Singing bowls (also known as 'Himalayan bowls' or 'rin' or suzu gongs in Japan) are a type of bell, specifically classified as a standing bell. Rather than hanging inverted or attached to a handle, standing bells sit with the bottom surface resting. The sides and rim of singing bowls vibrate to produce sound. Singing bowls were traditionally used throughout Asia as part of Bön and Tantric Buddhist sadhana. Today they are employed worldwide both within and without these spiritual traditions, for meditation, relaxation, healthcare, personal well-being and religious practice. Source: www.wikipedia.org

Singing bowls are traditionally constructed of seven metals: gold, silver, mercury, copper, iron, tin and lead, which correspond to the seven planets (sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, respectively).

The pitch of the bowl depends its thickness, size and weight. The pitch is fixed but may be controlled as to tone and volume by the force of the tap, the hardness of the striking stick, and the point of percussion. Source: http://www.religionfacts.com

BEAUTIFUL SINGING BOWL SOUNDS

click to listen:

Gong and Tibetan Singing Bowl Meditation

Weaving Tones of Tibetan Singing Bowls

Sonic Improvisation with Tibetan Singing Bowls

What is a Mandala?
Benefits of working with Mandalas
Some Types of Mandalas
Symbolism in Mandalas and Interpreting Mandalas
Common Problems Creating Your Own Mandala

More on Symbolism

Mandalas are not merely beautiful coloured drawings.  The patterns and symbols that are incorporated into them all have a meaning. The signifance may of course vary from culture to culture.

The circle is perhaps the purest, most profound and the most common symbol in existence. With the probably infinite billions of stars, planets, moons and galaxies full of the same, the circle is well represented in the physical universe in the form of spheres. A circle, having no beginning or end, represents infinity, eternity, wholeness and femininity. Other meaningfully significant symbols or objects are circular: Stonehenge, Ouroboros, the Wheel of Life, a halo around the head of a saint, etc.

HEART: sun, love, happness, feelings of unity

CROSS: union of heaven and earth, life and death, consciousness and subconsciousness

The Tai Chi or Yin Yang was derived from ancient chinese efforts to discover and interpret patterns in the sky and the changing seasons. An eight foot tall pole would cast a shadow of varying lengths as the seasons passed revealing a cycling between times dominated by the day and times dominated by the night. Day and night being opposites, the universe is interpreted as a place of constant change resulting from the interaction and balancing of opposite forces. This philosophy extends to other pairs of opposites such as man-woman, right-left, good-evil. From the dot in each side of the yin yang symbol we learn that, just as during summer the days are long but nights still occur, there can be some bad side-effects even from good actions. And the reverse, good can sometimes come from bad events or experiences.

SQUARE: natural evolution, stability and balance

STAR: symbol of spirituality, liberty, evolution

SPIRAL: vitality, healing energy

HEXAGON. union of opposites

LABYRINTH: search to find your 'centre'

BUTTERFLY: regeneration of the spirit, transformation

PENTAGRAM: human form, earth, water, fire

RECTANGLE: stability, intellect, earthly existence

TRIANGLE: water, unconsciousness (facing downwards), vitality, transformation (facing upwards) aggression towards self (facing inwards)

Translated from source: www.mipunto.com/www.casaasia.es/