Handmade Tibetan bowls are made of seven sacred metals, corresponding to the known seven planets. Gold - Sun, Silver - Moon, Mercury - Mercury, Copper - Venus, Iron - Mars, Tin - Jupiter, Lead - Saturn. Legend goes that the iron was from meteorites found in the Himalayan mountain tops - hence sound from heaven!
Tibetan bowls were often found in monasteries and private homes. The Tibetans, are evasive when questioned about the use of the bowls, saying that the bowls are simply vessels for food. When women get pregnant they would eat using these bowls to get a homeopathic dose of the metals in order to sustain their mineral intake. It is hard to believe that the bowl with special quality is only intended as a container of grains. The bowls can vibrate five individual and simultaneous tones, each at its own consistent frequency and the vibration can sustain for a few minutes. In Tibetan culture, the bowls are used in ritual offerings to Gods and Deities, hence the sound had to be pure and universal to be worthy as an offering to the highest order.
In monasteries, the highest Lamas uses them in rituals to travel to other dimensions and other worlds. Some accounts say that it is forbidden in some monasteries to talk about the bowls, and that the secret of the sounds yield so much power must be kept hidden.
The bowls can be used to induce deep meditative state that is full of clarity and intuition. They are also being used for healing purpose - healers use them to tone and balance the body energy field and the chakras. The sound and vibration of a Tibetan bowl vibrates on one’s chest or abdomen is transmitted via the skeletal system through the entire body which is made of 80% water. Water is a wonderful sound conductor, the sensation is powerful and indescribable. An extended toning session induces relaxation and healing on the cellular level.
In this post-modern new age of reflection and healing, finding our true essence, musicians are now making soothing healing music with Tibetan singing bowls. Yoga teachers, sound and music therapists, massage therapists, and those who meditate regularly, have been exploring and working with the powerful and wonderful celestial sound of Tibetan bowls.
