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41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Humble bead kit made in China, October 2, 2000
This review is from: Dharma Beads: Making and Using Your Own Buddhist Malas (Paperback)
Enough beads for making 3 small wrist malas (carnelian, an oddly colored tiger's eye, and an unfragrant sandalwood) are included in this very basic kit, along with an 80-page book that lightly touches on the history and use of malas, and beads in general. The photos and graphics are pleasant, but there is far less depth of information in this book than I was hoping for. A few mantras are included (along with some suggested affirmations) but not many, and the instructions for making the malas are so basic that if you've ever done any beadwork at all you could easily figure it out yourself. No information is included on using ornate knots for closing, or how to include a traditional tassel, and, in fact, the closure used for these three malas makes use of a specialized bead with an extra half-hole 90-degrees out from the usual holes -- I've searched but cannot find any more of these "mother beads" or "guru beads" out there so I don't know what use learning this method really is (unless you're going to drill your own). And, in fact, one of the three mother beads I got was very badly drilled and was useless. I did learn a few interesting facts, and the chapter on the properties of various stones was perhaps the most useful. As well, I gained three very basic home-made malas (one with a mother bead I provided myself, tied off in a different manner than suggested), but overall this book and kit was a disappointment. For those devoted to the Tibetan cause, it should be noted that the book and kit are made in China.
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
I took it back for a refund., October 13, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Dharma Beads: Making and Using Your Own Buddhist Malas (Paperback)
I thought that this slickly packaged kit was a great idea and was looking forward to learning how to make malas and finding out more about other traditions than my own (I am a Zen Buddhist). Much to my dismay, I discovered that the small book included was definitely a case of style over substance. The info was sketchy at best and had very little hard information about Buddhist malas and their manufacture and use. The beads included in the kit were the icing on the cake. They were alleged to be tiger eye, carnelian and sandalwood. I know these materials and the beads were nothing of the sort. The "tiger eye" beads were some kind of synthetic chatoyant material. The "carnelian" beads appeared to be white plastic with a reddish coating. The "sandalwood" beads were white softwood,with a black finish, and no perceptible sandalwood scent. I was so taken aback by the disparity of the box and the contents, I took the kit back and got a refund for it. I also wrote a letter of complaint to the publisher protesting the inaccuracy of the labelling. It was perhaps my own fault for buying a kit put together by someone connected with a fashion magazine rather than a serious follower of the Dharma. This smacks greatly of exploiting a brief jewellery trend rather than any real attempt to bring this information and practice to others. I was very, VERY disappointed.
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
What was I thinking?, February 22, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Dharma Beads: Making and Using Your Own Buddhist Malas (Paperback)
I purchased this "kit" yesterday and was very dissapointed with it. Upon close inspection of the beads furnished with the kit I noticed that the "carnelian" beads, that the book leads you to believe are truely carnelian, are actually made of plastic. (You can tell by looking inside the drilled hole in the bead...it is white inside. True carnelian would be a uniform color inside and out.) I'm not really sure what the "tiger's eye" beads are made of. I'm sure they are some sort of synthetic fiber optic material. Also upon inspection of the drilled hole on the "sandalwood" beads i noticed that the outside of the bead has been stained to obtain its "natural color". How dissapointing! I'm guessing the makers of this kit didn't really care about the true nature of the religion the stamped on the outside of the box, but instead were thinking about capitalism!
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