As an aid to meditation and relaxation, the metal "singing bowls" of Nepal are a centuries-old example of the adage that the best ideas are the simplest. An often-unadorned, traditionally hand-made vessel, each bowl is tapped to create a gentle gong-like echo, or rubbed to produce a singing vibration. Properly-tuned bowls singing in unison can regulate the heartbeat, focus the mind and relax the spirit.

Simple method

To hear the magical tones of a singing bowl, you hold it in one hand, and use the other to either tap it with a wooden mallet, or rub the mallet on the rim, around and around. The metal bowl begins to vibrate, like a wine glass rubbed with a wet finger.

Mystic metals

The bowls are made of different metals, each with a special relationship to certain heavenly bodies:

The sun: Gold
The moon: Silver
Mercury: Mercury
Mars: Iron
Jupiter: Tin
Saturn: Lead
Venus: Copper

Each bowl has a different character, and is tuned to a different body chakra (energy center). Moreover, each bowl is made of a different mixture of the above metals (not all bowls contain all metals). The different elements vibrate differently, and a bowl's specific composition cause it to behave differently and have a distinct use. The thickness of the metal and the speed of rubbing also affect a bowl's voice.

Enlightenment

The singing bowls are used in Buddhist rituals; sound is the seventh of nine prescribed methods of reaching enlightenment. The use of singing bowls for this purpose dates to the 700's, although the use of carefully measured metal alloys for certain tones was developed in China much earlier. The modern idea of the singing bowl likely came from India and spread north into Nepal and Tibet. (Apparently for marketing reasons, CDs and new age shops often refer to them as "Tibetan singing bowls", although they are more Nepalese in spirit.)

Hammered out

Modern bowls are made either by hand or by cast. Handmade singing bowls, traditionally the type found among the Newar people, are hammered out of a metal sheet, and sometimes machine polished. In fact, the Newars have handed down the craft through many generations, and purists often insist on handmade Nepalese bowls.

Yoga

Today, singing bowl music is often sold as an enhancement for yoga or meditation, or as an aid to sleep. In fact, modern artists often use many bowls in conjunction with flutes or chimes or bamboo instruments to create a dreamy, organic sound perfect for reducing stress and improving mental clarity.

Dolphin sound

Sometimes water is added to the bowl. When the rim is rubbed correctly with the wooden wand, the water begins to vibrate with the bowl. You can continue rubbing, tilting the water back and forth, and experimenting with different rubbing speeds and pressures, to get an intoxicating sound, said to be similar to a dolphin's song. Even feeling the vibration on your hand is a calming effect.

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