What is a kangling and what is its role in Tibetan ceremonial practice?
The kangling is one of the most distinctive instruments in Tibetan ritual music. Its name is formed from the Tibetan words for leg and flute, a reference to its traditional form, which was originally made from a human thigh bone. Today kangling are mostly made from brass, copper or animal bone, but the symbolic link to impermanence remains.
The sound of the kangling is piercing, rough and unmistakable. It is not meant to be pleasant in the ordinary sense. It is meant to wake. In Tibetan ritual practice the kangling is played during chöd ceremonies, an advanced meditation practice in which the practitioner symbolically offers up their own ego. The sound of the kangling calls in the spirits and demons, not in order to fear them, but in order to offer them one's own flesh as a gift. A radical practice of generosity and of letting go.
The kangling is also an instrument of rites of passage. It is played at funeral ceremonies to accompany the soul of the deceased on its way through the bardo. Its sound reminds the living of the impermanence of all things and invites reflection.
As an object, the kangling is rare and heavy with meaning. It speaks to people who engage seriously with Tibetan ritual practice and philosophy. It is not a decorative object and not an instrument for beginners. It is a tool for practitioners who are ready to engage with the deeper layers of Tibetan Buddhism.
At tibet-markets.ch we carry kangling of carefully selected quality, for committed practitioners and collectors of Tibetan ritual objects.
