SŌTŌ-INSPIRED JUZU IN BAYONG
This is a juzu inspired by the contemporary prayer beads used by the Sōtō-sect, one of the Japanese Zen Buddhist schools (my post about Japanese Buddhist prayer beads). It has 108 counting beads, 4 marker beads in addition to the parent beads (the middle bead, also known as second parent bead, here similar to the markers) and a sliding ring typical of the Sōtō school. I did, however, use a stone ring instead of the metal (usually silver) ring used in the Sōtō juzu. The parent and marker beads divide the counters into sets of 18. The tassel is knotted from 6 strands of 1 mm thick satin rattail cord, 4 black and 2 coppery brown.
Materials:
Main (counting) beads (judama, kodama): 108, bayong, 8 mm
Parent (mother, guru) bead (oyadama): snowflake obsidian
Middle bead (nakadama) and marker (four point) beads (shiten): onyx, 6 mm
The ring and the two decorative beads (8 mm): carnelian
1 mm satin rattail cord
Black beading string (non-elastic)