The walls of dZi bead shops are always covered with thangka (Tibetan Buddhist paintings) and photos of rinpoche (Living Buddhas). The proprietors often make donations to Tibetan Buddhist masters and hold large Buddhist gatherings to display the orthodoxy of their own beliefs.

Yet when you investigate the religious world's view of dZi beads, you find that most high monks choose to remain mum about them. What's going on here?

"In Tibet, dZi beads are used as a kind of spiritual reward," remarks one dZi bead collector when asked to explain the difference in "effectiveness" between old and new beads. "Monks of high rank give dZi beads to their students as a token of their affection. DZi beads have been around for 1300 years, passed down through 30 or 40 generations. Worn by monks constantly reciting chants and investing objects with spiritual power, the beads' own powers would have naturally increased so that they are able to protect their wearers."

"One dZi bead I have was said to have been worn by a Dalai Lama for several decades. When he died, his body was burned and only the bead remained," says one dZi lover. "Its supernatural powers are very strong. When you hold it in your hand while meditating, you feel particularly peaceful."

DZi beads and living Buddhas

In Taiwan, dZi beads seem invariably connected to Tibetan Buddhism and living Buddhas. Those who deal in the beads usually profess to be long-time devotees of Tibetan Buddhism who have chosen to deal dZi beads out of "bonds of affection." In their stores you can always find the photographs of living Buddhas and Buddhist statues at the Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple draped with dZi beads, which provide even greater evidence of the beads' divine powers.

Yet is the relationship between dZi beads and Tibetan Buddhism really that close?

"In the eyes of us Tibetans, dZi beads are like gems," says a Tibetan we'll call Luosang. "Sure, they are valuable, but most of them are strung on necklaces and worn by women who take them to feasts and celebrations as a display of wealth and position. They're not religious objects." Yet, along with amber, coral, turquoise and other stones, dZi beads are regarded as one of the "seven jewels that repel evil," and they are offered at altars and draped from Buddhist statues. But the main reason for this is that Tibetans like to make offerings of beautiful precious objects in order to show respect to the Buddhas and allow all those who come to worship to share in their beauty and magnificence and thus feel joy.

Luosang says that in the many years he lived in Nepal he often saw dZi beads being bought and sold there. He never expected that when he came to Taiwan he would find so many taboos associated with them. "Here they are even connected somehow to living Buddhas!"

"DZi beads aren't closely connected to Tibetan Buddhism. They are, in fact, Bon [the shamanistic religion that predated Buddhism in Tibet]!" notes D. Namgyal, a dZi bead dealer who as a child accompanied his father as he bought and sold dZi beads. Namgyal remembers his father saying that in ancient times Bon shamans would wear human skulls and practice their skills in graveyards. Once they had cultivated their spiritual powers well enough to achieve a certain state, dZi beads would fall from Heaven. To the Bon, dZi beads were sacred objects used to dispel evil. Unfortunately, most of the occult practices of the Bon religion have been lost, and no one knows what great marvels were connected to the beads. "It's like you have a car, but you don't know how to drive it," describes Namgyal.

If, as one legend suggests, dZi beads originated about 1300 years ago as booty taken from a Middle Eastern king, then at that time Bon was dominant in Tibet, and Buddhism from India had not yet been introduced or was just starting to take hold. When Buddhism did make inroads in Tibet, it combined with the native Bon religion to create Lamaism-a rather mysteriously tinted form of Buddhism to be sure, but not one that has ever made any supernatural claims about dZi beads.

Taking on religious clothes

The reason dZi beads have been connected to living Buddhas in Taiwan is that many believers take them to Buddhist masters to be "invested with spiritual power." When Namgyal must tell people that what they supposed was a valuable old dZi bead is just a well-crafted reproduction, even he cushions the blow by saying that they can always ask a master to invest it with spiritual power so that it will become just as effective as a true old dZi bead.

Yet, notes Luosang, "In Tibet, people only take specifically religious objects such as prayer beads to Buddhist masters to be invested with spiritual power," says Luosang. "DZi beads are ornamental, and no one would ask a master to invest them with spiritual power, because it would be thought disrespectful." And Namgyal scoffs at the idea that dZi beads would hang from the neck of living Buddhas as they chanted prayers hour after hour. "Monks aren't allowed to wear ornamental jewelry. When have you ever seen the Dalai Lama wearing a dZi bead?"

Faced with these varying opinions, the cultural critic Lin Ku-fang, who has been a Tibetan Buddhist devotee for many years, gets to the heart of the matter: "In plain terms, dZi beads are jewelry. But if they weren't 'put in religious clothes,' do you think anyone would pay millions of NT dollars for them."

Lin describes Taiwan as Tibetan Buddhism's greatest "source of financial support." As long as the Taiwanese devotees show piousness, the masters will remain openhearted: "If you give glass beads to a Tibetan Buddhist master here, he'll invest them with spiritual power too." Yet even if the master does invest these objects with power, "It won't help you if you aren't spiritually attuned to it," Lin reminds the public.

We take a step forward in our discussion by noting that dZi beads have only become a darling of speculators because Buddhist devotees are, in their bewilderment and in direct conflict with Buddhist teachings, searching for answers outside of themselves.

"The emergence of groups such as Song Chi-li's, the Taichimen sect and the UFO cult and the fad for occult objects such as dZi beads, Buddhist implements and amulets are basically the same thing," says Lin Ku-fang, noting that both are "outer directed and aim for quick fixes rather than commitment to a long, involved process." Relying upon an outside power that claims fast results, people avoid the hard work of looking inside themselves. When people's minds are not at peace and they are unable to retreat inside to cultivate Buddhism, phenomena of this sort will be common.

Mind and matter

Lin, who has had various "supernatural experiences," does not deny that when the situation is right Buddhist objects and amulets can be in harmony with the believer and thus bring into play powers of protection. But when is the situation right? "It still depends on the devotee keeping Buddhism close at heart and maintaining peace of mind."

Lin Ku-fang points out that many people look at religious objects as having "objective power." This is wrong. "Religion always has a subjective participant. Only when there is harmony between that person and the Buddhist doctrine will there be a spiritual response.

Lin cites the Tibetan prayer beads that are carved from human skulls. These are exalted Buddhist vessels, "uncannily allowing one to see through things and understand life and death." Fiddling with beads made from human skulls, you may realize that if the skulls of great and moral Buddhist masters only ended up as counting beads after their deaths, then how trifling must be the sack of flesh and bones that constitutes your own body! If devotees keep touching these beads made from human skulls but have no feelings or changes in attitude, then they will not come to this kind of conclusion. The result is that "mind" is not in harmony with "matter" and there is no response-in which case even if you are in possession of a valuable treasure, what good will it do you?

One Tibetan Buddhist devotee who wished to remain anonymous stressed that energy does have wisdom. In which case, if you buy a single dZi bead for its magnetic field, then wouldn't it be more convenient to buy a magnetic bracelet whose magnetism can be adjusted as you see fit? If you buy a dZi bead because you hope it has a soul, then your own ways of thinking must be proper if you are to achieve resonance with its energy and gain its protection.

Looking at religion from the angle of dZi beads, do people need to be set on the proper course in light of their persistence in foolishly looking to outside powers and objects? Lin Ku-fang holds that "by attacking the problem one manifestation at a time" we don't get to the root of the problem: Today we expose Song Chi-li, tomorrow dZi beads and the day after we can review the issue of the Buddha's tooth. Such efforts will be exhausting and have only limited effects. Getting to the root of the problem requires pursuing true belief and purifying the mind so that one grows more benevolent and lets go of worldly desires and possessions. If we could achieve this, then why would we need dZi beads' protection?

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Are dZi beads Buddhist vessels? Can they be invested with spiritual power? The wisdom and benevolence sought by Buddhist devotees can provide the answers! (photo by Diago Chiu)

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By acquiring precious dZi beads and a crowd-pleasing Buddha's tooth, do we show our piety and understanding of the Buddhist doctrines, or do we just show how caught up we still are in the material world? (photo by Hsueh Chi-kuang)