Malas, or prayer beads, can be made of a varying number of beads and of different substances depending on the intended use. The Indo-Tibetan tradition generally utilizes 108 beads and beads can also be chosen according to the intended type of meditation practice. Several Indian Sanskrit texts explain the general uses of the mala, as well as some of the tantra texts which discuss, for example, that the basic substances of the beads correspond to various meditation objectives: for peaceful meditation objects, the color white is indicated therefore the beads can be made of crystal, pearl, seed, or various types of wood. For the activity of Increasing, the beads can be gold, silver, copper, or lotus seed, etc. A bodhi seed mala is considered good for all meditational activities.
