So I went and bought myself a mala. In fact I bought two, because the shop (Tambouli in Temple Bar) had lots and I couldn't quite choose... They're from Tibet or Nepal (new shipment just arrived, apparently) and they're both made of bone, and they're basically the same except that one is dyed burgundy (I don't know what they use for dying bone, but it does a good job -- even more impressive on some of the other ones that I didn't buy).

I asked the shopkeeper if he knew what kind of bone they were made of. He said, "human". I said, "Hmmm?". He proceeded to explain to me that the Tibetans use human bones for ritual implements, and have quite some reverence for it. Yes I know that, I said, but would they sell them to foreign merchants? Meanwhile I kept looking at the pile of malas on the counter. After a while he said, "Nah, I just say that to spook customers. They're most likely made of yak bone." (Which is what I expected, anyway.)

There are two reasons, or purposes, why I wanted a mala. For saying mantras, and for awareness. ( It gets quite long behind the cut... )