Yoga and Meditation

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.

There are ample of belief and stories related behind these Tibetan singing bowls. As per one belief it was thought you be used as begging bowl and food instead of a religious practice, other belief the monasteries used it as a chalice. The smith traveler can also make these bowls by the material gathered by them in their journey all along and even the monks produced bowls. It is actually a special type of bell but it is not inverted and hanged as other bells but rather it rests on its bottom. Although there were so many uses related to this singing bowls but still it is used by the people for medication and is a blessed 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.

Why the sound of today bowl is not so good? This is because it is made of pouring metals in a cast and the bowls made are very smooth. Though you can get many type of bowls such as hand hammered bowl but still ancient bowl are godlier. Playing a bowl is very simple and is easy to handle by anyone within few 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.