Do you use prayer beads?

[Samantha Rinne]

I have all sorts of stuff like bells, that two sided thing Buddhists have, beads, etc. Ultimately, never used any of that stuff. To pray is ask the divine, none of the is, strictly speaking, necessary. It's at best a distraction, and at worst a sort of idolatry.

You're praying to God, not to bells, beads, statues, etc.

 

[Vinayaka]

I have all sorts of stuff like bells, that two sided thing Buddhists have, beads, etc. Ultimately, never used any of that stuff. To pray is ask the divine, none of the is, strictly speaking, necessary. It's at best a distraction, and at worst a sort of idolatry.

You're praying to God, not to bells, beads, statues, etc.

When you use a telephone, you're talking to the person on the other end of the connection, not the telephone. Beads, bells, etc. are like the telephone. Useful tools for communication, but not what we're communicating with, which is God, or gods.