Japamala
A japamala, , or simply Japay mala (; , meaning 'garland') is a loop of prayer beads commonly used in Indian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. It is used for counting recitations ('' japa'') of mantras, prayers or other sacred phrases. It is also worn to ward off evil, to count repetitions within some other form of '' sadhana'' (spiritual practice) such as prostrations before a holy icon. They are also used as symbols of religious identification. The main body of a mala usually consists of 108 beads of roughly the same size and material as each other, although smaller versions, often factors of 108 such as 54 or 27, exist. A distinctive 109th "guru bead" or mother bead, which is not counted, is very common. Mala beads have traditionally been made of a variety of materials such as wood, stone, gems, seeds, bone and precious metals—with various religions often favouring certain materials—and strung with natural fibres such as cotton, silk, or animal ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Japa
''Japa'' () is the meditative repetition of a mantra or a divine name. It is a practice found in Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism, with parallels found in other religions. ''Japa'' may be performed while sitting in a meditation posture, while performing other activities, or as part of formal worship in group settings. The mantra or name may be spoken softly, loud enough for the practitioner to hear it, or it may be recited silently within the practitioner's mind. Etymology The Sanskrit word ''japa'' is derived from the root ''jap-'', meaning "to utter in a low voice, repeat internally, mutter". It can be further defined as ''ja'' to destroy birth, death, and reincarnation and ''pa'' meaning to destroy ones sins. Monier-Williams states that the term appears in Vedic literature such as in the Aitareya Brahmana (Rigveda) and the Shatapatha Brahmana (Yajurveda). The term means muttering, whispering or murmuring passages from the scripture, or charms, or names of deity. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mantra
A mantra ( ; Pali: ''mantra'') or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) believed by practitioners to have religious, magical or spiritual powers. Feuerstein, Georg (2003), ''The Deeper Dimension of Yoga''. Shambala Publications, Boston, MA Some mantras have a syntactic structure and a literal meaning, while others do not. ꣽ, ॐ (Aum, Om) serves as an important mantra in various Indian religions. Specifically, it is an example of a seed syllable mantra ( bijamantra). It is believed to be the first sound in Hinduism and as the sonic essence of the absolute divine reality. Longer mantras are phrases with several syllables, names and words. These phrases may have spiritual interpretations such as a name of a deity, a longing for truth, reality, light, immortality, peace, love, knowledge, and action. Examples of lo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Misbaha
A ''misbaha'' (), ''subḥa'' () Gulf countries people call it Mesbah (Arabic: مِسْبَاَحْ) (Arabic and Urdu), ''tusbaḥ'' ( Somali), ''tasbīḥ'' () (Iran, India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia), or ''tespih'' ( Turkish, Bosnian and Albanian) is a set of prayer beads often used by Muslims for the , the recitation of prayers (the ), as well as to glorify Allah. It resembles the ''japamala'' used in Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism, or the rosary used in Catholicism. The Arab/Iranian/Turkish and their neighbors put a lot of care as to what materials are used, generally being gems, beads and so forth. Tessel/التأصيله. Some people call it karkoshah/ الكركوشه and some call it shrabah/شرابه and tamlikah/تمليكه. They make it from cotton or other fabrics in different colors, different lengths and designs or use some grade of sterling silver with some design, like Turkish people they merge with oth ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Garland
A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. In contemporary times, Garlands are used to decorate, especially around holidays Etymology From the French language, French , itself from the Italian language, Italian , a braid. Types *Bead garland *Flower garland **Lei (garland), Lei – The traditional garland of Hawaiʻi. **Daisy chain – A garland created from the Bellis, daisy flower (generally as a children's game) is called a daisy chain. One method of creating a daisy chain is to pick daisies and create a hole towards the base of the stem (such as with fingernails or by tying a Overhand knot, knot). The stem of the next flower can be threaded through until stopped by the head of the flower. By repeating this with many daisies, it is possible to build up long chains and to form them into simple bra ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Varanasi
Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of Islamic artisanship that underpins its religious tourism.* * * * * Located in the middle-Ganges valley in the southeastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi lies on the left bank of the river. It is to the southeast of India's capital New Delhi and to the southeast of the state capital, Lucknow. It lies downstream of Prayagraj, where the confluence with the Yamuna river is another major Hindu pilgrimage site. Varanasi is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities. Kashi, its ancient name, was associated with a kingdom of the same name of 2,500 years ago. The Lion capital of Ashoka at nearby Sarnath has been interpreted to be a commemoration of the Buddha's first sermon there in the fifth century BCE. In the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rosary
The Rosary (; , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), formally known as the Psalter of Jesus and Mary (Latin: Psalterium Jesu et Mariae), also known as the Dominican Rosary (as distinct from other forms of rosary such as the Rosary-based prayers, Franciscan Crown, Bridgettine Rosary, Rosary of the Holy Wounds, etc.), refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or beads used to count the component prayers. When referring to the prayer, the word is usually capitalized ("the Rosary", as is customary for other names of prayers, such as "the Lord's Prayer", and "the Hail Mary"); when referring to the prayer beads as an object, it is written with a lower-case initial letter (e.g. "a rosary bead"). The prayers that compose the Rosary are arranged in sets of ten Hail Marys, called "decades". Each decade is preceded by one Lord's Prayer ("Our Father"), and traditionally followed by one Glory Be. Some Catholics ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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108 (number)
108 (one hundred ndeight) is the natural number following 107 and preceding 109. In mathematics 108 is: *an abundant number. *a semiperfect number. *a tetranacci number. *the hyperfactorial of 3 since it is of the form 1^1 \cdot 2^2 \cdot 3^3. *divisible by the value of its φ function, which is 36. *divisible by the total number of its divisors (12), hence it is a refactorable number. *the angle in degrees of the interior angles of a regular pentagon in Euclidean space. *palindromic in bases 11 (9911), 17 (6617), 26 (4426), 35 (3335) and 53 (2253) *a Harshad number in bases 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 16 *a self number. *an Achilles number because it is a powerful number but not a perfect power. *a largely composite number because its number of divisors is 12 and no smaller number has more than 12 divisors. *nine dozen, or three quarters of a gross. There are 108 free polyominoes of order 7. The equation 2\sin\left(\frac\right) = \phi results in the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world's Major religious groups, second-largest religious population after Christians. Muslims believe that Islam is the complete and universal version of a Fitra, primordial faith that was revealed many times through earlier Prophets and messengers in Islam, prophets and messengers, including Adam in Islam, Adam, Noah in Islam, Noah, Abraham in Islam, Abraham, Moses in Islam, Moses, and Jesus in Islam, Jesus. Muslims consider the Quran to be the verbatim word of God in Islam, God and the unaltered, final revelation. Alongside the Quran, Muslims also believe in previous Islamic holy books, revelations, such as the Torah in Islam, Tawrat (the Torah), the Zabur (Psalms), and the Gospel in Islam, Injil (Gospel). They believe that Muhammad in Islam ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Han Dynasty
The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and a warring interregnum known as the Chu–Han Contention (206–202 BC), and it was succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 AD). The dynasty was briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty (9–23 AD) established by the usurping regent Wang Mang, and is thus separated into two periods—the #Western Han (202 BC – 9 AD), Western Han (202 BC9 AD) and the #Eastern Han (25–220 AD), Eastern Han (25–220 AD). Spanning over four centuries, the Han dynasty is considered a Golden ages of China, golden age in Chinese history, and had a permanent impact on Chinese identity in later periods. The majority ethnic group of modern China refer to themselves as the "Han people" or "Han Chinese". The spoken Chinese ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose coming as the Messiah#Christianity, messiah (Christ (title), Christ) was Old Testament messianic prophecies quoted in the New Testament, prophesied in the Old Testament and chronicled in the New Testament. It is the Major religious groups, world's largest and most widespread religion with over 2.3 billion followers, comprising around 28.8% of the world population. Its adherents, known as Christians, are estimated to make up a majority of the population in Christianity by country, 157 countries and territories. Christianity remains Christian culture, culturally diverse in its Western Christianity, Western and Eastern Christianity, Eastern branches, and doctrinally diverse concerning Justification (theology), justification and the natur ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Prostration
Prostration is the gesture of placing one's body in a reverentially or submissively prone position. Typically prostration is distinguished from the lesser acts of bowing or kneeling by involving a part of the body above the knee, especially the hands, touching the ground. Major world religions employ prostration as an act of submissiveness or worship to an entity or to the God, Supreme Being (i.e. God), as in the ''Metanoia (theology), metanoia'' in Christian prayer used in the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches, and in the ''sujud'' of the Islamic prayer, ''salat''. In various cultures and traditions, prostrations are similarly used to show respect to rulers, civil authorities and social elders or superiors, as in the Culture of China, Chinese kowtow or Ancient Greek ''proskynesis''. The act has often traditionally been an important part of religious, civil and traditional rituals and ceremonies, and remains in use in many cultures. Traditional religious practi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Āgama (Buddhism)
In Buddhism, an ''āgama'' (आगम Sanskrit and Pāli, Tibetan: ལུང་ ( Wylie: lung) for "sacred work"Monier-Williams (1899), p. 129, see "Āgama," retrieved 12 Dec 2008 from "U. Cologne" at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/MWScanpdf/mw0129-Akhara.pdf. or "scripture"Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 95, entry for "Āgama," retrieved 12 Dec 2008 from "U. Chicago" at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.0:1:2582.pali.) is a collection of early Buddhist texts. The five ''āgama'' together comprise the '' Suttapiṭaka'' of the early Buddhist schools, which had different recensions of each āgama. In the Pali Canon of the Theravada, the term ''nikāya'' is used. The word ''āgama'' does not occur in this collection. Meaning In Buddhism, the term ''āgama'' is used to refer to a collection of discourses (Sanskrit: '' sūtra''; Pali: ''sutta'') of the early Buddhist schools, which were preserved primarily in Chinese translation, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |