There are many religious concepts that relates ambiance to the peace of mind and soul of a person. In order to get into the thought of the Super power one need to concentrate and meditate. This can be done by using various techniques and one of the methods, which the Buddhist use for their mediation is the Tibetan Singing bowls. They are even referred to as a Himalayan Singing Bowls as it has instigated mainly from Nepal, Bhutan, Mongolia, India, China, Tibet, and Afghanistan.

The popularity of the singing bowl is expected to have spread through the trade routes. It is also believed that Buddha, Padmasambhava, may have travelled across Himalaya from India to Tibet. Historians cannot determine the exact time from when singing bowls came in practise but they were first used in India almost 3000 years ago and in Tibet 1000 years ago.

Different people have different beliefs and it is same when they talk about the singing bowl. Some say it was initially used as a begging bowl and for food. Some monasteries even use it as a trophy or prize to give it to others. Smith, who used to travel from one place to another usually collected the things and materials in the journey and made the bowls out of It., while some thought it was the make of monks. Theses all the stories related to a singing bowl but the fact is that it is a special type of bell. This bell is not hanging but it rests on its bottom. Although there were so many stories behind this bell but still it is used by the people for medication and offering prayers and is a holy thing.

Ancient Tibetan singing bowls were generally made from seven different metals including gold, silver, mercury, copper, tin and iron. Theories are also there that these bowls were made from the remains of meteorites. The sound produced by the singing bowl would differ upon how the different quantities of metals are mixed together. The metals were mixed to form an alloy, which was left to cool before being beaten up in the form of bowl. Evidences have been found that many bowls had been made from more than seven metals, which support the myth of travelling smiths. Because of all the precious ingredients in the alloy, ancient bowls have a much richer sound than the bowls made today.

The modern singing bowls are often made by pouring metals in a cast. These singing bowls are smoother and generally easier to play. Hand hammered bowls are also available in the market but the tradition of ancient bowls are still considered to be divine. Playing a singing bowl is quite easy and anyone is able to play most bowls in less than five minutes.

How can you play the Tibetan Singing Bowls so that the sound it produces is in rhythm? You need to simply circle a stick around the outside of the Tibetan singing bowl and you can produce the rhythm. When you start circling initially, you can hear a hum but when you continue for long this humming sound increases. It does not only produce humming sound but also produce multi-phonic sounds along with multiple harmonic overtones. This is all because of the use of different alloy mixtures to make the bowl. Even the modern bowls can produce this sounds provided they are made up of good quality bronze but nowadays they use a cheap alloy to make bowls so only monophonic sound is produced .

The main use of Tibetan singing bowl is in meditation and it creates such an environment in the surroundings that one can concentrate very deeply. You can even use the singing bowl in the yoga classes where someone else plays it that helps you to concentrate in classes. The sound produced by this singing bowls is so pleasant and effective that it can keep the bad souls away from you and thus all the trouble vanishes.

Singing bowls though considered Buddhist sacred belief but are wonderful to use in outside environment and at your home. These bowls are recently gaining more popularity in the west with the preaching of Buddhism and practise of yoga exercises. Singing bowls can also produce water memory effects. If you play the bowl, its multi frequency sound creates a vibration of the water surface in the rhythm of the tone being played. Tibetan singing bowls are often used as gift as a sign of grace or gratitude. Its believed to be sacred and a piece of art. It can also serve as beauty at home when used to decorate.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 6th, 2009 at 12:05 am and is filed under Alternative Medicine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.