What is Mandala?

A mandala is a circular round shaped in symbol widely popular in Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism. Different Mandala represents different meaning but mostly a mandala is the representation of the universe with an inner & outer world. Here, in this article we have categorised different kinds of Mandala that can help you to understand and possibly choose the best Mandala Thangka painting for your spiritual practice or simply just for your home to attract positive vibrations.

1) KALACHAKRA MANDALA

The Kalachakra term means Wheel of time. It is one of the most explicit kinds of modern mandala which is the discovery of the Dalai Lama himself. It represents the external as well as microcosm substances of the cosmos.

A wheel is a circular figure which has no beginning or endpoint. And the same term is used to represent the energies of life and reality, no energy disappears and comes from nowhere. Everything in this world runs in a chain and energy borrowed from one’s life is transmitted to another. With the practice of the Kalachakra Mandala, one can reach the state of enlightenment.

The mandala is the mirror of the cosmos, not only in its external form but also in the microcosm. It is based on the assumption of a very close relationship between the universe, the mandalic circle, and human beings. The Kalachakra mandala is derived from the Kalachakra tantra founded by Shakyamuni Buddha. This highest yoga tantra offers ontological understanding of existence.

EXTERNAL KALACHAKRA (outer kalachakra)

The external kalachakra refers to all the environment: mountains, planets, solar systems, homes, constellation of stars, and so forth. OM AH HUM HO HAM KSHA is not really a Kalachakra mantra but more of a symbol to the six chakras individually. The union mantra, Kalachakra monogram is HA KSHA MA LA WA RA YAM. Using OM in the beginning of this mantra is always an excellent option and we tend to use SVAHA or PHAT at the end of any sacred mantras. Such action aims to increase your spiritual capacities. This Kalachakra mantra explains the whole universe and internal individual’s body, mind, structure, and enlightenment of the generation and completion which can be classified as the aspects of Kalachakra: Internal Kalachakra, External Kalachakra, and Alternative Kalachakra. Any sickness and human problem can be cured with this mantra and any external problems or obstacles can be expelled from this mantra. So there’s nothing excluded by this divine mantra.

Everything in this universe from huge galaxies, stars, and planets to the tiniest atomic smallest particle level everything is in a cycle. Everything co-exists and form within the range of this cycle. Time is the process of everything that moves, changes, and occupies space, even the tiniest microscopic elements. That means the whole universe is Kalachakra. It covers Astronomy, Astrology, and Mathematics.

As per Kalachakra tantra, we are the key to unlock the mystery of the universe.

At the most peripheral level, everything is contained in the natural phenomenon of cycle of changes.

INTERNAL KALACHAKRA (inner kalachakra)

The internal Kalachakra refers to the person’s body having a nature of channels, winds, and drops of essential fluids.

The internal Kalachakra is the understanding of every sentient being. It deals with understanding to a subtle level not only body or mind structures. The proper understanding of internal Kalachakra corresponding external Kalachakra builds our capacity to affect the external universe.

Since every individual is internal Kalachakra so we all have the capacity to contribute to the benefits of the external Kalachakra.

Our human body has everything that’s out there in the universe. Everything has a coalition. Our mind and body resonate with the wheel of time. It denotes the structure of the human body and its system of energies and the alternate Chakra. The qualities we possess as a human has resemblance with the wheel and the time. The loving nature makes us stay connected to all that depicts the wheel, compassion is like the time: inevitable without time. It’s the wheel of time inside us as the quality of kindness, loving and compassionate nature. Kalachakra states, every sentient being has Buddha-nature, which means everybody has temporary potential nature, but ultimately absolute Buddha-nature.

STRUCTURE

The Kalachakra mandala is made as a replica of a 3-dimensional divine palace. This mandala consists of five levels: body, speech, mind, pristine consciousness, and bliss mandala. Kalachakra mandala came from the source of Kalachakra tantra, teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha around 2600 years ago. This highest yoga tantra links human beings with the universe and cosmos as a whole.

The body mandala represents a year: 12 months. It’s the ground level of the mandala where 536 deities live. The speech mandala is on the second floor of the palace where 116 deities live. There are five colored bands in the foundation walls: green, black, red, white, and yellow which represent trust, effort, attention, concentration, and wisdom respectively. Next, the mind mandala has 70 deities residing on the third floor of the palace. There are three color bands in the foundation of the walls: white, red, and black which represent three paths of Buddhism: diamond, greater and lesser respectively. The pristine consciousness mandala is on the fourth floor of the Kalachakra mandala. The sixteen black pillars of this level, four on every four directions symbolize the phase of emptiness. Last but not least great bliss mandala is the representation of one’s phase of entering into happiness. It is the highest level of this sacred palace. The four dots on the four corners of this level represent the qualities of mind, consciousness, word, and body of the Kalachakra mandala.

The central part of this mandala has a lotus flower which is a sacred symbol in Buddhism. In some thangka paintings, this lotus flower is replaced by the two deities: Vishvamata and Kalachakra. There’s an imaginative roof over the palace and the whole palace of this painting is placed over four disks which represents the four main elements. They are fire, earth, water, and wind.

2) MANTRA MANDALA

The power of mantras influences everything. The right creation of the Mantra mandala opens the doorway into creation. There are different types of mantras that help us recognize the life and many facets of life. Sound is the essence of creation and mantras are derived from it. Its existence is before us and beyond us. These mantras help us in getting into the psychological structure of human beings.

If you don’t have the keenness to pay attention and be driven away by the mantra mandala itself, you cannot enjoy any aspect of creation actually. A mantra is a chant, simply a sound, a reverberation. First of all, what you are uttering is a mantra and you must look at it, mantra is a pure sound. It need not have any meaning. These are words that make you involved, engaged and for that, you have to look at the picture. The mantra is, you involve yourself in the sound because you, yourself, your physical body are a certain pattern of sound. When you look at the mantra thangka and reverb the sound, you’re trying to make yourself into a different pattern of sound so that this sound becomes an access point to the larger sound, which you call a cosmos.

Mantra mandala thangka paintings from LUCKY THANKA are handmade paintings by master artists and practitioners of Kathmandu Valley. These are encircled by the chanted mantra of Buddhism “OM MANI PADME HUM” which means praise to the jewel in the Lotus. It is the universal peace, iconic mantra which is probably the most famous of all Buddhist mantras.

So mantra mandala thangka is a combination, you get the combination right, it will open doorway into creation. Mantras are the existential meaningful words that give power to the surrounding, all living things and lives around. As a whole, mantras have influence on everything. The chanting of the mantra helps us feel the vibrations of the symbol and makes us visualize the connection of mind and universe. It helps to establish sacred space and get into a meditative, regenerative state of mind. The mantra helps us uplift values to our daily lives.

All you need to do is rely on this mantra, it is very very powerful that merely listening to it or chanting this mantra helps to remove negative auras. Any kind of problems that you have, you must practice gazing at these mantras and chant them to see magical changes in your lives. It will help you progress, get new ideas, and takes you to your goals and success.

THE MANTRA AND ITS BENEFITS

OM MANI PADME HUM is a six syllables word. The meaning of these six syllables is quite vast. The mantra OM is certainly common in Buddhism, Hinduism, and also other religions. In Buddhism, the word OM spelled as AUM and it represents body, mind, and speech. It also symbolizes the exalted pure body, speech, and mind. In summary, OM is the representation of the transformation of one’s impure 3 elements to the pure and ever-present state of the same 3 elements.

The path to pureness is indicated in the remaining four syllables. Buddhism believes that all beings have the potential to become a Buddha and one can practice the path and purify themselves by developing body, speech, and mind.

MA NE means jewel, joy and this represents the method aspect of the path, infinite altruism. Just like a jewel removes a person’s poverty, this bodhicitta mind can actually take away the poverty of all the kind of difficulties a person has in samsara and also lead you to full awakening. This is a powerful treasure, infinity altruism, the intention to become enlightened, compassionate, and loving.

PADMA, these two syllables represent lotus which means wisdom. There’s no contradiction when we have wisdom. There are many kinds of wisdom that we can develop but the main wisdom this mantra talks about is the wisdom of emptiness.

HUM represents the invisible unity of altruism and wisdom to achieve purity of those 3 elements. It carries the meaning of combination.

The six syllables as a whole means that the combined practice of infinite altruism, compassion, and wisdom, one can transform their impure body, speech, and mind into that of the Buddha. The substances for achievement of Buddhahood are within us and reciting of the mantra OM MANE PADME HUM can bring it to fullness.

The mantra thangka painting consisting of this magical, divine mantra helps to eliminate negative karma, remove internal and external obstacles that lie in the way of our spiritual development.

3) COSMOS MANDALA

These are two dimensional mandalas having multiple circular bands commonly made on cloth i.e. thangka painting.The cosmos mandala depicts the circuitous movement of planets, sun, moon, and the entire cosmos around Mount Meru.

This holy mountain is considered as the axis of the geocentric universe. Mount Meru is also termed Sumeru which is represented as the meeting point of both the physical and spiritual universe. Many temples, monasteries, and other art forms have been built as the symbolic representation of this mountain.The Meru Mountain is represented with various symbols and geometric designs in other art forms as well. In cosmos mandala, the mountain is made with an aerial point of view which appears as a small dot or is symbolized with the mantra OM in the center of the mandala.

This mandala represents the infinite relation betweem bodies and minds with the wholeness of a cosmic diagram. This classic mandala thangka can be made with more complex planetary cycles in larger paintings.

The various geometric shapes and symbols used in this painting depict various metaphysical state of mind. Its sacred design tends to propitiate the planets and invoke their blessings.

Cosmos means the universe and the Sun and the moon are the major bodies of the cosmos and the cosmos mandala itself.

The central OM symbol is surrounded by continuous rotation of wind and sound of om mantra. This continuous rotation around the om symbol condenses into basic elements: Wind, Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. This condensation represents the state of accumulation.

The red triangles in the central circle depict fire, the fire stands for manifestation of transformation. Likewise, the element water represents liquid matter and is depicted by half circle or circles of the mandala. Earth is symbolized by yellow squares or cubes which represent solid matters. Gaseous matter is represented by the wind or air. The Cosmic Mandala is bordered/circumscribed by bands of flames in whirl manner.

The blue ether at the central background portrays comprehensive source of all elements. The expanding order of the elements is emulsified in the blue band circumcising the center.

SIGNIFICANCE OF COSMOS MANDALA IN THE LIGHT OF BUDDHISM

When people look at the cosmos mandala, people are often confused to address a meaning to the planets and different forms of lives, elements engraved in the mandala. The meaning isn’t something objective or verified in the mandala itself.

It allows us to be open in order to continue to get in touch with the wonders of life. It helps us discover more. It has the capacity to nurse you, heal you.

The holy mount Meru of this mandala is often mistakenly assumed to be heaven. In Hindu mythology, the mountain is considered to be the home for deities like Indra, various sages, and gandharvas. Religious mythological accounts show this to exist on top of this mountain.

HEALING MANDALA

The power of using mandalas in your daily life evokes deep state of relaxation and healings. It has the capacity to make an impactful therapeutic benefit in our day-to-day lives. There are hundreds of different mandalas that every individual can choose from to match their connectivity and benefit themselves.

Healing mandalas help your for soul activation and radiant manifestation through sacred words, symbols, color, and shaped engraved in the mandala. It’s definitely something to behold. These mandalas are definitely beautiful, magnificent, and filled with gorgeous colors in every area.

This sacred circle represents wholeness, health, unity, and harmony of life. These pieces of artwork are used in thangka paintings to evoke healing, spiritual development, and meditation. It symbolizes being one with the universe and directs the positive high level of energies in our lives.

It’s a great opportunity to use this as a technique to get yourself into the optimum window of regeneration. The really cool thing about our mandalas is that it allows you to access both parts of the brain when you gaze at it or keep in your daily workspace, room. It puts an impact on the prefrontal cortex of the brain which deals with our capacity of reasoning and judgement. And as we gradually go through the colors of the mandala it accesses our right side of the brain. You can use a mandala to model containment because they are self-contained images. They are also an auto hypnotic function. So, when we begin to focus on the coloring, staying within the shapes and the lines to focus and very specifically on the colors, shapes, and lines within that pattern, It brings the hyper focus to what we are doing. It makes us feel more grounded and more present at the instant moment.

Take about 10 minutes ahead of time to get into your daily work and allow your brain to tap into its imaginations and creativity. It’s soothing, containing and increases your concentration levels. It just allows us to be more focused so we can meet whatever challenges confront us.

4) BODHISATTVA MANDALA

Bodhisattva is a divine being who abandons all egotistical, unmindful interests and seeks only the greatest equality, freedom, independence and happiness of all mortal beings. They have the capacity to reach nirvana but delay in doing so by going through compassion for suffering beings. The historical Buddha, SIDDHARTHA GAUTAM was a bodhisattva prior to his enlightenment under the Bodhi tree.

Bodhi Dharma is also one of the most popular bodhisattvas who helped people in the time of crucial need embodying the perfection of virtuous ideas. Similarly, Avalokitesvara is also a popular bodhisattva commonly represented in the bodhisattva mandalas. Many other bodhisattvas have been depicted in Tibetan Buddhism art forms especially mandala thangka paintings. The main bodhisattvas that are included in artifacts are Avalokitesvara, Manjusri, Samantabhadra, Ksitigarbha, Maitreya, Vajrapani, and so on.

Avalokitesvara is known with many different names in different countries. The Dalai Lama is believed to be the incarnation form of him. The thangka painting of Avalokitesvara consists of a lotus flower on his hand and he is depicted in some paintings as female also. The Padma is the term for lotus flower in Sanskrit and since he holds a lotus flower, Avalokitesvara is also called PADMAPANI.

MANJUSHRI is also a bodhisattva, depicted as a male bodhisattva wielding a flaming sword in his right hand. He is the source of manifestation of great wisdom and meditation. Manjushri sits in the center of the mandala and is considered the peaceful form of Manjuvajra. This bodhisattva slashes past ignorance.

Bodhisattva thangka paintings can be seen with many bodhisattvas surrounding several Buddhas. This type of painting represents path for the awakening of a practitioner while taking the bodhisattva vows. These paths are the path of accumulation, application, seeing, meditation, and learning.

5) SHRI YANTRA MANDALA

Shri yantra mandala is a sacred geometric pattern of three chakras. It’s a diagram formed by interlocking nine triangles radiating from a dot. As per Advaita Vedanta Sage, Shri Yantra is the key to mastering the science of the creation of what you want and the destruction of what you don’t want.

The Shri yantra mandala thangka painting represents a microcosmic level of the universe as well as the human body. Each circuitous route in Shri yantra is equivalent to one of the chakras in the human body. The twirling and diversifying Shri yantra act as the universe. The tonoscopic image of the sacred sound OM matches with the geometric pattern of Shri yantra which is quite an interesting fact.

The earthward triangles represent the female philosophy, i.e. SHAKTI and the skyward triangles represent the male philosophy, i.e. SHIVA. This interlocking of 9 triangles: 5 downwards and 4 upwards lead to the creation of 43 smaller triangles.

A Shri Yantra mandala is worshipped and mediated as each of these 43 triangles represent a deity. The core dot is the spot of origination and unification where one amalgamates with the highest level of awareness, responsiveness, and consciousness. For yogis, this mandala is much like a tuning fork that helps connect them to the universal consciousness. These are great tools to sharpen our precise imaginative skills while meditating along.

6) SPIRITUAL MANDALA

Hindus and Tibetan Buddhists were the first practitioners of spiritual mandalas as spiritual tools. These are used for meditation purposes allowing the individual to become one with the universe. The symbolism for the creation of a mandala can be through the journeys of their lives. They reflect the individual’s path in life. The spiritual mandala can be chosen from which one you connect with the most. These bring you the sense of sight and the ability to seek light in the darkest times of your life. The mandala invokes your positivity and helps you reach for the best decisions in life. The spirit of the mandala acts as a key to unlock your inner wisdom. It brings the nurturing capabilities and complete dedication to all the things and beings you aim, and love respectively. The mandala believes that only when you truly forgive someone, only then your true healing begins.

SIGNIFICANCE OF HANGING A TIBETAN MANDALA THANGKA AT HOME

These paintings can do a cleansing of the atmosphere inside a place. If you are generally very disheartened, sad, and full of all mixed feelings for someone, it will work in helping you heal faster. These are great to extract out any kinds of emotional wounds that you may have.

Mandala thangka painting has the potential to bless the heart and mind of the practitioner. There are times when we feel stuck in constant negative patterns of failure, stress, and discomfort in our daily lives. If you are facing this repeatedly over and over again despite your efforts to make things better, then a lucky thanka painting is just for you. These paintings are so powerful to break the chain of the negative flow of energies around.

Any kind of fear that is constantly causing a lot of uneasiness in your life can be easily swept away with the practice of making a thangka painting or gazing at one. Gazing at a thangka painting opens up our minds and lets us address our worries, fears, and other concerns. It helps you solve your problems and bring clarity for what your next step should be.

Your mind will be refreshed and relaxed when you meditate along with visualizing the painting in your imagination.

In Buddhism, Buddha has stated that one’s master is the person himself. And one’s future entirely depends on them only. It’s mentioned in Buddhism that knowledge is very important to utilize human intelligence fully. And to utilize one must know the mental function system.

Mandala thangka paintings are pieces of artwork that are used to evoke healing, spiritual development, and meditation. They help us direct the flow of energies in our regular home space, workspace, religious gatherings, temples, and so on. Gazing at a mandala thangka can help you turn negativity and suffering into powerful manifestation forces. Different colors used in a mandala design represent different desired outcomes. Color in the spiritual realm supersedes physical color. That is why some mandalas can also be made colorless for you to fill with your imaginative colors and energies. These are great engaging tools for one to invest time in and be driven away by the magical healing powers of a mandala. They absorb the negative thoughts, emotions, and aura of a chaotic environment and transform them into constructive energies. It will bring you closer to divine manifestation.

These stunning design mandalas with beautiful craftsmanship harness powerful forces to begin your journey of self-discovery and enlightenment. The symbol of the mandala represents the core of the universe in its purest form, pulling powerful energies in your way. Having a mandala thangka painting develops balance, harmony, and joy in life. It relaxes and heals the body, mind, and spirit, stimulates creative thinking and problem solving, combats depression and anxiety, reduces stress. The benefit of a mandala thangka painting is uncountable and one must really invest into buying one to experience the undeniable magical powers it adds into your life.

In the Tibetan language, “Thang” means “unfolding” or “displaying” and thangka means silk, satin, or cloth painting scroll.

It is a religious form of art that depicts lord Buddha, stories from his life, and his teachings. Usually, thangkas use natural minerals like lapis, lazuli, and painting one is time-consuming because of its devotional nature.

Thangka is a mark of devotion in Buddhism and often serves as an object of worship.

They are common in monasteries, lama residences, family halls for worshiping Buddha, and homes of Tibetan Buddhists. You can hang thangkas in the office or home at your altar basically places that are respectful.

ORIGIN OF THANGKA

In ancient times, the Tibetan monks used to travel around a lot. So, it wasn’t convenient for them to bring along Buddha statues in their journey. That’s when Thangkas were originated. Thangkas can be easily carried around by rolling them up, so, they are portable. Thangkas have a real engagement with art as a religious practice.

Thangka paintings date back to the 11th century A.D. when Buddhists and Hindus in Asia began to make illustrations of the deities and natural scenes. These thangkas serve as important teaching tools depicting the life of Buddha, various influential lamas, other deities, and bodhisattvas.

The art of thangka is entirely based on the spirituality of Buddhism. The main source of Tibetan art that has flourished for centuries is the iconographical art of India, its strong influence is from China.

Traditionally, thangka paintings are not only valued for their aesthetic beauty but primarily for their use as aids in meditational practices.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THANGKA

Understanding Buddhist philosophy and symbolism is the key element in creating a Thangka. The artist has to have a visualization of the image in advance. It also depends on how much complexity and details you want.

It invokes the blessings of the Buddha and is meditative. The meditative component of thangka has to be upheld. The very reason we have tradition is to maintain them but it is important to be inventive at the same time to make this art more useful and help it continue.

Thangkas are usually placed upright in a rectangular shape while there are a few that deal with subjects of mandala that are square. Cotton and linen are common fabrics on which pictures are painted with mineral and organic pigments while silk is reserved for important subjects.

Buddha and his principles are about enlightenment. There are two ways for enlightenment; they are Samatha meditation and Vipassana. Samatha means mindfulness meditation and vipassana means insight meditation.

SIGNIFICANCE OF SAMATHA MEDITATION

So, Samatha is regarded as contemplative technology, it entails no belief system, no commitment to any ideology or institution or any group. It is simply a way of refining the mind in very specific ways that make a mind serviceable, flexible, supple, malleable, and useful for all types of activities.

The physical ramifications of the practice of Samatha:

As long as we are alive, our minds are embodied minds, they’re profoundly entangled with, interrelated with not only the brain but the entire nervous system, the entire body, and the body is related with the environment. And so if we’re going to be training the mind: cultivating, refining the mind, there must be correlated shifts in the body in terms of one’s nervous system. So as the mind becomes more supple, more light, more buoyant, and also filled with a greater sense of well-being, you will discover that the body is also shifting: stress starts to decrease, a sense of malleability, pliability, pliancy, suppleness, buoyancy arises with this practice.

WAY TO HEAVEN THANGKA PAINTING

There are various types of thangka paintings, the way to heaven Thangka painting depicts Samatha meditation.

Samatha is a Sanskrit term, it means quiescence, tranquility, serenity, calm, calm presence, or peaceful presence but that’s just the etymology. What Samatha is referring to us here in thangka and meditational practices are methods that are designed to develop your attention and metacognitive skill.

You can maintain continuity of attention and vividness of attention. So, in order to develop our attention skills through the methods of Samatha, you must be also honing your metacognitive or introspective skills. So, you can recognize when your mind is becoming distracted or dull.

You’ve got to learn how to stay focused in any type of contemplative practice. Buddhism is exceptionally rich in this regard.

Symbolism in Way to Heaven Thangka

1. The Path or the Way - The path to awaken or The Way to Nirvana
2. The Monkey - Mental Agitation or Emotional Disturbances
3. The Elephant - Consciousness
4. The Stick - Alertness to control the Elephant
5.  The Rabbit - Changing the mind or Disturbances 
6. The Rope with Monk - Mindfulness

SIGNIFICANCE OF WAY TO HEAVEN THANGKA

There are nine stages of meditation in Samatha meditation. The diagram in this Thangka shows a symbolic representation of the pathway to heaven.

The nine stages of mind training:

As the mind develops through the practice of meditation, it goes through a series of stages or levels. Buddhist practitioners over the centuries have identified nine stages along the path. In the Tibetan tradition, this process of mental development has been diagrammed symbolically as a series of stages in which a monk gradually tames his mind represented by an elephant with also a monkey and a rabbit. In Japanese tradition, similar series of depictions have been used, it is known as the Ox-herding.

Samatha represents the highest union that occurs in the seat of the consciousness. The first stage shows a picture of a monk who represents the meditator or the yogi and he is following after the elephant which represents the mind to be tamed and trained but the mind is being led around by the monkey which represents discursive emotions, ignorance, lusts and so on. In this first set out that’s said to be called searching for the mind, this is done in formal meditation following the techniques of tranquilization of the mind.

In this pictogram, we see fire: fire represents the publication process. Here, we see the meditator chasing further in the second panel. The mind which again is the element being led by the monkey, the monkey represents discursive thought patterns, habitual tendencies. The yogi is trying to unite with the power of yoga which represents the rope he is holding in his hand. And the white on the head of the monkey and the head of the elephant represents the process of purification that takes place when one applies tranquility and insight meditation.

In this third panel, we see that the mind has been finally caught. This is where the great discovery has taken place. The elephant and the monkey are white under all discursive grime. The mind is actually pristine. So, now the monk has slowed down the mind and the discursive emotions at this stage. The yogi experiences the realization of his bad practices and his erratic mind. This is where many meditation practitioners actually have a very difficult time experiencing the control of habitual energy, lusts, and so on.

In this fourth panel, the mind has actually been purified and the monkey is no longer controlling the mind. We have a new subtle aspect that has arrived in the picture and this is the rabbit. The rabbit represents restlessness and quickness of the mind to be unsatisfied with the state of meditation and so on. This erratic nature of mind often leads one into disregarding the practices again because of that restless nature. But this is soon conquered.

In the fifth stage, the meditator has finally taken the lead of the mind and also of the erratic nature of the undisciplined emotions and habits of the monkey and also the rabbit: the dis-satisfied aspect which seeks to stop practice starts developing true meditative absorption.

The mind is able to have absorption into tranquility and insight on its own. The yogi rarely needs to apply any strenuous hook or rope of yoga in order to achieve this. The monkey aspect becomes less interested in leading around the mind. So, it can be said that this is truly a stage where the yogi has achieved the beginnings of mental discipline in a true sense.

The seventh stage represents stillness because the mind and its cravings have finally stopped. The restless monkey mind has abandoned this picture as well as the rabbit. Here, the yogi is absorbed in the genuine Samadhi of tranquility though there is still a memory of mind state. This is where the continued application of stillness of mind is essential.

The meditator at will is leading the mind which has been subdued and eradicated of discursive thought emotions and the poisonous tendencies of the mind. Here, the meditator is living his practice on a day-to-day level at his will. These are known as meditative and post-meditative absorptive practices. Thereby, tranquility is achieved not only while during active meditation but in just ordinary activities as well. This is also seen as loosening up one’s vows to strenuous practice. This is often seen in older age practices of Yogi’s that have been practicing their whole lives. This is where one checks constantly to see if the mind is really truly trained or will revert back to its old untrained nature.

This stage is said to be where the true union of the yogi and his mind. They both can rest together without any fear of returning back to the undisciplined hellish mind state of suffering. Now, the yogi has achieved true Samadhi in his practice. He has been trained, disciplined and now he is experiencing the realization of his genuine effort and practice. This is the ninth stage.

In the tenth picture which isn’t actually one of the stages but this is post-completion. This is said to be the yogi riding his pure mind all the way to home or to Nirvana (heaven). 

What are Tingsha Bells?

Tingsha bells are the combination of two little cymbals attached by a string made of leather. Cymbals are circular chimes that have chants or energy symbols embedded around the outer surface. Tingsha bells are also called Tibetan chimes or Tibetan hand cymbals.

We often see them in sound healing institutes, yoga studios, temples, and monasteries. They are used in prayers and rituals by Tibetan Buddhists and Hindu priests.

They are used often for meditation to focusing the mind on the sound in sound healing and in-room clearance. They can also be used to add depth to musical soundscapes. Tingsha are long-lasting in their tones.

Origination

Tingsha bells have ancient roots and cultures to Tibetan sound healing practices. It has been the tool for promoting the physical, mental, and emotional health of the body. Its origin accounts for as long as sound healing began in history. 

They were used in Tibet by Buddhists in rituals and ceremonies and sound healing practices.

These practices highlight how sound manifests through physical vibrations and frequencies. Science is still catching up to understand how sound heals and the current research is very promising.

 Tingsha are Tibetan percussion instruments used for practicing meditation producing sacred ohm sounds. 

What are Tingsha made of?

Tingsha are hand-made by the casting method. They are widely crafted using seven different premium metals which produce a strong sound and vibrations of the right frequency.

They are metallic disks made of alloys. The seven metals used in the tibetan Tingsha are Gold, Silver, Mercury, Copper, Iron, Tin, and Lead.

The paired cymbals are twin to each other.

The finished products are tested individually by certified personnel and sound healing practitioners. So, the quality isn’t compromised at all.

Sound Healing phenomenon

Everything in the world is frequency and vibration and when tuned that frequency and vibrations create sound. Tingsha create a very high frequency sound ranging from above 2000 Hertz and above.

Sound healing is a natural, gentle, and non-invasive form of vibrational energy medicine. Sound therapy has been around since the beginning of human life. Natural sounds of waterfall, birds chirping, rainfall, wind-flow, and so on were the initial relaxing sounds. 

With the evolution of human intelligence and skills, different sound healing methods were applied to heal a body physically, spiritually, and mentally with various musical pieces of equipment.

Sounds, kinds of music, and chants were used to heal the sick in ancient times.

A skilled sound healing person can use his/her skills and techniques with ease to play instruments and help themselves and others to alleviate aches and pain, reduce stress, lose weight, sleep better, etc.

With science catching up with ancient civilizations sound techniques, sound therapy is now more popular than ever. The mind-blowing benefits of sound healing are achieved and proved in recent years.

Tingsha Bells for sound healing

Tingsha are an inexpensive and most intimidating option for sound healing. They come in different sizes which produce different levels of frequencies. Each different frequency is significant for different organs and chakras of our body. 

It’s a great way to use tingsha to begin a meditation process and to end one. The reason is the sound helps us open up for a meditation and then close one.

These sound waves address imbalances in the body long before they become measurable, that means it acts as a shield and early prevention to keep your body in active protected mode. It helps us to be holistic. These powerful yet subtle waves reset our physiology into a natural balance and keep our organs clean.

More and more people are using Tingsha bells nowadays to clear their space and aura. This is a very inexpensive way to clear your crystals.

The chimes are struck together to create a pure, bright bell sound that rings for a surprising length of time.

How to play Tingsha?

The tingsha bells are quite flexible in terms of use. They don’t require many keep in mind points for playing it. There are multiple ways of using a tingsha bell. 

You can also use it as a small meditation tool on a daily basis to escape the stress buildup in your work environment. It's about taking a moment and focusing on the sound with a free mind. 

• Traditional Ways

Maintain a relaxed sitting position and close your eyes. Now, hold the tingsha bell by the string just above the metallic disks and give a tap on the rim of one by the other. Bring your attention to the sound of these and just follow the sound till it ends. Focus on the other sounds around you now. What you will notice is now things have gone quieter both inside you and around you. 

This process takes just a few minutes and is a good way to kind of break the stressful periods.

One way is to strike the rims of both cymbals by holding them with both hands just above the metal part by the string.

 The second way is by hitting one cymbal by the other in an up and down motion holding by the string. These are the traditional ways of using Tingsha.

• Modern ways

The modern ways of playing Tingsha are evolving till date. With the increase in sound healing practices all around the world, much researches are being conducted to address the best frequency to use.

You can add an interesting dimension to the sound if you spin them around after you hit them. This helps to throw the sound around you. It’s a good way for room clearance and heals others. You can even do it by twirling them around after the hit.

In traditional ways, the disks aren’t in your control for their motion. You can play them in a controlled way by holding them tight side-ways and making a strike. This way you can play it very percussively. Multiple hits can be done to overlay sound waves and this opens up your ears and this feels great from inside.

Tingsha Bells can even be played by adding your own fun elements to get sounds of different pitches. Mallets/strikers can be used too. Padded mallets will give you lower notes and soft sounds. Wooden strike gives a purer sound. Metals strikes give sharper notes. 

The use of multiple tingsha is also a great way for purification and boosting concentration.

You can hang the tingsha on wooden sticks and play them simultaneously to produce multiple sound waves and frequencies.

Health benefits

Modern medicine deals with the physical body when it operates weakly. It treats physical chemistry disorders that are measurable, visible, and often when things have already got out of hand. Sadly some are irreversible health problems. With the practice of sound healing, your body stays in balance from a mental and spiritual point of view which strengthens your physical well-being as well.

In our ear, there is a vestibulocochlear nerve that connects to the vagus nerve, the major parasympathetic nerve in the body. The parasympathetical nervous system is responsible for reducing stress, lowering blood pressure, and relaxing muscles.

Listening to certain sounds can manipulate one’s brain waves and different states of alertness and consciousness.

Therapeutic sound waves can modify DNA, levitate objects and kill viruses as well. Tingsha bells produce long notes that result in very positive healing outcomes. We are relating to engaging and ultimately healing with and through the five elements of consciousness: Source/Spirit, Soul, Mind, Emotion, and Body. Tingsha bells as sound healing equipment don’t deal with just physical health challenges but with the whole biochemical process. All our molecules are engaged in an emotional response, the way we are physically has a big effect on our mind as well. The soul is the interface between our source energy, our spirit- the divine presence. Aspects of our soul can get fragmented, we can lose track. So, we need to pay attention to the soul dimension, to nurture the potential for a deep level of healing.

Notes and intensity

So the tingsha which are very loud and strong bring you into a very aware state. The tingsha with subtle pitches relax you and bring you into a more mellow state and more withdrawing.

If you have seven sets of tingsha for your seven chakras, you can align your chakras with them. Give a tap on all the seven chimes and let your brain waves absorb the sound and go with the flow these waves make.

Tingsha for chakra alignment

The chakras are seven energy centers that live along our spine. They run from the base of our spine to the crown of our heads. Due to various reasons such as habits of food, thought force habits or patterns of thought force, sleep or rest so on and so forth any of these chakras could be misaligned or can go out of balance. Because of this the chakra or the endocrine gland itself may be affected for you. Nothing to worry about, through the practice and often use of simplified sound healing of tingsha bells, systematically one by one each of the seven chakras will open for you. Restoration of healthy states of your endocrine glands is possible only if you practice listening and using sound healing techniques at initial levels of damage. 

Anybody can easily learn this meditation and quickly align and balance these chakras in your life.

Many meditations and sound healing practitioners around the world have been experimenting on the frequencies and mix of Tingha with other sound healing equipment. Tingshas can be played alone and collectively with other sound healing equipment.

Benefits of Tingsha

There’s strong evidence that music has mental and physical health benefits in improving mood and reducing stress. In fact, rhythm, in particular, can provide physical pain relief and has been shown to help people with pain from arthritis, menstrual pain, knee replacement pains, etc. 

• Heal auras

Just the slightest of taps allows them to continue the sound moving outward in a very forthright method. The high intensity of the notes moves to the head area and cleanses our aura and all negativity. It’s also interesting to note the effects of the body and aura are completely different than with the Tibetan singing bowls. So, it would be wise to say that these are compatible instruments like brother and sister. After you get one you may want the other for a change of pace.

• Get a meditative state of mind

The powerful waves of tingsha penetrate our webbed thoughts and dissolve the stress build upon our day-to-day busy live. Meditation synchronizes our body, soul, spirits, and thought force to the present moment. It helps maintain peace and elevate calmness to free the racing mind. 

These powerful waves emitted by tingsha help us envoke our alert and reactive tensed brain waves into a relaxed and deep state of regeneration.

• Toning

Traditional therapy often performed using the tingsha bells is called toning. Toning is used to relieve mental stress and reduce anxiety levels by allowing the free flow of positive energy and warding off negativity. They can promote the flow of healthy energies throughout the body and restore strong brain waves.

• Relieve stress, anger, and anxiety

The healing sounds are a way to connect vibration to your body and experience certain sounds within the specific organs related to each sound.

The kidneys are associated with fear and stress and it helps to transform these emotions into a sense of gentleness and willpower. Next, the liver is associated with anger and it transforms anger into kindness, and sense of control, and decisiveness. The sounds help you gain vitality and excitement in life.

A sense of balance and openness emerges and we feel more connected to our center. The three main energy centers in our body: head, chest, and lower abdomen are restored for overall wellbeing and hormonal balance.

• Relieve depression and grief

Few things are as irritating and loud as unexpected noises. Exposure to such noise activates the brain’s stress pathways and triggers the release of related hormones. To cut these noises, tingsha sound waves have the power to soothe us. 

The lungs are connected to grief, depression, and sadness and when we practice the sound from tingsha, it transforms these feelings into courage, confidence, and strength. You will feel the buzzing vibration in the area of your chest.

Its always highly recommended using Tingsha bells in such a case when you have very little knowledge and unbuild trust in sound healing. The easy and multipurpose tingsha bells give your life beautiful touch of healing sound waves. If you have a keen interest and want to get more information about Tingsha bells or sound healing as a whole, our team is always welcoming to help you.

What are Singing Bowls?

Singing bowls are a tool for meditation and relaxation. Singing Bowl are also widely known as Tibetan Singing Bowls or Himalayan Bowls.  Back in the day in Asia in Tibet, India, and most of Nepal, it was used for its holistic powers and healing, deep relaxation, stress reduction, reiki, etc. They help to provide essential aid to meditation and can be found on Buddhist altars, monasteries, and meditation houses throughout the world.

The natural and harmonious sound emitted by singing bowls is used to invoke a state of deep relaxation, which assists meditation. The sound healing practice of Tibetan Singing bowls with time is widely adopted by various music therapists and sound healers, yoga, and meditation practitioners all around the world.

Sound healing phenomenon

Sound healing represents a ritual of acoustic sound in the form of meditation meant to encourage self-healing. One of the most common forms of sound therapy is the one that includes the singing bowls. Singing Bowls as a sound healing process has been in practice for centuries now.

In today’s time, so many of us live a busy and stressful life. We are pretty much all the time wired up, our brain’s working subconsciously all the time. We dwell in our day-to-day physical activities and there’s a lot of stress and anxiety around us. We need to find ways to distress ourselves and sound healing is a really useful way to create and maintain the balance of our inner-self with the physical being.

Singing Bowls benefits

For Physical and Mental well-being:

The Singing Bowls has two main benefits, one with our physical body and another with our mental body. The vibrations generated by the singing bowls can affect the smallest unit of our lives, the cellular movements. So, it helps to detoxify the toxins accumulated in every single cell of the body. It helps in detoxification. The second benefit with the mental body, the mental body is related with the vibrations that are created in our brain and the singing bowl has such an effect that it can tune our brainwaves to a state where we feel peace and calmness from within. The stress is completely eradicated. The problems that come due to the stress and anxiety are completely removed by the practice of singing bowl.

The benefits are not just limited with the physical and mental body; it also works with your higher self, the psychic body.

For emotional balance:

Singing Bowls as sound healing can help you in releasing emotional pressures as well. A lot of us have some kind of traumatic experience in our lives and the emotions associated with that get stored in our bodies. It may be at a cellular level or maybe subconsciously and we aren’t aware of it too much but there’s a sense of some emotional pressure that somehow guides our behaviours. And if we can release that in a gentle way, then it helps to enable us to have a kind of a more sense of freedom and be more at ease and have a greater sense of wellness.

Meditational point of view

Meditation is a practice for synchronising our body and mind in the present moment. It is a journey through which we connect our internal peace with mind and soul. The vibration of the singing bowl is the same as the brain wave, and it is said that it helps to get into deep concentration. They produce sounds which evoke a deep state of relaxation that naturally assists our brain and body, entering into a meditative state.

Singing bowls have such powerful sound waves that can convert our alert and reactive beta state to a creative and relaxed alpha state. It can make our mind be free from any restrictions and webbed thoughts and undergo a restorative and healing process.

Health benefits

It has been proven that the vibrations from singing bowls have created great impacts on the way our body functions like blood pressure. Other benefits of this therapy include stress reduction. No human body can heal itself when objected to constant stress and work or under any pressure circumstances. Usage of these bowls to create sound waves through vibrations helps activate the parasympathetic nervous system which conserves energy at one time to regulate body functions for later.

There’s proven proof of the fact that patients who listened to frequency music produced from singing bowls helped them recover and become less anxious after their surgery. The reason behind such relief is the soothing of nerves by these beneficial sound waves which resulted improve in heart rate and blood pressure.

How it works?

Many techniques for healing the body, mind, and spirits were traditionally introduced with the use of sound waves. The singing bowl was invented to use the vibration of the sound of singing bowls so that we can de-stress ourselves, become joyful and enjoy the peacefulness inside us.

The sound that these singing bowls create is highly dependent on the size of the bowl and where the mallet is placed. Singing bowls are a great way to indulge yourself in a relaxing, meditative state that will help you calm down, heal and discover your inner self. The human body represents the accumulation of numerous vibrations; each organ of our body vibrates when exposed to a certain frequency. Since each singing bowl is unique and can create a particular frequency, our body vibrates and reacts differently to each of them. It helps our body to reach a meditative and regenerating state. We can easily change our normal beta state by using certain combinations of rhythm and frequencies.

If you are new to Singing Bowls you can click here to buy one of our Hand Made singing Bowls and try cleansing with that. With time, your connection and practice to use Singing Bowls will improve and you can try connecting with our other Singing Bowls to help deep and improved cleaning, concentration, and try creating balance in different chakras of your body.  

Attributes to the Chakras of our body

There’s a strong link between the healing and power of these sound frequency tones. These tones help balance and align the chakras.

The sounds these bowls make are apparently great for cleaning your spirits and balancing your chakras. It has an overall benefit for our health, concentration, body, and energy otherwise. It is one of the basic but efficient ways to maintain balance in our body and create a positive impact on our inner self. You can easily help your body heal and regenerate energy with the help of Singing Bowls at home by yourself. We have a variety in sizes and types of Singing Bowls, each of them has its own significance and impacts on different Chakras of your body.

We have major seven chakras in our body; they can be attuned by using the frequency of the concerned chakras from seven singing bowls. It will help you balance the energy in every single chakra and to have better psychic health at the same time. Spiritual well-being too can be achieved by practicing, listening, and playing the singing bowls.

The singing bowls are a major tool to come back to a meditative state, to cool down the mind, and come back to a state of thoughtlessness. The sounds of the singing bowl will help you to be quiet in your mind and learn out of listening. It will take you on a journey of higher self-realization. The only purpose of making the sound is to work with the space element inside your body. Once the space element is balanced, all other lower elements automatically come to balance.

What is a singing bowl made up of?

Generally these bowls are made of a metal alloy of seven elements but other materials can be used as well. The seven elements mostly used are Brass, Copper, Iron, Silver, Gold, and Tin. They are made traditionally by hammering heated alloy of seven elements till it gets a round bowl shape. In modern times, singing bowls are made using both traditional techniques as well as the use of machine-lathing to give the metal round bowl shape. It is made in various parts of Nepal.

Playing of Tibetan singing bowl is quite easy and you only require few minutes to learn to get hold of the technique.

How to play a singing bowl?

Holding the Singing Bowl correctly

The first thing we should know is how to hold the bowl. The bowl should not be held in your dominant hand i.e. it’s better to hold it on your left hand if you are right-handed and on your right hand if you are left-handed. Now, keep your hand fairly flat, palm facing the sky. The fingers should not be touching the outer round surface of the bowl. The walls of the bowl vibrate to create the sound, if we use fingers touching the wall of the bowl, simply the sound won’t play.

Use of Mallet, Stick or Striker

Make an appropriate choice of stick/striker you use to create the sound effect, the size shouldn’t be too small or too big for the bowl you use. Try using sticks of a certain mass, only then the bowl can play sound. So, the choice of sticks should be smaller for the small bowl and slightly bigger with the big bowl you want to play. Mallet/striker often comes with the singing bowl set so in such a case you don’t have to worry to choose the pair.

Running around the rim technique

With the right choices of stick with the bowl, keep your elbow and forearm fairly steady. Place the bowl on your palm and then make your stick run around the rim of the bowl at an angle of 45 degrees in a circular motion. You have to run the stick on the outside rim of the bowl. You have to move the stick with full arm motion rather than only wrist movement.

Tapping Technique

The other way to make a singing bowl sing is by tapping or striking the mallet on its edge. You can simply give a tap on the edge and feel the vibrations flow through your body.

The other ways to play singing bowls are by placing them on a mat or cushion. You can even place it on your body parts to let the vibrations get soaked in through that part. You can play singing bowls in different parts of your house to create positivity and purification. Singing bowls give different vibrations throughout the day because of the difference in your energy level at different times of the day.

The more you use a singing bowl, the more it gives clear sound waves. The singing bowl then vibrates the air around the bowl and the sound travels to our ears. We can change the note that the bowl makes by changing the frequency of these vibrations. Empty singing bowls make faster vibration sounds and give higher notes.

If we add some water, then the bowl has to vibrate the water and the note will automatically change. The vibrations get slower and give lower notes.

In the context of Nepal, these bowls are part of almost every Nepali household. They have been used as utensils in the kitchen and for various religious purposes in monasteries for centuries.

The Nepali music industry is slowly adapting and using these bowls to experiment with different levels of notes of its frequencies. The use of singing bowls in music form makes the song soothing to hear. It is one of the most valuable yet underestimated pieces of art that exists in our Nepali culture for a very long time. 

It’s more popular these days for its undeniable benefits to health and mental peace that people seek for an escape from daily chaos, stressful lives. Millions of people all around the world are keen to know the optimal use of singing bowls in their day-to-day life and their impacts on their careers. Singing bowls have been flexible in their use throughout the years. It has been used in different parts of the world for various purposes and yet discoveries of its uses are adding up.

 The selection of Thangka Painting is very Personal as we know that the customer will be using the thangka either for Prayer, Spiritual Practice, Meditation or just at home for everyday good energy. That is why we encourage people to understand the details and symbolism in thangka firstly and choose just the right piece that resonates to their heart.

Choosing a Thangka

Let us look in detail for some of the main points that might be very helpful for anyone while selecting a Thangka Painting. 

1. Thangka Symbolism

The reasons behind the choice of a Buddhist thangka are many and are mostly related to our state of mind. Each deity in thangka painting represent a unique quality which we meditate upon. While we meditate looking at the painting we try to be one with the deity in order to bring the good quality inside us. For example the chenrezig is the bodhisattva of Compassion. We meditate looking upon this thangka to be more compassionate towards all sentient beings for benefit of others. 

2. Purpose 

What is the reason you are purchasing the thangka for? Is it for your House? just for decoration? for prayers ? There can be a lot of reason you would want to purchase a thangka for. But no matter for any reason you having a thangka painting at your space creates a very pleasant and good energy.

3. Quality 

To be a master thangka artist it requires a lot of dedication and time. The thangka master painter are those who have been painting for at least 30 years. Having a good quality thangka is very important because a good quality thangka will always have the right proportion of the deity and all symbolism correctly painted according to the traditional texts and figures. These can be medium budget to high budget price too. As Thangka is a long term investment we always try to help our customers to get the thangka by offering them instalment payment plan. In this way we believe that we are helping our artisans and the customers too. We recommend you to check the following few things when it comes to quality:

 a. The Face and the Eye

 b.The Body, gestures and postures

 c. Alignment and Proportion

4. Border Framing

The thangka is a scroll painting so when you purchase thangka at Lucky Thanka it wont be coming with a frame. However, we recommend you to visit our Request Brocade page and choose brocade to email us regarding your choice of Brocade for the Thangka. Alternatively you could frame it by purchasing a wooden frame at your nearest shop for western look. We offer a very good price for adding a Traditional brocade for your thangka  from Lucky Thanka which cost from $50 and above according to the size.

Motivation to buy Thangka Painting

Our motivation can be a great move to help us buy a Tibetan Thangka Painting too. If the motivation is for the benefit of your body, mind and speech so that you can help others through your awakened mind then you could gain a lot of merit. Here are some of the other factors that may be the motivation for people to buy a Thangka Painting.

1. An appreciation towards artwork

Lot of people love art work and when they understand the work and details involved in the painting people can actually feel the energy. People buy it for recognising the artwork and value it with their heart.

2. A blessing to your personal or professional environment

Tibetan thangka can be consecrated and blessed by your lama, teacher, spiritual friend. Your daily routine while passing the thangka, will be to remind you of the qualities of the deity and / or make offerings to him (incense, flowers, saffron water, etc.).

3. A tool for devotion

A tibetan thangka can help you to better identify and remember the qualities of divinity and integrate them into your practice using the teachings of Buddhism. Lot of people who enjoy teachings of Buddhism would love to buy Thangka Paintings for their practice.

4. Practice Meditation

A thangka is also called as a road map for the enlightenment. Through the thangka and deity visualization, you can practice various exercises to find inner peace and an awakened mind.

Choosing Thangka according to its meaning

There are more than thousand of different thangka paintings. Since each thangka is hand painted every pcs is a unique form of artwork. Each Thangka representing different deity, story, bodhisattva, buddha have their own meaning. Mostly the thangka painting always teach us to be compassionate and loving towards all sentient. I have listed out some of the popular thangka painting with its short meaning so that it can help you to decide which thangka painting you should consider buying.

1. Wheel of Life 

This is one of my personal favourite thangka painting also known as bhavchakra. This thangka has made me realise a lot of things in my life which have helped me to see a lot of things differently from what i used to perceive the world. The Wheel of life thangka is best for anyone to be motivated in life to do good karma. Click here to read everything in detail about Wheel Of Life.

2. Tara

According to the legend Tara is an emanation of Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. This thangka is more famous amongst female. There are 21 tara among which Green Tara and White Tara are the famously known. Both of the tara help us to liberate and end the suffering. The mantra for tara is Om Tare Tu Tare Ture soha. 

3. Chenrezig/Avalokiteshvara

OM Ma Ni Pad Me Hum: Reciting this mantra and looking upon the Chenrezig thangka has an immense benefit. Chenrezig is a bodhisattva who has delayed its enlightenment for helping suffering in the world. Avalokiteshvara is the different form of Chenrezig in 1000 arms and 1000 eyes so that Chenrezig can offer help towards all sentient. Personally for me Chenrezig is the thangka which helped me to deeply understand true meaning of Love & Compassion deeply. 

4. Different Buddha

  a. Shakyamuni Buddha : The Awakened one.

  b. Medicine Buddha : Healing Buddha for our physical and mental health. 

  c. Maitreya Buddha : The Future Buddha to come.

 d. Amitabha Buddha : For Long Life and Longevity.

5. Zambala

Also known as Kubera in Hindu is a popular God for wealth and prosperity. Zambala is also believed to be an emanation of Avalokitesvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. People mostly buy it for office and work related but it can be kept in house as well for positive energy. 

6. Mandala

A mandala is a symbolic picture of the universe. The mandala's purpose is to help transform ordinary minds into enlightened ones and to assist with healing. A mandala is often a symbol that is used to help people focus in on meditation and achieve a sense of oneness with the universe. At Lucky Thanka we have categorised Mandala into 3 categories:

 a. Kalchakra Mandala 

This pattern was designed by Dalai Lama for peace and compassion. This Thangka is mostly selected by Family for their house to have positive and good luck in house. 

 b. Mantra Mandala

This Mandala specially consist of Mantra Syllable. There are a lot of variety in this collection and every pcs is beautiful. These mandala may have different designs but the essence might be same if the mantra is same. These are a perfect for gift to your loved ones on christmas, thanks giving day, fathers and mothers day or any special occasion. 

7. Manjushri

Manjushri, as meditation experience, is a powerful image representing ever-present wisdom plus the  sword of awareness to cut off all delusion. Recite this mantra : Om Ah Ra Pa Tsa Na Dhi and meditate upon Manjushri for greater wisdom.

The Consecration 

By receiving the wisdom being into the commitment being allowing them to become one being, the thangka gains vitality and is made a true living image. The customer can request us to get the thangka for consecration. We do this process by visiting the different stupa in Nepal and get the thangka blessed by lama and Rinpoche. For this a small donation is suggested for their time and service. They will happily accept any thing offered for this awakening process and we should contribute anything we can towards their help.

What is Bodhisattva?

A bodhisattva is an individual who has committed themselves to a Buddhist practice that leads to the enlightenment of all sentient beings and has committed themselves to this by taking vows to practice bodhicitta. Bodhicitta is a commitment to act for the benefit of all beings. It can be aspirational, actionable or ultimate (meaning an innate expression of our Buddha nature). In Tibetan Buddhism, there are various levels of bodhisattvas based on their achievements. Not all bodhisattvas achieve enlightenment in one lifetime but that is the goal. It is true that some of those who could move into a completely non-dualistic state, enlightenment, may hold back in order to help all sentient beings achieve this state.

This other, more esoteric definition of a Bodhisattva is one who, having achieved enlightenment, remains on the cycle of samsara to act as a teacher and promote enlightenment for all sentient beings. Because this Bodhisattva has achieved enlightenment then their expression in samsara is of infinite quality. In other words, they may go recognized as a reincarnated Lama or unrecognised, not leaving any instruction for their discovery and so may return as your neighbour or your neighbours dog. They are perceived in the manner most helpful to the perceiver.

What is Bodhichitta (SPIRIT OF ENLIGHTENMENT or The Awakening Mind) ?

The basic definition of bodhicitta is "the desire to realize enlightenment for the sake of others." It is also described as the state of mind of a bodhisattva, usually, an enlightened being who has vowed to remain in the world until all beings are enlightened

Thangka : Forever Gift For Your Forever Loving Person

Why Buy From Lucky Thanka?

Since the inception of Lucky Thanka, we have had a vision that one day we will venture into the remotest places of Nepal to find the most indigenous products made by the local communities.

It’s that time of the year again. Time to bring out the fairy lights, the tree, family gatherings and presents! Wether its the time of Christmas or New Years, Someone's Birthday or any Special Kind of Events, a thangka can be a very precious and meaningful gift as it spreads wisdom and compassion to people alongside it can also be a great decoration painting in your living room too. If you’re still stuck on what presents you should buy this year: here’s something out of the blue. For people who hold great value in your life, why not present something unique as Himalaya Thangka?

 

They say that handcrafted goodies make great gifts, and Thangka have crossed a milestone in that area. Made with hand, the colors combined, Thangka are different than the oil and acrylic painting. Thangka are art, in the form of storytelling. You can find so many elements in a single Thangka. All these elements, coming to give you that wholesome effect, screaming at you. And the more you look, the more elements you will find. You’d find hidden stories at corners of your home with Thangka. Not only do they add radiant vibes to your living room, they create this ambience where you can have a peace of mind. To say that Thangka are beautiful, is an understatement. Embrace the sophistication that thangka are this holiday and give it someone who means a lot to you. Let them have a piece of history and art and peace in their home.

Buddha has teach the 4 Noble Truth and Eight Fold Path for living in peace and harmony. I think that with proper practice of the Eight fold path in ones life will help to achieve peace of mind and have control over self emotions.

Within the fourth noble truth is found the guide to the end of suffering: the noble eightfold path. The eight parts of the path to liberation are grouped into three essential elements of Buddhist practice—moral conduct, mental discipline, and wisdom. The Buddha taught the eightfold path in virtually all his discourses, and his directions are as clear and practical to his followers today as they were when he first gave them.

THE NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH

1. Right understanding (Samma ditthi)
2. Right thought (Samma sankappa)
3. Right speech (Samma vaca) 
4. Right action (Samma kammanta)
5. Right livelihood (Samma ajiva) 
6. Right effort (Samma vayama)
7. Right mindfulness (Samma sati)
8. Right concentration (Samma samadhi)

These eight factors aim at promoting and perfecting the three essentials of Buddhist training and discipline: namely: (a) ethical conduct (sila), (b) mental discipline (samadhi) and (c) wisdom (panna). It will therefore be more helpful for a coherent and better understanding of the eight divisions of the path if we group them and explain them according to these three heads.

 

 

ETHICAL CONDUCT

Ethical conduct (sila) is built on the vast conception of universal love and compassion for all living beings, on which the Buddha’s teaching is based. It is regrettable that many scholars forget this great ideal of the Buddha’s teaching, and indulge in only dry philosophical and metaphysical divagations when they talk and write about Buddhism. The Buddha gave his teaching “for the good of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world.” 

According to Buddhism, for a man to be perfect there are two qualities that he should develop equally: compassion (karuna) on one side, and wisdom (panna) on the other. Here compassion represents love, charity, kindness, tolerance, and such noble qualities on the emotional side, or qualities of the heart, while wisdom would stand for the intellectual side or the qualities of the mind. If one develops only the emotional, neglecting the intellectual, one may become a good-hearted fool; while to develop only the intellectual side [and] neglecting the emotional may turn one into a hard-hearted intellect without feeling for others. Therefore, to be perfect one has to develop both equally. That is the aim of the Buddhist way of life: in it wisdom and compassion are inseparably linked together, as we shall see later.

Now, in ethical conduct (sila), based on love and compassion, are included three factors of the noble eightfold path: namely, right speech, right action, and right livelihood.

RIGHT SPEECH

Right speech means abstention (1) from telling lies, (2) from backbiting and slander and talk that may bring about hatred, enmity, disunity, and disharmony among individuals or groups of people, (3) from harsh, rude, impolite, malicious, and abusive language, and (4) from idle, useless, and foolish babble and gossip. When one abstains from these forms of wrong and harmful speech one naturally has to speak the truth, has to use words that are friendly and benevolent, pleasant and gentle, meaningful, and useful. One should not speak carelessly: speech should be at the right time and place. If one cannot say something useful, one should keep “noble silence.”

RIGHT ACTION

Right action aims at promoting moral, honourable, and peaceful conduct. It admonishes us that we should abstain from destroying life, from stealing, from dishonest dealings, from illegitimate sexual intercourse, and that we should also help others to lead a peaceful and honourable life in the right way.

RIGHT LIVELIHOOD

Right livelihood means that one should abstain from making one’s living through a profession that brings harm to others, such as trading in arms and lethal weapons, intoxicating drinks or poisons, killing animals, cheating, etc., and should live by a profession which is honourable, blameless, and innocent of harm to others. One can clearly see here that Buddhism is strongly opposed to any kind of war, when it lays down that trade in arms and lethal weapons is an evil and unjust means of livelihood.

These three factors (right speech, right action, and right livelihood) of the eightfold path constitute ethical conduct. It should be realised that the Buddhist ethical and moral conduct aims at promoting a happy and harmonious life both for the individual and for society. This moral conduct is considered as the indispensable foundation for all higher spiritual attainments. No spiritual development is possible without this moral basis.

MENTAL DISCIPLINE

Next comes mental discipline, in which are included three other factors of the eightfold path: namely, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. (Nos. 6, 7 and 8 in the list).

RIGHT EFFORT

Right effort is the energetic will (1) to prevent evil and unwholesome states of mind from arising, and (2) to get rid of such evil and unwholesome states that have already arisen within a man, and also (3) to produce, to cause to arise, good, and wholesome states of mind not yet arisen, and (4) to develop and bring to perfection the good and wholesome states of mind already present in a man.

RIGHT MINDFULNESS

Right mindfulness is to be diligently aware, mindful, and attentive with regard to (1) the activities of the body (kaya), (2) sensations or feelings (vedana), (3) the activities of the mind (citta) and (4) ideas, thoughts, conceptions, and things (dhamma).

The practice of concentration on breathing (anapanasati) is one of the well-known exercises, connected with the body, for mental development. There are several other ways of developing attentiveness in relation to the body as modes of meditation.

With regard to sensations and feelings, one should be clearly aware of all forms of feelings and sensations, pleasant, unpleasant and neutral, of how they appear and disappear within oneself. Concerning the activities of mind, one should be aware whether one’s mind is lustful or not, given to hatred or not, deluded or not, distracted or concentrated, etc. In this way one should be aware of all movements of mind, how they arise and disappear.

As regards ideas, thoughts, conceptions and things, one should know their nature, how they appear and disappear, how they are developed, how they are suppressed, destroyed, and so on.

These four forms of mental culture or meditation are treated in detail in the Satipatthana Sutta (Setting-up of Mindfulness).

RIGHT CONCENTRATION

The third and last factor of mental discipline is right concentration, leading to the four stages of Dhyana, generally called trance or recueillement. In the first stage of Dhyana, passionate desires and certain unwholesome thoughts like sensuous lust, ill-will, languor, worry, restlessness, and skeptical doubt are discarded, and feelings of joy and happiness are maintained, along with certain mental activities. Then, in the second stage, all intellectual activities are suppressed, tranquillity, and “one-pointedness” of mind developed, and the feelings of joy and happiness are still retained. In the third stage, the feeling of joy, which is an active sensation, also disappears, while the disposition of happiness still remains in addition to mindful equanimity. Finally, in the fourth stage of Dhyana, all sensations, even of happiness and unhappiness, of joy and sorrow, disappear, only pure equanimity and awareness remaining.

Thus the mind is trained and disciplined and developed through right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

WISDOM

The remaining two factors, namely right thought and right understanding, constitute wisdom in the noble eightfold path.

RIGHT THOUGHT

Right thought denotes the thoughts of selfless renunciation or detachment, thoughts of love and thoughts of non-violence, which are extended to all beings. It is very interesting and important to note here that thoughts of selfless detachment, love and non-violence are grouped on the side of wisdom. This clearly shows that true wisdom is endowed with these noble qualities, and that all thoughts of selfish desire, ill-will, hatred, and violence are the result of a lack of wisdom in all spheres of life whether individual, social, or political.

RIGHT UNDERSTANDING

Right understanding is the understanding of things as they are, and it is the four noble truths that explain things as they really are. Right understanding therefore is ultimately reduced to the understanding of the four noble truths. This understanding is the highest wisdom which sees the Ultimate Reality. According to Buddhism there are two sorts of understanding. What we generally call “understanding” is knowledge, an accumulated memory, an intellectual grasping of a subject according to certain given data. This is called “knowing accordingly” (anubodha). It is not very deep. Real deep understanding or “penetration” (pativedha) is seeing a thing in its true nature, without name and label. This penetration is possible only when the mind is free from all impurities and is fully developed through meditation.

From this brief account of the noble eightfold path, one may see that it is a way of life to be followed, practiced and developed by each individual. It is self-discipline in body, word, and mind, self-development, and self-purification. It has nothing to do with belief, prayer, worship, or ceremony. In that sense, it has nothing which may popularly be called “religious.” It is a Path leading to the realisation of Ultimate Reality, to complete freedom, happiness, and peace through moral, spiritual, and intellectual perfection.

Have you ever wondered what the Om symbol means? If you have an interest in spirituality, yoga, meditation or Eastern philosophies, it’s likely you’re already familiar with the concept of Om. A unique symbol with a deep spiritual meaning, let’s take a closer look at what exactly the Om symbol represents.

‘Om’, ‘Ohm’ or ‘Aum’ is a sacred sound that is known generally as the sound of the universe. Om is all encompassing, the essence of ultimate reality, and unifies everything in the universe. The vibrations that the Om sound creates are thought to energize the chakras throughout the body, especially the third eye and crown chakras, which help us connect with our Divine selves. 

As Om is regarded as the original sound of consciousness and creation, by chanting its sound, we are physically tuning in to the universe, and creating a spiritual connection to the existence of all things.

When pronounced correctly, Om has four syllables and is pronounced AUM, beginning in the solar plexus and sending vibrations up into the chest. The second syllable – U – moves the sound up into the throat as the sound moves forward along the upper palate. The third syllable – M – is a prolonged syllable and brings the vibration through the upper chakras as the teeth come together to touch gently. The final syllable is the deep silence of the Infinite as the overall vibration rises through the body and into the Universe.

There are many reasons why we chant “Om” at the beginning and ending of a yoga class: Om allows us to separate the time of our practice from the rest of our everyday lives, signifying that our practice time is a sacred time in which we care for ourselves while also practicing mindfulness. There are several other reasons why we Om, such as:

• When chanted Om vibrates at the frequency of 432 Hz – the same vibrational frequency found in all things throughout nature.
• Om is the basic sound of the universe; chanting it symbolically and physically tunes us into that sound and acknowledges our connection to everything in the world and the Universe.
• The rhythmic pronunciation and vibrations have a calming effect on the body and the nervous system similar to the effects of meditation. This lowers the blood pressure and increases the health of the heart.

Ultimately, Om connects us to our practice in a deeper way, creating a spiritual bond to our practice that is more than just the physical asanas.

 

The Cultural and Historical Roots of OM  

The first mention of Om was in the Upanishads, more specifically the Mandukya Upishad, which is a sacred Hindu text that focuses on the different theories of the Ohm meaning. In this text, it says that Om is imperishable and that it is all states of time, past, present, future, as well as transcending time itself.  

These texts are associated with Vedanta, one of the six Hindu philosophies, and the etymological aspects of the Ohm meaning are thoroughly discussed in the oldest Vedantic texts. They regard the meaning of the Om symbol as  inexhaustible, infinite language and knowledge, and the essence everything that exists and of life itself.

The syllable OM is an ancient Sanskrit letter first found in the Vedas, originating between 1500 – 1200 BC. A collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns, they were sung in praise of the Divine. They were not written out at first, but were vibrated into existence using human speech. Teachings on the metaphysics of OM were later elaborated on in the Upanishads, ancient Indian mystical texts. Later, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali categorized the 8 Limbs of Yoga. The sixth of these, Dharana, meaning concentration, described various methods of supporting the mind to achieve single-focused attention. Repeating a mantra, and especially this syllable OM, was an important aspect of accomplishing this sixth stage of yoga, or union with the Divine origins. Anne Dyer, sound yoga expert, in an interview with Rodney Yee, explains that Patanjali taught this: “Chant Om and you will attain your goal. If nothing else works, just chant Om.” 

THE USE OF OM TODAY 

Both the Om symbol and the Om chant are frequently used around the world today. The meaning of the Om symbol is very powerful and can hold significance because many people can relate to it. The symbol is one of peace, tranquillity and unity and reminds people to slow down and breathe. Thus, the symbol is very popular as a form of jewellery.

Yoga & Meditation - The chant is also widely repeated in Yoga and meditation practices. It is used because the sound, and the vibrations it makes, helps to calm the mind and the central nervous system. Stress can easily build up in our busy day to day lives, so sparing some time to chant and ease the mind can be very helpful and beneficial to our health. The Ohm meaning also signifies unity so when the sound is chanted in a class, it brings the group together.

Chanting is believed to help align the body, mind and the soul, which is why people feel more connected with themselves after meditating and practicing the chant. Between chants, there is a space of silence, which represents the fourth state of being: the absolute state or Turiya.  

There are many benefits to chanting Om every day. These include reducing stress levels, improving concentration, regulating your sleep cycle, letting go of negativity and feeling more energised and invigorated.

Similarly the Mantra 'Om' in thangka is widely used specially in the Mandala Thangka Painting. This has the similar meaning what we discussed above. Hence, thangka can be used as a tool for meditation through visualisation. Concentrating on the word OM and using the sound to practice it. Browse our OM Mandala Collection Thangka which can be used for Meditation and it also adds a beautiful decoration space to you Living Room, Office or your meditation altar space.

AUM – Creator, Preserver, Destroyer

OM is also sometimes written and pronounced AUM, a prolonging of the individual sounds contained in OM. Each of the three letters, and sounds, corresponds to a different aspect of the divine. The first sound, A, invokes Brahma, the creative aspect. The U sound invokes Vishnu, the preserver. And the M sound, Shiva, represents the destructive aspect of God. So the three sounds in this one syllable remind us of these three aspects of the Divine, without which nothing exists, everything is sustained, and all things dissolve back into the void. After one chants AUM and has taken this journey through the transformation of the cosmos, it is traditional to pause, and sit in silence, and experience that creative void, vibrating with that primordial vibration.

A thangka painting is a very special form of art. An original thangka is painted using the colouring of gemstones and is finished with gold. It’s believed that the minerals used to create the painting also give them life. Each painting takes months to complete and the eyes are painted on last since they are believed to be the way into the soul. Once the gods receive their eyes, the painting goes from being an object to being alive and therefore is treated with the utmost respect.

A monastery is a community of men or women (monks or nuns), who have chosen to withdraw from society, forming a new community devoted to religious practice. The word monk comes from the Greek word monos, which means alone. 

Here in this article I have listed out some of the Famous Buddhist Monastery in Australia:-

1) Great Stupa Of Compassion:- 

 

 

The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, being built near Bendigo Australia, is 50 metres square at its base and nearly 50 metres high. This makes it the largest stupa in the Western World. 

The Great Stupa is the same design and size as the  Stupa (Kumbum) in Tibet. The Gyantse Stupa is one of the treasures of the Buddhist world. Professor David L. Snellgrove has said: “The Stupa of Gyantse may well be accounted the chief wonder of the Tibetan Buddhist world in that it records iconographically in its interior practically the whole pantheon of Indo-Tibetan religion up to the time of its construction during the first half of the 15th century.”

Construction of The Great Stupa is estimated to cost around $20 million – not including the cost of artwork. These funds are being raised through donations on an international basis. The Victorian Government has also contributed $2.5 million in regional development funds. Construction is taking place on a progressive basis as funds become available.

 

2) Nan Tien Temple: 

Visit or stay at Nan Tien Temple, the largest Buddhist Temple in the Southern Hemisphere. Nan Tien is very different from most tourist attractions because there is so much on offer. The visual delights of grandeur architecture, art and culture including unique exhibitions and festivals, Buddhist festivals, vegetarian culinary delights, educational and healthy lifestyle classes and retreats, accommodation, top class conference and auditorium facilities. There is also the spiritual and religious experience that is unforgettable, and even life changing for some.

Since the opening of the temple in October 1995, it has become a new venue for local and international tourists and also acts as an important cultural centre bridging different cultures.

Fo Guang Buddhism is rooted in the Mahayana tradition which emphasises that Buddhahood is within everyone's potential reach. Fo Guang followers strive to bring Buddhism into daily life and aptly term their faith "Humanistic Buddhism."

3) Fo Guang Shan Chung Tian Temple: 

Chung Tian Temple, which means “Middle Heaven”, was constructed in 1992 using traditional Chinese Buddhist architecture – it is situated between Brisbane and Logan, Queensland. Surrounded by nature, the Temple provides a peaceful and culturally beautiful venue for the community to celebrate its multicultural diversity and multi-faith harmony through Humanistic Buddhism.

Chung Tian Temple is located at 1034 Underwood Road, Priestdale, Qld 4127. It is a short walk from bus stops. To plan your journey, visit www.translink.com.au or call TransLink on 13 12 30.

 4) Grand Master Lu - Living Buddha Lian Sheng : 

Living Buddha Lian-Sheng Sheng-yen Lu is a prominent religious figure, well known and respected throughout SouthEast Asia. As of 2001, over 4 million people have taken refuge in his True Buddha School. With over 300 temples worldwide, the True Buddha School is recognized as one of the major influence in Buddhism today.

Living Buddha Lian-Sheng Sheng-Yen Lu was born in 1945 in Taiwan. In 1982, he settled in the United States to promote and preach Buddhist philosophies to the West. He has since built a Grand Buddhist temple, the Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple, in Redmond Washington and a large retreat center in the Cascade Mountain. Currently Living Buddha Lian-Sheng is residing in Tahiti.

Originally a Christian, Living Buddha Lian-Sheng was twenty-six years old when a profound mystical experience led him to the study of Taoism, Sutrayana, and Tantric Buddhism. After intense training and practice over the period of fourteen years, he became a Master of exceptional accomplishment in these disciplines and achieved Perfect Enlightenment.

 

 

Reference:

 1) Buddhist Monasteries (article) | Khan Academy

2) Great Stupa of Compassion

3) Nan Tien Temple

4) Fo Guang Shan Chung Tian Temple

5) Grand Master Lu - Living Buddha Lian Sheng

 

 

Brainwave entrainment is a method to stimulate the brain into entering a specific state by using a pulsing sound, light or electromagnetic field. The pulses elicit the brain’s frequency. Brainwave entrainment, also referred to as brainwave synchronisation and neural entrainment, refers to the capacity of the brain to naturally synchronize its brainwave frequencies.

How does it work?

Sound helps us to facilitate shifts in our brainwaves state by using entrainment. Entrainment synchronizes our fluctuating brainwaves by providing a stable frequency which the brainwave can attune to. By using rhythm and frequency, we can entrain our brainwaves and it becomes possible to down- shift our normal beta state (normal waking consciousness) to alpha (relaxed consciousness), and even reach theta (meditative state) and delta (sleep; where internal healing can occur). This same concept is utilized in meditation by regulating the breath, but with sound it’s the frequency that is the agent which influences the shift.

What are brainwaves?

 Brain is made up of billions of brain cells called neurons, which use electricity to communicate with each other. The combination of millions of neurons sending signals at once produces a significant amount of electrical activity in the brain, which can be detected using sensitive medical equipment such as an electroencephalogram (EEG).

This electrical activity of the brain is commonly known as a Brainwave pattern, because of its cyclic, ‘wave-like’ nature.

You can train your brain to change your brainwaves by learning meditation and relaxation techniques. However, it can take weeks, and for some people even years to experience the proven and powerful benefits of brainwave entrainment through meditation alone.

There is also a shortcut to getting the best from your brainwaves by using an audio tone known as binaural beats.

Binaural beats effectively entrain and synchronize your brainwaves to enhance any specific brainwave pattern. This allows you to rapidly enter states of relaxation, focus, high-energy, or meditation whenever you want.

What are the benefits of modifying our brainwaves?

In general, we are accustomed to being in the beta brain rhythm. We are in a Beta brainwave pattern when we are consciously alert. It is the default and dominant brainwave for most of us most of the time. We are in Beta when we feel agitated, tense, hurried, pressured, afraid and stressed. The frequencies range from 13 to 60 pulses per second in the Hertz scale.

When we alter our brain rhythm to alpha, we are slowing our brainwaves down. The benefit of this is that we put ourselves in the ideal brain state for optimal performance and super learning.

We become better at analyzing complex situations, learning new information, memorizing data, and performing elaborate tasks,

Some forms of meditation, relaxation exercises, and activities that enable a sense of calm, also naturally create this alpha state.

According to neuroscientists, the effect of decreasing the brain rhythm from beta to alpha via deep relaxation techniques and the use of binaural beats brain entrainment, changes the levels of certain beneficial brain chemicals.

Studies show that alpha states significantly increase beta-endorphin, nor epinephrine and dopamine. These naturally occurring chemicals are linked to feelings of expanded mental clarity and generate an internal environment for new learning and accessing previously learned information. This positive effect lasts for hours and even days.

Entraining your brainwaves can be a highly effective method for personal growth. Different brainwave states will produce different results for you. 

The Five Categories of Brainwaves

Beta brain waves

(14 to 30 Hz alert, focused)

Beta is the most common brain wave pattern: Beta brain waves are produced when we are wide awake, alert, and active and engaged in mental activity, usually involving more the rational, reality-oriented left hemisphere of our brain. When beta wave activity becomes very intense, our brain hemispheres become less synchronized. Beta state is required to function properly in your everyday life.

Features and Benefits of a Beta State

• This is the brainwave for the fight-flight response
• Increased concentration and alertness
• Improved logic, reasoning and critical thinking
• Feelings of anxiety, stress, scatty unfocused thought

NOTE: Excessive Beta brainwaves are also a feature of insomnia

Alpha brainwaves

(8 to 14 Hz relaxed yet aware)

These are lower frequency waves: The state is generated when our thoughts are really not concentrated and our minds wander freely, or we are in a relaxed state such as meditating or daydreaming. We also experience Alpha Brainwaves when we are gently busy with routine tasks like pottering in the garden, taking a shower, putting on makeup, doing light housework. Alpha is considered to be the bridge between the conscious mind and the subconscious mind.

Features and Benefits of an Alpha State

• Our brain hemispheres become naturally synchronized or in-phase with each other.
• Relaxed detached (absent-minded) awareness and daydreaming mind.
• Enables us to remember our dreams and meditative states.
• Link between conscious and subconscious mind, gateway to meditation.
• Receptive to casual and auto – suggestions (hypnosis state)
• Increased vividness benefits creative visualization and triggers imagination
• Increased  memory retention, concentration & focus for super learning

Health benefits include:

• Reduced anxiety
• Alleviates stress and depression
• Reduces chronic pain
• Reduction of high blood pressure
• Increases athletic performance
• Increased  cerebral blood flow
• Increased motivation, energy, and happiness 

Theta brainwaves

(4 to 7.9 Hz deep relaxation,mediatative, twilight state)

Theta brainwave states have been used in meditation for centuries: It is common for people to feel as if they are in a trance, where the mind feels as though it may have gone to sleep although it is conscious of what is happening around it. Theta induces a capacity for prolonged daydreaming, where a loss of time may be experienced.

Theta waves are also conducive to visualisation and creativity and the mind in this very relaxed state is highly receptive to direct suggestion under hypnosis. As with Alpha, in Theta our brain hemispheres are synchronised and we experience whole brain functioning.

Features and benefits of Theta brainwaves

• Increased sense of inner peace and emotional stability
• Deep relaxation
• Improved memory
• Heightened intuition and inspiration
• Calms the chatter of your mind
• Increased psychic abilities and sense of spiritual connection

Health benefits of Theta brainwaves

• Speed healing, improved physical healing
• Sleep onset and better more restful sleep
• Release beneficial hormones related to health and longevity
• Reduce mental fatigue
• Reduction of anxiety and stress

NOTE: Research has proven thirty minutes a day of Theta meditation can dramatically improve a person’s overall health and well-being. Theta meditation has also been known to result in a reduced need for sleep.

Delta brainwaves

(0.1 to 3.5 Hz deep sleep)

This is the slowest band of waves that our brains produce and they occur when we are in deep, dreamless sleep. These waves are very beneficial for the body which restores and heals itself when in this state. The delta state releases anti-aging hormones, including melatonin and DHEA. Human growth hormone (HGH) is another anti-aging hormone that is increased when delta brainwaves are occurring inside the brain, due to the stimulation of the pituitary gland. HGH maintains the skin, bone density, cartilage, and the joints in your body as well as speeds up the healing process of joint and cartilage injuries. HGH can also help heal physical pain.

In healthy amounts, delta brainwaves can also cause a person to have an advanced state of empathy, understanding, and compassion for others.

Delta is the place of deepest relaxation, deepest healing, deepest spiritual connection and deepest connection with the subconscious mind. It is considered to be the gateway to the unconscious mind and the collective unconscious, bringing access to the universal psyche or mind. 

Gamma brainwaves

(40Hz or higher: Zen mind mastery)

Gamma brainwave states are the most rapid in frequency. Gamma has long been considered the brainwave that is able to link and process information from all parts of the brain. It is the frequency that brings with it the ability to process large amounts of information in relatively small amounts of time. Think of generating more Gamma activity as getting a processor upgrade for your brain.

Unfortunately, Gamma brainwaves have received the least attention and research, although more attention is currently being paid to them.

Having high amounts of Gamma Brainwave activity has been associated with:

• Having high levels of intelligence
• Being compassionate
• Having high amounts of self-control
• Having greater than average feelings of natural happiness.
• Increased awareness through your five senses