The Bell-Ringer who Hits the Gong for Meditation

The tradition of hitting the gong to announce wake up, a meditation, teachings or the meal in the monastery goes back 2500 years.

Photo shows small gong (besides left knee) for the meditation hall. Photo taken in Forest Retreat Centre of Dhammananda, The Channon, near Lismore in NSW, Australia. No longer in use due to climate change - fierce winds sending trees crashing, rainstorms or raging fires.

The Bell-Ringer has an important daily duty in the Buddhist monastery or retreat centre.

Remember every meditator needs to hear the bell.

Some meditators do not use a watch or clock. They do not wish to switch on their mobile phone during the retreat.

They rely on the bellringer striking the gong -upstairs/downstairs/indoors/outdoors.

Some bellringers are shy.

They hit the gong very quietly in case they wake somebody up!

A few bellringers hit the gong so quietly that the bell-ringer cannot hear the gong.

The task of hitting the gong is not suitable for the timid.

The Method for Hitting the Gong for the Bell-Ringer

It is worth noting and applying the form of the bell ringing.

• Strike the gong around 5 times slowly with the sound becoming a little more loud with each stroke.

• Strike the gong quickly for about 10 times.

• Be silent for a few seconds. Return to the slow strike of the gong, going more quietly with each stroke of the gong.

• Pause again for a few seconds and start the sequence again.

• Go to the places where the meditators are.

• Upstairs. Downstairs. Indoors. Outdoors.

• Walk to these locations, not just stand outside the meditation hall or front door.

• It usually takes around five minutes to do the round of bellringing in a retreat centre.

If you sit still or stand still, you will experience sound of the ringing tone pass as vibrations through the body. The sounds flow through the body. You may find yourself exposed to any contractions in the cells or a sweet sense of the body as an expansive receptivity rather than a solid entity.

The Bell-Ringer engages in a mindful act of service to others.

THANK YOU.