Singing Bowls and Asian Buddhist Traditions

For any human being, the most difficult question in life is what his own life means. Man's scientific eye has looked into this matter and discovered the world of atoms and electrons. However, life itself - being the nearest thing of all and the easiest to grasp - still remains a mystery, despite the rapid advance in the past few decades of what we call the sciences of life.

So why is this? Is it because of life constantly changing? As many philosophers have recognized, an understanding of life is man's greatest basic problem. Life is not an abstract concept. It involves living and being in the world of the here and now, achieving a calm, healthy mind and spirit in the midst of reality, coping with the laughter and sorrow, pleasure and grief, of this present world.

The purpose of this philosophical introduction to this article is to show the world that one needs to train his mind, body and soul through the art of meditation. In orient, a lot of practitioners use singing bowls in their daily training sessions. There is no difference between the concept of training one's body to become stronger and training one's mind. Singing bowls are considered to be a type of bell. However, there is a slight difference between what we got used to call a bell and this one. In this case, it is specifically classified as a standing bell.

Rather then hanging attached to a handle, this type of singing bells or bowls sit with the bottom surface resting. The amazing sound produced by the sides and the rim of the bowl help people to concentrate better during their meditation practices. Singing bowls were and continue to be used throughout the whole Asian continent and are considered to be historically made in Korea, Japan, Nepal, India and Tibet.