Lotus Seed Mala

• 108 8mm beads
• adjustable knot

Popularly known as lotus-seeds, this mala is made from seeds of a tree that grows on the foothills of the Himalayas. They are in fact not the seeds of the lotus flower - those seeds are often cooked and eaten in many East and Southeast Asian cultures and therefore not possible to be made into mala beads! These beads are called "stars and moon bodhiseed" in East Asia as each seed has indeterminate number of natural specks (they are the "stars") and one round indentation (where the stem of the seed used to be, and thus the "moon).

Vajrayana Buddhists in Tibet, Nepal, India, Bhutan, China and other places often associate this lotus seed mala with the Lotus Family of the Five Buddha Families. Thus many lamas say this is a good material for Amitabha, Chenrezig/Avalokiteshvara and Tara practices.