The Power of Gong Meditation: How it Works and Its Benefits

In Western interpretation, gong meditation is associated with Kundalini Yoga, but the history of the use of gongs, including for spiritual practice, goes back more than 5,000 years. A gong is a self-sounding musical instrument, or idiophone. Idiophones are also bells, wargans, singing bowls, tambourines and other instruments that create acoustic waves.

The sounding material of the gong, creating vibration, simultaneously receives and transmits acoustic energy. The result is an overtone sound - the sound of several tones simultaneously. One passes into the other, joining and diverging, creating new shades of sound. In this chaotic river of sounds flowing into each other, we can hear the original sound of the Universe, from which worlds, planets and all beings appeared.

The flow of the gong's sounds is like the delayed action of a wave that subsides and then returns, striking with increased force. This wave-like combination of maximum and minimum sound points creates a boomerang effect. It makes the sound so three-dimensional and unpredictable that it transcends a certain rhythmic organization. This unpredictability help a person enter in an altered state of consciousness.

You go up a mountain and utter one word, which will echo a thousand times and spread a thousand miles. This is the power of the renewing sound — Anahata Nada. Limitless sound vibrates, creates light and creates life.

Yogi Bhajan

Another phenomenon of gong sound is that it causes binaural tones — phantom sounds that occur in the brain when exposed to certain sound waves. The frequency of the brain enters into synchronization with these waves, which changes its electrochemical environment.

This phenomenon was discovered in 1839 by the German researcher Heinrich Wilhelm Dove. He noticed that while listening simultaneously two tones that differ slightly in frequency, the brain converts them into a third, imaginary tone. At this point, the hemispheres of the brain begin to interact, and the brain waves in both hemispheres align and vibrate at a frequency of 10 Hz (a state of quiet wakefulness). In this state, the body's self-healing abilities are activated, which has been taken into account by scientists, doctors and psychotherapists.

Since ancient times, the gong has been used to recreate certain states of mind and emotions, to communicate with other people, animals and plants. Almost every religious cult has its analogs to remind people of the subtle plane of existence.

If people... ordered other people... to strike gongs and with all these wonderful sounds pay homage to the Buddha... [then] all of them have already passed the Buddha Path.

The Saddharmapundarika Sutra

Tibetan monks use singing bowls and gongs for meditation.

It is known that the gong was used in the most important rituals: at the birth of children, at weddings, before the passing from life, during the send-off of warriors to battle. It was used as an instrument of healing from diseases, exorcising evil spirits, attracting the attention of gods, and controlling the elements.

The gong was played for initiation on the path to Enlightenment, to stimulate the Ajna chakra and to awaken supernatural abilities in seers.

It was applied before death to open the Sahasrara chakra to relieve the fear of death and ease the departure of the Soul.

Nowadays, gong meditation is successfully used for therapeutic purposes: to eliminate the effects of stress, to increase learning ability, to get rid of addictions, to heal from physical and mental illnesses. Sound therapy is considered an official method of treatment in many countries.

The main goal of yoga practitioners is to disidentify with the limited Self. In this context, gong meditation can be referred to the yoga of sound (Nada yoga).

During Kundalini rising...the practitioner hears the sounds of...shells, gongs and horns inside..

Swami Swatmarama's "Hatha Yoga Pradipika"

In Swachchhanda Tantra and Malinivijaya Tantra, the sounds heard during the practice of Nada yoga are described as gong beats, among others.

The sound of the gong is mentioned in the Gheranda-samhita. It also says that in the practice of Nada yoga people can hear such sounds.

The use of the gong as an external instrument is not traceable in the yogic tradition. It is only known that Yogi Bhajan was first who started to use it on yoga clesses. One of Yogi Bhajan's first students, Don Conroe, is considered to be the founder of the modern trend of gong meditation.

Gong meditation is practiced individually or in groups. Depending on the purpose, there are several types:

• relaxation,
• sound therapy ,
• meditation.

In any of the above cases, the main point is to relax and listen to the sounds of the gong. They penetrate the subtle bodies and restore the disturbed balance of rhythms. The vibrations are changed during the session so as to activate different brain rhythms: alpha rhythm - the level of relaxation and creativity (8-12 Hz); theta rhythm - the level of deep meditation, sleep and hypnotic state (4-7 Hz).

Aspects of exposure to the human body

• The physical aspect (Annamaya-kosha).

  The surface of the gong vibrates on impact, mechanically affecting the surrounding space. When it comes in contact with the human body, this vibration affects the tissues and body fluids of the internal environment of the body.

• Psychosomatic aspect (Manomaya kosha).

  Muscle tension on the bodily level suppresses emotions that a person cannot cope with when they arise. But these displaced experiences remain in the body, requiring great effort to hold them in place. With the help of sound waves, the body is relaxed and the displaced feelings and experiences are accessed.

• Resonance aspect (Pranamaya-kosha).

  All living things are permeated with energy and vibrate with a certain frequency, including the human body. Kymatics (the science that studies the visualization of vibrations) proves that sound waves form structures on the physical medium (sand, air, water) by their movement. Penetrating through the human body, which is 80% water, the vibrations of the gong organize all the systems of the body.

• Esoteric aspect (Vijnanamaya-kosha and Anandamaya-kosha).

  The sound effects of the gong can stop the vibrational vibrations of the mind.

As fire burns wood and both together subside, so the mind that moves with nada is consumed in it.

Swami Swatmarama's "Hatha Yoga Pradipika."

Physical body

1. Skeletal improvements include: restoration of bone and joint structure after trauma and destruction, improvement of tissue trophism, activation of regenerative processes, shortening the time of bone callus formation.
2. Positive effects on muscles: include improving muscle contractile function, cleansing muscle tissues of toxins, and eliminating muscle tension.
3. Positive effects on the circulatory system: include normalization of the cardiovascular system, stabilization of blood pressure, improvement of blood circulation and oxygen conduction through veins and arteries, relief of menstrual pain.
4. Nerve-reflex action: strengthening and restoration of lost neural connections, reducing the tone of the sympathetic nervous system and increasing the work of the parasympathetic system, healing headaches, migraines, insomnia, analgesic and in some cases anesthetic action.
5. Respiratory system: deeper, more measured and lengthened breathing.
6. Endocrine system:optimization of the endocrine system, restoring the connection between the pineal gland and pituitary gland.
7. Rejuvenating effect.

Psyche

• Healing from addictions, including drug addiction.
• Personal development: searching for meaning in life, restoring wholeness and identity..
• Emotional stability: way out of stress, crisis, depression, chronic fatigue, work with aggression, fear, feelings of loneliness.
• Communication with the world: benevolent attitude to the world, clarification of perception, looking at the world without evaluations and habitual patterns.
• Completion of gestalts (subconscious problems).
• Grounding effect as a foundation for productivity, integrity and inner stability, anti-stress and relaxing effects.

Energy

• Opening of chakras and nadi channels, balancing the energy flows.

The gong creates a wide range of vibrations. This leads to optimal resonance in each chakra, tunes them to natural rhythms and ensures free flow of energy through the nadi channels.

Relaxation

• Position lying on a mat, body covered with a plaid, eyes closed.

• It is recommended to position the body so that the feet are pointing towards the gong to avoid premature exposure of the sounds to the upper energy centers.

• Voice guidance from the instructor, immersion in Shavasana.

• Immersion in the rhythms:

  • soft tender sounds,
  • gradual increase in volume and intensity,
  • culmination,
  • attenuation.

• Maintaining silence and slowly returning your attention to the outside world.

• The duration of the session is 1-1.5 hours.

The sound therapy

• Any comfortable position.
• Talking with a therapist.
• Sound session.
• Integration of experience through conversation, art therapy, movement.

Gong meditation

• Standing with a straight back in a meditative pose, body relaxed.
• Several cycles of full yogic breathing, kapalabhati, nadi-shodhana pranayama to cleanse the channels and calm the mind.
• Focus on one selected center (interbrow, chest center, occiput, spine). In contrast to relaxation or therapy, it is recommended to direct attention to the upper energy centers.
• Breathing evenly and calmly.
• Pulsating play techniques, rather than cycles of rising and falling, which work more on the physical body and lower chakras.
• The recommended time is between 3 and 11 minutes.
• Time-equal relaxation.

It is important to realize that sound is a quality of Akasha-Tattva, the subtlest of the five elements, but still an element of matter. As long as there is realization of the existence of sound, dissolution into the higher state cannot be achieved.

Gong meditation can lead to Savikalpa Samadhi, but this is not the ultimate goal of the practice. Such a state is not yet true enlightenment; it is always followed by a return to the normal state of consciousness.

Contraindications to gong meditation

• All contraindications for physiotherapy procedures.
• First trimester of pregnancy with complications.
• Pacemaker, heart rhythm disorders, predisposition to stroke.
• Elevated temperature.
• Serious head injuries.
• Vein diseases of the lower limbs.
• Blood coagulation disorder.
• Renal stone and gallstone disease.
• Endocrine diseases.
• Conditions of severe intoxication with alcohol, drugs, psychotropic preparations.
• Epilepsy and other acute mental health conditions.

Recommendations

• Since the cells of the body begin to vibrate strongly and eliminate toxins during the practice of gong meditation, it is advisable to drink more water at the end of the practice to help the body cleanse itself.
• Emotional cleansing can occur in the practice. Crying, laughter, anxiety, fear, and love are normal reactions. However, if serious psychological traumas have accumulated, the person may need the help of a therapist to help process the released experiences.
• The sound of the gong recorded on audio and video media loses its unique properties. It is better to practice gong meditation live, rather than online or from downloaded recordings.
• Gong meditation is an effective method of relaxation, anxiety and stress regulation, It is a good alternative to compensate for the negative effects of the social environment. We recommended to use the gong in combination with the practice of asana, pranayama, meditation and a healthy lifestyle.