White string band

A discussion on all aspects of Theravāda Buddhism
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greggorious
Posts: 263
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2011 6:40 pm

White string band

Post by greggorious »

I went to a new Buddhist temple that's just opened up near me in the Sri Lanka tradition. It was very pleasant and the Monks were nice, despite the fact they can't speak English very well. After meditation the head monk wanted to put a white string band around my arm and chanted something. I asked him afterwards what the significance of this was and he explained but I didn't understand because of his poor English. I suspect it was some kind of blessing.
Can someone clarify this for me?
"The original heart/mind shines like pure, clear water with the sweetest taste. But if the heart is pure, is our practice over? No, we must not cling even to this purity. We must go beyond all duality, all concepts, all bad, all good, all pure, all impure. We must go beyond self and nonself, beyond birth and death. When we see with the eye of wisdom, we know that the true Buddha is timeless, unborn, unrelated to any body, any history, any image. Buddha is the ground of all being, the realization of the truth of the unmoving mind.” Ajahn Chah
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PsychedelicSunSet
Posts: 114
Joined: Sat Jul 20, 2013 10:04 pm

Re: White string band

Post by PsychedelicSunSet »

To my knowledge they're simply called blessing strings. In the words of the monk who gave me mine

"...the primary purpose to remind one of their goodness as well as their many accrued blessings..."
PimonratC
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Re: White string band

Post by PimonratC »

Yes, it was blessing. ^___^
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mikenz66
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Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2009 7:37 am
Location: Aotearoa, New Zealand

Re: White string band

Post by mikenz66 »

For me, they can be a useful reminder, an aid to mindfulness (like many rituals, precepts, etc).

:anjali:
Mike
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