The magic of 108 -- it's all about love

Are you on to the magic of the number 108? Some days I need a little magic wherever I can get it, and today being one of those days I followed up on a reference my yoga instructor made last week about 108 having special significance. She listed a few occurrences: 108 beads on a rosary, 108 sun salutations in a yoga mala, 108 stitches on a baseball (reinforcing the notion of baseball's spiritual significance). She said to google it and we'd find more, and she was right. Here are a few of my favorites from the wikipedia listing for 108 (number):

• Hindu deities have 108 names
• The number of sins in Tibetan Buddhism
• In Japan, at the end of the year, a bell is chimed 108 times to finish the old year and welcome the new one. Each ring represents one of 108 earthly temptations a person must overcome to achieve nirvana.
• Traditionally the Angelus Bell is rung 108 times.
• The TV series Cheyenne aired for 108 episodes on ABC from 1955 to 1962
• And my special favorite (although the Cheyenne reference is astounding) is that the 108th page of George Orwell's novel 1984 has the words 'I love you'. It really is all about love!