Tibetan singing bowl on the traces of shamanism

The Tibetan singing bowls discovery

In Kathmandu, the Thamel’s quarter locks down with its narrow overcrowded streets directly draws us in a mystical shamanic world which conducive to daydreaming. The great climbers’ dreams go alongside lucky charms and other mystical items flowing from the shamanic heritage of the Tibetan mountain peoples. It's out of the question to brave the world's highest peaks without an animistic understanding of things. Among all these items, a particular discovery catches my attention. That's the Tibetan singing bowls.

I didn't know these Tibetan singing bowls before arriving in Nepal but the discovery of these sounds so relaxing and beneficial arouses my curiosity.

The Tibetan singing bowls origin

Originally, according to legend, it was nomad blacksmiths believers in shamanism who brought in these singing bowls in Tibet.

Thereafter, these singing bowls were mainly used by Japanese Buddhists and this, since the Bronze Age.

These Buddhists asserted that the sounds produced by these singing bowls held powerful curative properties. That is therefore why even today’s shamans still consider this group of sounds, not as music, but as a sacred approach with healing properties.
 

Tibetan singing bowls initiation by a Shaman

The Tibetan singing bowl healing sounds experience transcended my body. The sense of bliss and total relaxation is unequalled. Transported by the Tibetan singing bowls benefits, I decided to delve into this subject and to contact the Holistic Research Centre in Kathmandu. 

That’s how I spent 3 days with a shaman to understand and practice the healing singing bowls secrets. Obviously, meeting with this shaman was an enriching human experience and the care process he taught me (from his grandfather’s heritage) is outstanding.

It opens up a new range of perspectives to complementary medicine and Western healthcare and I hope our society will become aware of alternative medicine benefits.

The 7 metals Tibetan singing bowls benefits

Traditionally, the Tibetan singing bowls are created using seven metal alloys corresponding to, in Tibetan cosmogony, the planets of the solar system : gold (the Sun), silver (the Moon), mercury (Mercury), copper (Venus), iron (Mars), tin (Jupiter) and lead (Saturn). We ring these 7 metals singing bowls by hitting them with an adequate mallet or by rubbing them with a wooden stick covered with felt. 

Shaped for emitting a healing sound when it is played, the 7 metals Tibetan singing bowl deeply penetrates each cell of the body to re-harmonize it.

During treatment, we use a set of seven different bowls, harmonized and assembled by shamans of which the seven different and complementary sounds correspond to the seven body’s chakras. Thus, when the bowls are singing, they seek to restore the good flow of energy between the 7 chakras. 

When the whole body is re-harmonized, it could get its balance back. The breathing techniques, in fact, serve the same purpose. This re-harmonization counteracts the imbalances in the body responsible for diseases.