Singing Bowls & Signs...

Some years ago, feeling very uncertain... shaken after an argument during which my partner called everything that I was learning a total waste of time and a load of s***e... i asked for a sign... some confirmation that I was on the right path... although I knew really, I still called for help, something to show me....

His anger at the time, was like a physical blow to my solar plexus... I was hurt & shocked by a verbal onslaught that left me tearful, drained and confused... both about my relationship and the path I was following... learning about healing and spirituality... i even tried to apply rational thought that maybe it is all baloney, but couldn't do that with conviction... I lay in bed that night & desperately asked for something to show me the way...

 Endless Knot- Infinite wisdom of the Buddha 

The thing is, he erupts quickly & spews out anything that will inflict pain... then he subsides just as quickly and wonders why I am in tears, or still hurt hours or days later. It's partly his sagittarian fire, and his centaurs bow, aiming those arrows of hurt when he feels wounded himself. Partly his need to wound is due to his own past hurts... Over the years I've learned much about how & why he explodes ... and why I react the way I do to his words... we both have, we're still very much together. But that was still in the early days... I didn't understand this aspect of him just as he could not comprehend my taurean smouldering... I was caught unawares like a rabbit in headlights and i was stunned...

Golden Fishes- Good fortune, fertility & salvation

As I calmed my breathing, asking for some sign, I began to see shapes that I knew were symbols of some kind... just hazy lines moving in & out of focus... a circle of separate pictures that revolved in front me, behind my closed eyes, coming into focus one at a time... in the morning I could only remember two of them, and only quite fuzzily....

Conch Shell- The fame of Buddha's teachings

Victory Banner- Victory of the Buddha's teachings & wisdom over ignorance

We were staying near Leighton Buzzard, but I hadn't yet explored... the next day, not particularly in the mood I wandered around... down a little alleyway into a shop whose name I can't recall... but I do remember pausing inside the doorway & rather than taking the natural route around the shop, I turned back behind the door & peered into a small window display... and picked up a bowl.... 

Vase- Spiritual & material abundance

Wheel- Teachings of the Buddha

I gasped aloud, for the symbols were the same that I had 'seen' the night before... I was new to 'messages' & I didn't even know what a 'singing bowl' was.... and none of the others in the shop had the same inscriptions... and I found myself having a conversation about Reiki, and whether we see or hear or smell or feel messages from spirit.... and I bought this bowl.... and over the years I have continued to learn...

Parasol- Royalty & protection
Lotus- Mental & spiritual purity 

For life and relationships are continual journeys of learning and healing... 

This article about the Basic Teaching of Buddha is worth reading if you are not familiar with Buddhism. And if you are, a reminder may be good! Of course there have been many interpretations & schools of thought, but the teachings of the Buddha can be embraced alongside other faiths... it is about a way of being, of wisdom and compassion... even if you disagree with certain concepts, or believe in other ways... one thing the Buddha insisted was not to believe something because he said, but to feel the truth of it for yourself...

For fuller interpretation the symbols you may like to read this,
 as I have only given very brief meanings from here



For instruction and demonstration of how to use a singing bowl, this site is helpful http://www.bodhisattva.com/playing.htm