| Although they are commonly referred to as | | | | Because of all the different ingredients in |
| bowls, they are technically a standing bell. | | | | the alloy, ancient bowls have a much richer, |
| They are not hung upside down or put on a | | | | more complex sound than Tibetan singing bowls |
| handle, but stand alone on the bottom side. | | | | made today. Ancient singing bowls are still |
| By tapping with a wooden mallet, or rubbing | | | | available, but they can be quite expensive. |
| the rim with a leather covered piece of wood, | | | | Most singing bowls available are modern |
| a Tibetan singing bowl can be made to sound. | | | | creations, and are not made from the exotic |
| They have been used for centuries by | | | | alloys of ancient bowls. They are usually |
| Buddhists and others as an aid to meditation, | | | | made from combinations of bronze, zinc and |
| health care, relaxation and certain religious | | | | iron. They are usually not hand hammered, but |
| practices. They are also more correctly known | | | | are cast. Modern singing bowls are made in |
| as Himalayan Singing Bowls, for their | | | | Nepal, Tibet, Japan, Korea and India. |
| traditional ranges of occurrence are Nepal, | | | | |
| Bhutan, Mongolia, India, China, Tibet, and | | | | If you have ever rubbed a wet finger around |
| Afghanistan. | | | | the rim of a wine glass, or gently tapped the |
| | | | side of it with a finger, the sounds you |
| Although they are associated Buddhism, they | | | | heard are vaguely similar as sounds from a |
| date before Buddhism. Some scholars believe | | | | singing bowl. The wine glass vibrates in the |
| their beginnings were in India. A Buddhist | | | | air, and emits sounds. So does the Tibetan |
| master traveled to Tibet and introduced | | | | singing bowl, but the sound itself is |
| Buddhism and the bowls to that region in the | | | | different. Research has been done that |
| 9th century A.D. Ancient bowls were made from | | | | suggests that the sounds coming from these |
| a combination of precious and semi-precious | | | | bowls, especially the ancient ones, resonate |
| metals and stones. From 3 to 12 different | | | | with certain brainwaves and can help calm the |
| ingredients, including pieces of meteorites, | | | | mind and relax the body. The sounds of |
| were used to make the ancient bowls. They | | | | Tibetan singing bowls resonate with people |
| were hammered by hand into shape. The ancient | | | | today as they did with people of centuries |
| metallurgy and hammering techniques to make | | | | past. The music they make is the sound of |
| these bowls is now considered a lost art. | | | | meditation, calm mind, and relaxed body. |
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