You have probably seen a bell in every temple you’ve been to since you were a kid. Even if you have never been to one, you couldn’t have missed the iconic Indian culture that always seem revolve around a temple bell. Bells plays a very important role. From temples to altars at home, they are almost always used in rituals. In fact, bells are also an integral part of Christian tradition. Bell towers can be found in old churches; even today, some churches ring the bell before masses during the day.
who can forget Santa Clause’s bell, right? But have you ever wondered Why do we ring bells before Gongyo or Prayers?. The bell is considered butsugu or a Buddhist accessory used to make offerings to the Gohonzon. When we ring the bell, we should do so with sincerity and serenity as we make an offering of sound to the Gohonzon. The bell is used during our morning and evening prayers called Gongyo. When we place offerings on the altar (food, rice, water), we ring the bell three times and observe the silent prayers.
The shallow reason for ringing a bell is control. That is to say when you’re doing Gongyo together, You can control that practice through the ringing of the bell. But the deep reason for ringing the bell is that as it’s put in the old terms, it pleases the Buddhist gods. That is to say, the sound of the bell is extremely harmonious and pleasing to the forces that exist in your own life and in the universe around you. There has been times when we have been rather jangled and perhaps irritable but when we start to do gongyo and the sound of that bell. It’s really vibrates deep in one’s life has very deep effect. It is a kind of music which pleases gods of the universe you might have heard that the music is the force of the universe.
Ringing the bell three times signifies appreciation for the Three Treasures – The “Three Treasures” of the Buddhist tradition are the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, meaning “association”, “assembly”, “company” or “community”. Here’s a list of ancient secrets behind the use of bells in worship.
#1. Traditionally, the bell was supposed to be rung before starting worship, with an intention that the divine enters you and all demonic forces within your soul depart, and so do the ones outside it.
#2. It is crafted with several metals and alloys, and quantities of these metals are mixed with accurate scientific calculations. As a result, when you ring the bell, complete harmony is created between the left and right lobes of the brain, bringing you to a state of supreme calm.
#3. The echo touches the seven chakras of the body, taking a minute on each which completely relaxes your body.
#4. The aura of uttermost calm created by the sound, allows for the power of concentration in the brain to increase immensely and become strong.
#5. The environment created puts you in a state of trance that takes calmness and worship to another level.
#6. It prepares you for the prayer you are going to start, wakes you up and puts you in a state of awareness about prayer, so you can get lost in the mantras for a moment and absorb maximum spiritual gain.
#7. As per type of temple bell is also designed to produce the sound ‘Om’, a sound that is believed to have the same frequency as the frequency of the earth’s rotation around its axis.
Satoshi Wang
