Digital Mala
A simple 108-bead counter for mantra and recitation practice. Choose a traditional recitation — or count anything you like — and tap once for each repetition; the tool keeps your place, marks each full round of 108, and remembers your daily streak. Free, no account, and saved only on your own device.
Tibetan · The mantra of Avalokiteśvara, bodhisattva of compassion.
A traditional mala has 108 beads. Your counts, streak, and total are saved only on this device — nothing is sent anywhere.
Using a mala
Counting beads is one of the oldest and most widespread Buddhist practices — a way to keep the body gently occupied so the mind can settle into the recitation rather than into wondering how many you have done. Hold the intention lightly: the point is not to rack up a high score but to steady and warm the heart through repetition. One round of 108, done with care, is plenty.
Learn more: Buddhist mantras and their meanings, mantra meditation, and the figures behind the mantras — Avalokiteśvara, Tārā, and Amitābha. For a steady sit, try the breathing pacer, or see all our free tools.
Frequently asked questions
What is a mala?
A mala is a loop of prayer beads — traditionally 108 of them — used across Buddhist traditions to count recitations of a mantra, a Buddha's name, or the refuges. You move one bead per recitation, and a full circuit of the mala is one 'round.' This tool is a digital version: tap to count, and it keeps your place, your rounds, and your daily total.
Why 108 beads?
108 is a number of long significance across Indian and Buddhist tradition, and a standard mala holds 108 beads (often with one extra 'guru' bead to mark the start). Many explanations are offered for the number, but its practical role is simple: it gives a fixed, satisfying unit of practice, so 'one round' is always 108 recitations.
Which recitation should I count?
Choose whichever fits your path. The tool offers a few real, traditional options — Om Mani Padme Hum (Avalokiteshvara's mantra of compassion, Tibetan), Namo Amituofo (the Pure Land nianfo/nembutsu), 'Buddho' (a Theravada recollection word), Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha (Tara's mantra), and the Three Refuges — each labelled with its tradition. Or pick 'Free count' to count any recitation, breath, or prostration.
Is it free, and is anything saved about me?
It is completely free, with no account. Your current bead, rounds, day streak, and lifetime total are stored only in your own browser — nothing is sent anywhere. The optional bell that sounds on a completed round is generated in your browser; there is no audio file and no autoplay.
How do I use it?
Pick a recitation, then tap the circle once for each repetition as you recite. When you reach 108 the round completes (with a gentle bell, if enabled) and a new round begins. Use 'Undo' if you tap by accident, and 'Reset round' to start the current round over. Your daily streak grows each day you practise.
Sources
- Khuddakapāṭha 1 (Kp 1), 'The Three Refuges' (Saraṇattaya), SuttaCentral (trans. Bhikkhu Sujato) — the text of the counter's 'Buddhaṃ · Dhammaṃ · Saṅghaṃ' preset: 'I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the Teaching, I take refuge in the Saṅgha,' said again a second and a third time
- Aṅguttara Nikāya 6.10, 'With Mahānāma' (Mahānāmasutta), SuttaCentral (trans. Bhikkhu Sujato) — the recollection of the Buddha (buddhānussati) from which the counter's Theravāda 'Buddho' preset takes its word: the disciple recollects 'itipi so bhagavā … buddho bhagavā', and 'when a noble disciple recollects the Realized One their mind is not full of greed, hate, and delusion'. The discourse teaches that recollection, not the repetition of the single word on beads
- 'The Basket's Display: The Origins of Om Mani Padme Hum' by Dr. Bob Miller — on the Kāraṇḍavyūha, translated for 84000 by Peter Alan Roberts — the source of the counter's default preset: the sūtra that 'introduced Avalokiteśvara and the six-syllable mantra to the world'
- 'Prayer to Tārā, Combined with Her Mantra' by Mipham Rinpoche, trans. Rigpa Translations, Lotsawa House — the root mantra of the counter's Tārā preset, its syllables glossed line by line by a named Tibetan master: 'With Tuttāre, you protect us from suffering… Your compassion is unobstructed, Turé, swift lady warrior'
- The Smaller Sutra on Amitāyus (Taishō 366), in The Three Pure Land Sutras, BDK English Tripiṭaka (trans. Hisao Inagaki in collaboration with Harold Stewart, revised 2nd ed., BDK America, 2003; free dBET PDF) — the warrant for the counted nianfo of the 'Namo Amituofo' preset: one who 'holds fast to his Name even for one day, two days, three, four, five, six, or seven days with a concentrated and undistracted mind'
- 'How to use a Tibetan mala or Tibetan prayer beads', Tibetan Nuns Project — the practice this counter paces: 'Count one bead for each recitation of the mantra'; long malas 'have 108 beads' plus the guru bead. On the number, the page gives one tradition's account — 'In Tibetan Buddhism, one mala constitutes 100 recitations of a mantra. There are 8 additional recitations done to ensure proper concentration' — not a settled doctrine shared across the traditions