Since I have talked previously about Transpersonal Sociology, I thought it might be interesting to give a specific example of what I mean. While I have published case studies on other practices previously, I have not published much on prayer beads. So, this post is the first of several parts of an article on that spiritual practice. Enjoy!
Introduction
The story of prayer beads begins in the past, the distant past, about thirty-eight thousand years ago. In a French cave, Neanderthals left the oldest known beads in human history, and we have been using them ever since.[1] Of course, beads have often served a purely decorative purpose, and the whims of fashion have provided an astounding array of shape, color, and material for the beads of succeeding ages. Beads have also been worn in a variety of ways, including around the finger, wrist, neck, and waist.[2] Beads can be beautiful, and they can be utilitarian. They are one of the simplest, and likely first, methods of counting to evolve in human history beyond the use of our ten fingers and ten toes. The beauty and utility of beads form a ready basis for the bead as a symbolic unit as well. If one is already counting with beads, why not count prayers, deities, or any other quantity of spiritual significance?
In this natural progression of development, it may not be very surprising to discover that using beads in prayer arose very early within human history. It was so early, in fact, that it is difficult to pinpoint the exact circumstances or location. We can be sure, however, that the first string of beads discovered so far dates back to the pre-Aryan period (prior to 1700 BCE) in India.[3] While this origin does not quite go back to the beginnings of human history, it is quite likely that prayer beads were used even earlier, since beads may easily be constructed from materials that do not withstand the rigors of time or earlier beads that appear to be only ornamental might have served multiple purposes. Prayer beads are also notable because they are one of the most tangible spiritual practices to be shared by practically every major religion on the planet.[4] With this background in human and religious history, the transmission of prayer beads between religions is a fitting case study for the process of spiritual borrowing, and it is spiritual borrowing which is the primary focus of this article.
Spiritual borrowing is the process of transplanting spiritual and religious practices from one religion to another. As a process, it can be investigated from historical, sociological, and theological viewpoints. For this case study, the historical perspective is at the forefront. Spiritual borrowing, however, has often been investigated only in the direction of the past. This case study will also stretch consideration of the directions of borrowing as traced in the present and the future which are equally fascinating because a practice borrowed from one religion to another forms a tangible, practical link between different religions. While doctrinal systems display wide divisions among the religions of the world, the investigation of spiritual borrowing serves to offer a glimpse beneath division to the potential of unity in practice, if not in theory. The distinct purpose of this article is to emphasize this potential and open discussion concerning the validity of spiritual borrowing as a hands-on form of interfaith dialogue. Epistemologically speaking, the behaviors and practices of religion do not depend on only looking back to a primordial unity. The present and the future – not just the past – are sources for unity. Still, the past provides the foundation for this look toward the present and the future. To illustrate this progression, I will first provide additional background on the differences and similarities of use of prayer beads among world religions, delineate a present case study of prayer bead borrowing, and complete examination with a general discussion concerning the neutrality of spiritual practices as containers for theology. It is the specific claim of this article that the transmission of the spiritual practice of prayer beads from one religion to another, with theology catching up after the appropriation of the practice, shows the value of spiritual borrowing on the path toward religious coexistence.
[1]Kimberly Winston, Bead One, Pray Too: A Guide to Making and Using Prayer Beads (Harrisburg: Morehouse, 2008), 3.
[2]M. Basil Pennington, Praying by Hand: Rediscovering the Rosary as a Way of Prayer (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991), 3.
[3]John D. Miller, Beads & Prayers: The Rosary in History & Devotion (London: Burns & Oates, 2002), 76.
[4]Nathan D. Mitchell, The Mystery of the Rosary: Marian Devotion and the Reinvention of Catholicism (New York: New York University Press, 2009), 224.