Sound bowls, don’t get involved!

1. Introduction

It should go without saying that Christians obey God’s Word and expect their salvation from a relationship with Jesus Christ alone and allow to themselves to be led by the Spirit.

Unfortunately, we see some Christians being engaged with yoga and even with a Buddha image next to their yoga mat doing transcendent meditation or put faith in the alleged powers of a crystal, stones or certain etheric oil. It also appears that someone who is a member of an evangelical church and who is involved with coaching outside the church settings, is using sound bowls and even promotes it on his website. This has been the impetus for the writing of this article about sound bowls.

2. What are sound bowls?

A sound bowl is a kind of bowl of metal (e.g. a mixture of various metals, among others ‘gold, silver, copper, mercury, lead, iron and tin’) (9,14) or ceramic material. Or it consists of: e.g. silica sand from pure quartz crystal (16). They are used traditionally in Tibetan and Buddhist ceremonies. They are also called ‘singing bowls’ because of the characteristic sound (11).

Both the composition of the metals as well as the thickness, the extent and the color may be different. As many as sound bowls as many the sounds (14). Every sound bowl has, depending on its extent and composition, its own character, tone and timbre (16). The simplest way to get a sound and vibration out of a bowl is by tapping it with a mallet. The vibration of the sound bowl moves quickly around and through the body, where it resonates in every cell (9), it is believed. Obtaining sound, can also be achieved by brushing the outer edge of a sound bowl, creating a sustaining tone, which they call the ‘singing’ of a sound bowl (15).

3. What is the source?

Many hundreds of years ago, Buddhist monks discovered in the Himalaya Mountains that vibrations have a profound effect on the body and soul, and therefore, sound bowls were used as a part of spiritual and healing practices in religious ceremonies and meditative rituals. Within the traditional Himalayan culture, sound bowls were often used by Shamans who believed in the power of sound and vibrations for the harmonization of physical, mental and spiritual unbalances (2).

The higher sounds would pave the way through the psych to a transformed awareness and self-realization (20). Later, sound bowl therapy gained a place in Western wellness centers and meditation groups.

4. What is its effect and the intention?

The sound bowls are mostly used in the new age movement and in meditation because of the calming sounds (16) and “are considered to be aids for relaxation and healing. Due to the sound and the vibrations they produce, sound bowls can help in reducing stress and anxiety, in the improvement of concentration and the boosting of the sense of well-being” (11).

In the thought life of new age, man is seen as only a bundle of ‘energy’ that is continuously influenced by ‘other energies’, such as light, color and sound (20).

According to old traditions, sound bowl therapy has a profound effect on the so-called energetic system because it dissolves blockages and it balances the so-called energy centers as well (2).

Different bowls are placed on the front and back side of the body (sometimes also directly on the body or around somebody, for example at the height of the so-called chakras – which have never been proven anatomically) whereby the feet, hands and head are also involved, by which all body cells are being ‘massaged’ by the vibrations in a subtle way. This leads the person into the deep relaxation and in another condition of (aware)ness, according to a woman who also provides reiki treatments “for the receptiveness, benefiting and transitioning of universal life energy” (17).

A sound bowl produces a diversity of harmonic overtones. “These tones (that are also vibrations) trigger alpha waves in the brain that are immediately relaxing and calming your brain and nervous system. Our normally working brain condition produces beta waves. In the alpha waves, the thinking is being slowed down and if you focus long enough on the sound, you can easily enter into a meditative state” (15).

According to Jeanne Ruland (12), in a sound bowl a primal sound emerges, the holy ‘Ohm’, which is the all-encompassing and in all vibrating tone through which a trance state is induced and through which the energy of the energy centers (chakras) are orientated and balanced. Also, one could call in the so-called cooperative spirits. (12). People think that the vibrations of sound bowls are massaging the cells in the body, and thus provides an inner massage. In this way possible blockages that make someone restless or give physical problems, are being released (15).

Someone who has had a sound bowl session, says: ‘I quickly sank into a state of relaxation. It was as if the sounds of the instruments (sound bowls and large gongs) lead me to a magical dream land” (2). Another person says: “You’re taken up into another world, into another state of awareness” (12). Doesn’t that look like a kind of hypnosis?

5. What does a treatment include, and what does one expect, based on what ‘declarations’?

Bianca Witteveen, who also gives Reiki treatments, states on her website: “The sound bowl massage is focused on the seven head chakras”, and “for each chakra a sound bowl is placed, which by its vibration will revive the energy of the corresponding chakra. Chakras are energy wheels that each have its own quality which is associated with a certain area in the body. In order to keep your life in balance, it is essential that the energy flows well through your body. By balance in these chakras, the energy of life can freely flow again. With this energy, the self-restoring ability of the body is stimulated, which has also a physical, emotional, mental, spiritual and energetic effect as well” (17).

“By the vibration of sound, the whole body is put into motion on deeper layers. All substance vibrates at its own unique frequency, including the body cells, the heart, brains and all organs. The vibrations bring a deep relaxation and give room to come to yourself. Sound is one of the oldest ways to come into contact with your deeper self and leads to healing and wholesomeness. The vibrations of the bowls massage as it were your inner organs, which is sound massage in the deeper layers, e.g. the spiritual layer”, according to Bianca Witteveen. They also call it the undergoing of a so-called sound bath (17).

Another website (6) describes the effects of vibrations through sound bowls as follows: “The vibrations that flow through your body are similar to a ripple in the water when you throw a pebble into a mirror-smooth lake. The circles of the pebble spread over the entire water surface.

When you’re sick or when you have a blockage in your body, for example by stress, it means that your frequency is disrupted.

This is also what happens with the sound bowl. Every healthy body has its own vibration and its own frequency. When you’re sick or when you have a blockage in your body, for example by stress, it means that your frequency is disrupted. In case you resolve it with a sound bowl, your body will first start to tremble together with the vibration of the sound bowl. Then your body and the sound bowl will vibrate at the same level, which brings you back to your own frequency”. According to Willam de Prouw, founder of Sound Meditation, his seven sound bowls (crystal bowls) resonate with the seven head chakras in the body. In his fairy-tale furnished studio, there are big Buddha images next to tropical plants (2).

On the website ‘Linnerkracht’ (5) of a woman that gives yoga and reiki courses, it reads: “A sound bowl is a tool that affects all cells and muscle layers of our body. Through the vibration of the sound bowl the body starts to tremble with the bowl, in order to get into rhythm with the bowl.The trembling and vibration release a possible blockage which causes it to decrease”.

It is noteworthy that only on her website it is stated that a sound bowl experience is not suitable for people who follow:

• a psychological or psychiatric treatment trajectory, and
• in cases of:
• heart disorders such as arrhythmia or a pacemaker;
• in pregnancy;
• varicose veins;
• epilepsy;
• shortly after surgery;
• at extremely high blood pressure;
• cancer treatment (5)

People with an allergy for certain kinds of metal, should not put the bowls on top of their body, for sound bowls are usually made of metal (10).

6. Connection with Taoist views

Also in Taoism (an ancient Chinese mystical, philosophical and religious movement), working with the effects of sounds and believing in its effects are well-known. The ancient Tao teachers and their Shamanist predecessors have observed in a clairvoyant manner a link between specific emotions and organs. “The five so-called healing sounds (lung, kidney, liver, heart, spleen sound) that are used as a significant tool to balance the emotions and to start the de-traumatization, set the respective organ into vibration, which causes it to detoxify. These can be residues, but usually they are energetic ballasts. A person who has often been anxious and who has not dealt properly with such an emotion, accumulates fear in the kidneys. Emotions and their residues dwell in the organs partly. These organs may therefore be stressed. With the help of the sound, the organ can release this energy and then start to fill itself with pure balanced energy.  The organ relaxes and in this way space is created. The healing sounds are an ideal technique that approaches psyche and body in an integral way. The process is both physical and mental as well” (4).

The basic thought is that each organ (to be divided in 5 yin and 5 yang organs) is connected with a certain sound, color and quality of energy.

Another website that is also based on Taoist concepts, but now speaks about six healing sounds, states as follows: “It is a very effective way to fight against stress, energy blockages, physical and emotional defilement as well. The basic thought is that each organ (to be divided in 5 yin and 5 yang organs) is connected with a certain sound, color and quality of energy. It is believed that emotions which have not been dealt with properly, as it were, attach themselves to the membranes of the organs. Chinese medicine is based on the same principles” (3). The sounds (lung, kidney, liver, heart, spleen sound) cause that the emotions, which according to the Taoists are connected to the organs, come into balance, making you calm and peaceful (only the so-called three-fold warming sound is not connected with an organ. This sound is used as a closing, centering and calming sound). The visualization finally, is aimed at the supporting and the strengthening of the element to which the organ is connected (3). In anticipation of par. 9, my question is: Can you believe all this?

The fact that the so-called healing effect is assumed, also apparently by only reciting or ‘chanting’ mantras, thus the sound of the voice (!), shows the following when you read on a website called Ohm Teken, Wat Betekent dit Symbool bij Yoga? “It is said that Tibetan sound bowls produce ‘the sound of the nothing’, or ‘Om’ (Ohm or Aum). Buddhists and Hindus consider this sound to be the original sound of creation.  ‘Ohm’ is the sound of the mantra that resonates in your body if you recite it. The vibrations are palpable from your basis (chakra) to the top of your head (chakra)” (15). The sound therapy is based on the Shamanist (Shaman = witch doctor) view that tones and sounds have a healing effect. Esoteric systems know a universe that is consisted of sounds. Hinduism even knows a ‘primal creation’ by a holy sound, (which is called Shabda or the primal sound a-uu-mmmm) (20).

“The sound Ohm consists of four sounds A, U, M and silence. When you chant Aum, you feel as it were that the vibration goes from your basis to your crown.

• You vibrate the A or Aaa sound from your belly (hara). This sound represents the creative aspect of the universe, the beginning or the origin of something.
• The second sound is U or Ooo, which is about the organizing energy of the universe, meaning how something gets a place. This sound comes from your solar plexus.
• You make the third sound M or Mmm by putting your lips together, and this sound vibrates in your head, your third eye (ajna) and your crown (sahasrara). M stands for transformations, meaning that everything always changes. The last sound of Om is silence (anagata) and that is the aspect of pure awareness or self- realization” (15).

7. Which people work with sound bowls?

From the different website that we have gone through (see the list of literature), it appears that those who offer sound bowls sessions as a therapy for relaxation and restoration or healing, are also engaged in matters such as Yoga, NLP, Reiki, Channeling, Hypnosis, contact with guiding spirits (read: demons), clairvoyance or clairsentience, and that their (new age) thinking is completely permeated with Buddhist, Hinduist and Taoist thinking as it is apparent in the use of energetic terms such as chakras, meridians, energy balance, etc.

8. What happens at paranormal fairs?

At paranormal fairs we see different dubious matters such as forms of divination (e.g. iris-copy, hypnosis, palm reading, astrology, tarot cards, commuting, clairvoyance), meditation techniques (TM, yoga, Silva mind control), alternative remedies, especially focused on the spirit/mind (such as aura healing, reincarnation therapy, Bach flower therapy, spiritual aroma therapy, neurolinguistic programming, neuro-emotional integration, psycho-synthesis, rebirthing), alternative remedies mainly focused on the body (such as acupuncture, magnetism, homeopathy, reiki therapy, chakra healing, touch for health) (13,18,19). And furthermore, at these fairs you will see also the focus on ‘healing’ effects of etheric oils, gemstones, minerals, and also … sound bowls! Surely that should make you think. In the following paragraph we will get further into it.

9. What should we as Christians think of the possible and alleged influences of sound bowls?

Interestingly, there is nothing to be found on the Internet and in Christian books about the possible danger of sound bowls. Only the shocking article Elektrosound farmaceutica (20) by Gerard Feller mentions something about it indirectly. Apparently, it is not so easy to pinpoint the engagement with sound bowls as good or wrong. For where does the boundary lie? After all, not everything is wrong or dangerous, right?

With sound bowls, two aspects can be distinguished, the audible sound (as in music) and the vibration, which is invisible but can be felt at a certain power.

As for the sound, one can enjoy music, for example, and it can give joy and it can be soothing. Think of David who played on the harp for king Saul. But one can also fall into trance through music, or e.g. become aggressive. It is also important to what extent a person is engaged in something. Eating and drinking is good and necessary for the body, but too much eating and drinking is unhealthy and can cause problems, certainly regarding alcohol, e.g. in traffic. People need to know boundaries and not to cross them. The singing sound of certain sound bowls can cause people to enter into a lowered state of consciousness where one can feel very relaxed and even languid. And as for the effect of vibrations, is that really so wrong? It depends. Vibrations are certainly observable (visible) in terms to their effects, e.g. in an earthquake. But also the passing of an airplane and the exploding of a bomb can not only be heard but can also be felt. The fact that certain vibrations can be used beneficially, we see with e.g. physiotherapy where a physiotherapist uses vibrations and massages as a therapy for certain sports injuries of the body.

But what about the vibrations by the striking of a sound bowl where the vibrations are usually so minimal that it can have no physical effect on the body, even though it consists for 70% of water (9). But that does not compare to the water in a pond or a ditch. In addition, there is the big lie and deception that the minimal vibration would have an impact on the 7 chakras and energy channels (which has not scientifically nor anatomically been proven) and that it would bring them into balance. When people open themselves up to those alleged influence of such ‘vibration’, then they surrender themselves to suggestion.

Those bowls are actually linked to an occult and esoteric new age thinking, which is not biblical (the origin is the occult Taoism and the Tibetan Buddhism).

Those who have read the paragraphs 4 to 6, may have thought: ‘You must be very gullible (not to say: naïve) to accept this all as truth’. The use of sound bowls and the alleged effects of (minimal) vibrations through those bowls is actually linked to an occult and esoteric new age thinking, which is not biblical (the origin is the occult Taoism and the Tibetan Buddhism) nor is it scientifically verifiable, but which promises people who are in need (stress etc.) all kinds of things, such as restfulness, relaxation and a wonderful feeling. It is a means of Satan to draw people away from God or to keep them away from God, and then lead them into the darkness. In fact it is not an opening of yourself to the so-called ‘energy’ but to the fallen spiritual world, thus to demons! (20). The actual fact is this: the devil basically parasitizes on certain physical elements in God’s creation, in order to add his lying twist to them. It already began in paradise: “Did God really say ….?” Somebody has said: “Being engaged in sound bowls and believing in its effect can be rather critical and risky for the naïve (non-occultists), but before you realize it, you enter the domain of the snake”, and people do not realize that they are being sucked deeper and deeper into a swamp. Whoever has left God’s Word or doesn’t know God’s Word, is receptive for every thinkable and unthinkable lie, charlatanism and deception with wonderful promises (cf. Eve in paradise). It is the gateway to a mysterious, dark world where Satan causes you to be enticed.

The sound bowls in themselves are of course not occult (unless they have been reserved), but they are used as a stepping stone or medium to something else, just as e.g. the iris and the hand-palm lines are certain data/media for fortune tellers, and they are also a distractive manoeuver to make people think that it is not about fortune telling and deception. It affects the mind, and it quenches the Holy Spirit, so that people are no longer focused on Jesus Christ. People lose the spiritual armor (Eph. 6) or the spiritual armor is being affected or cut off, and in that way they become a prey for the enemy.

Being engaged in Sound Bowls is not from the Spirit, the Spirit of Truth. Due to the philosophy behind the sound bowls (chakras, etc.) a person is led away from biblical thinking, and in that way he/she gets enticed in the deception of the evil one. The person gets deeper and deeper into the vacuum of the unseen, the mysterious, and the sober thinking is shut off. It seems so wonderful and innocent, but being engaged in sound bowls has to do with another spirit than the Holy Spirit, and it may lead to e.g.: bewitchment (hypnotization), void, wrong meditation (which is to ‘empty’ the spirit instead of filling it with the Holy Spirit), numbness, sedation, being put to sleep, becoming distracted so that the person is no longer alert, and can enter another world, a make-believe world or even occult world.

A young woman who came to faith in Jesus but used to be in the New Age wrote: “I myself have attended a number of singing bowl ceremonies in various places that were led by various people who connect themselves with the fallen angels in the spiritual world and thereby open gates to invite demons. By participating in such a ceremony you (often) unconsciously give permission to these forces to take possession of you”.

People sometimes say: it works, right? This kind of pragmatism is an argument that does very well in our time. What harm could there be in using a method that causes the suffering of a man to be relieved or the stress to become less?

But even if it seems to be ‘working’ (just as sometimes with magnetic healers, iriscopists, fortune tellers, reiki masters, the use of drugs, etc.) people should absolutely not be engaged in it, certainly as a Christian. You will end up in getting separated from God with all its consequences. You become fallen out of His protection. And why should you, as a Christian, not go to our Lord Jesus Christ Who is our Healer and Who also says: “Come to Me all, who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11: 28).

And even if the ‘assertions’ were partially true, you should not get involved in it. God has given us His Holy Spirit, and that’s enough. When people do something that goes against the Holy Spirit, then the power will disappear. Compare it to a hole in a tire. The power (pressure) is gone. God is a jealous God. He wants us totally. “He jealously desires the Spirit whom He has made to dwell in us” (Jam. 4:5). In contrast to sound bowls, the Spirit of God the Comforter, works wholesomely deep through (1 Cor.2: 4-16).

Some important Bible verses are:

• “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19).
• “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 Jn. 4: 1).
• ”A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.” (Gal. 5: 9). See also 1 Cor. 5: 6.
• “Remove the evil person from among yourselves.” (1 Cor. 5: 13).
• ”I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ‘You shall have no other gods besides Me. ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God” (Deut. 5: 6-10).

In these two passages, it says that we should seek our hold in God and in nothing else.

• ”Or what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, I will dwell among them and walk among them. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate, says the Lord. And do not touch what is unclean. And I will welcome you.” (2 Cor. 6:16, 17).
• “And this I pray, that your love may overflow still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment” (Phil.1:9).

Jesus Christ is our only power (Hab. 3: 19, Ps. 28: 7, Deut. 8: 18, Exo. 15: 2, Rev. 5: 13, 2 Pet. 1: 3, 1 Pet. 3: 22, 1 Tim. 1: 12; Phil. 4: 13, 1 Cor. 1: 24, 2 Cor. 12: 9, Eph. 1: 19, 3: 16, 4: 16).

10. Possible consequences of being engaged in forms of occultism

In conclusion, we will mention some possible consequences that are listed in different books and articles:

• no desire for reading the Bible;
• a decrease of prayer life and losing the life of prayer;
• spiritual bewitchment, and blindness for the truth of God’s Word;
• insensitiveness for the guidance of the Holy Spirit;
• a lack of ability to discern;
• an indifference to sin;
• psychological complaints such as anxiety, restlessness, depression, suicidal thoughts;
• to suffer from paranormal symptoms

Therefore, don’t get involved with things that distract you or keep you away from God.

11. Literature (amongst others: websites on sound bowls)

1. Ananda, Klankschalen. Bron: Klankschalen – Ananda Nieuwetijdswinkel
2. Fleur Baxmeier, Massage voor de geest. Het klankschaal-effect. Bron: +Gezond, oktober 2023, pp. 66 t/m 71.
3. Conny Coppen, Chinese Geneeskunde: schoon je organen energetisch op met de 6 helende klanken. Bron: Chinese Geneeskunde: schoon je organen energetisch op met de 6 helende klanken – Inspirerend Leven
4. Drakenpoort, De vijf helende klanken. Bron: Helende klanken – Drakenpoort)))))
5. Linda van Gaal, ……. Bron: kom volledig tot rust op de klanken van een klankschaal – Linnerkracht
6. Sophie Golbach De kracht achter klankschalen (en frequenties). Bron: Dit is de kracht van klankschalen en frequenties – Bedrock
7. Holistisch Centrum Brabant, Klankschalen therapie. Bron: https://holistischcentrum-brabant.nl/energetische-therapie/
8. Eva Rudy Jansen, Klankschalen, Tingsha’s, Bel en Dorje. Werking en gebruik.
9. Melanie, Wat zijn klankschalen? Bron: https://www.happywithyoga.com/ontspanning/klankschalen/#Klankschaal%20Meditatie%20of%20Klankreis?
10. Presspassblog, Gevaren van klankschalen: mythen en mogelijke bijwerkingen. Bron: Gevaren van klankschalen: mythen en mogelijke bijwerkingen (presspassblog.com)
11. Reiki Wereldwijd. Klankschaal Kiezen en Gebruiken, Zo Doe je Dat! Bron: Klankschaal Kiezen en Gebruiken, Zo Doe je Dat! – Reiki Wereldwijd
12. Jeanne Ruland, Rituelen en magische voorwerpen.
13. Ruud van de Ven, Genezing uit het Oosten. Voorhoeve, Utrecht, 2011
14. Marieke Wiersma, Tibetaanse klankschalen voor diepe ontspanning. Klankschalen; de oorsprong, het gebruik en effect – Yogashop
15. Marieke Wiersma, Ohm Chanten bij Yoga. Dit is de Betekenis van het Symbool. Bron: Ohm Teken, Wat Betekent dit Symbool bij Yoga? – Yogashop
16. Wikipedia, Klankschaal. Bron: Klankschaal – Wikipedia
17. Bianca Witteveen. De Klankhoeve. Bron: Home – De Klankhoeve
18. Gerard Feller e.a., Tovenaars van de 20^ste eeuw. Gezondheid en de ‘new age’. Een kritische behandeling van ‘”moderne” alternatieve therapieën., Gideon, Hoornaar, 1995
19. Rianne van der Smitte, Als het licht duisternis is… een aangrijpend getuigenis en onthullende feiten over new age en occultisme, Gideon, Hoornaar, 1992
20. Gerard Feller, Promise-artikel Elektrosound farmaceutica, 1992
21. Roelof Ham, Promise-artikel (Genees)krachtige stenen?