Threading the Millennium-Old Energy of Asian Temples When morning dew drips onto century-old bluestones at Kyoto’s Moss Temple, and when Buddhist bells shatter the sea mist hovering over Putuo Mountain — these natural auras, scattered across temples in Asia, are taking on a new form as beads, resting gently around your wrist. Late autumn last year, we lingered in the side courtyard of Kyoto’s Moss Temple for three days and nights. Every morning, as the elderly abbot swept fallen leaves, he would place a string of white crystal prayer beads on the moss-covered stone, letting the morning de...

Warmth Hidden in Soumra Beads When pushing open the wooden door of an ancient temple on Putuo Mountain in Zhejiang, morning mist—wrapped in sandalwood fragrance—was drifting over the stone steps. An elderly monk sat cross-legged in the corner of the hall, twisting a string of citrine prayer beads between his fingers: each bead glowed with honey-like warmth, as if the entire mountain’s morning sun had been sealed inside the stone. This was the starting point of Soumra’s first string of beads: not cut on a factory assembly line, but infused with the wind chimes on temple eaves and the rhyth...