Counting the Mala with Dorje and Bell

In Tibetan culture, Buddhism is undoubtedly one of its most important elements. The long history and exotic religion allure more and more tourists every year. On each temple, you can see some believers dangle the mala from fingers, accompanying the humming recitations of mantras like om mani Padme hum. Some believers even count the mala with Dorje and Bell. In this sense, we can say that the mala is the symbol of Tibetan long history religion. Explore Tibet Team, a professional Tibet travel agency, introduces how to count the mala with Dorje and Bell.

Tibetan Buddhist prayer bead with Dorje and Bell counters is the most common Tibetan Buddhist sacred ritual objects tied onto the beads. When you are going to count the very high numbers of mantra recitations, it is useful to tie some additional counters to your malas. Usually, there are two shorter strings are attached to your mala and each string of ten small beads. One string has the Dorje at the end, and the other has the bell. You can put the two strings on the mala wherever you like. Sometimes, believers like to put the two strings after the 6th bead on each side of the guru bead.
When we make on the mala, we use the dorje counter to keep count of each circuit of 100. So every time you finish one circuit, you will pull forward one bead on the dorje counter. After ten circuits of the mala, you will finish moving all 10 beads on your dorje counter, and you will recite 1000 mantras. So that means each time you move one counter forward on the bell counter, it just symbolizes you have finish 1000 mantras counted. Then you begin again with a new circuit on your mala, and once you have made a new circuit, you move one of the dorje counter beads forward and continue like this. With the help of Dorje and the bell counter, you can count up to 10,000 mantra recitations.
If you need to count more than 10,000 mantras, and you can use anything to make marks such as stones or a piece of paper. The basic rule is that you can use whatever is practical and real, and not care more about any ritualistic rules or objects.
Finally, you should remember that the culture is different, and there is no strict rule and everybody does it slightly differently when it comes to the way to count your mantras as you are praying from the bottom of your heart. Usually, it is suitable to use the mala in your left hand.