bead rosary into 6 strings, each string has 18 beads, without any profound meaning.
