Mindfulness Bell
A mindfulness bell calls you back to your breathing. In the Plum Village tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, when the bell sounds you stop what you are doing and enjoy three breaths. Thich Nhat Hanh says the computers at Plum Village and Deer Park Monastery are set to sound a bell of mindfulness every quarter of an hour; this bell does the same, on the clock’s quarter hours, or at an interval you choose, or at random. Keep the page open while you work.
When the bell sounds, stop, and come back to your breathing:
Breathing in: “I listen, I listen.”
Breathing out: “Listen, listen. This wonderful sound brings me back to my true home.”
Thich Nhat Hanh, “Inviting the Bell”, Plum Village App · source
The bell sounds only while this page is open. In a background tab the browser may delay it (in Chrome by up to about a minute) or, after a while, put the tab to sleep; on phones it can pause or stop when the screen locks. Your settings are kept on this device and never sent anywhere.
How to practise with the bell
Plum Village describes the practice in its own words. When a bell of mindfulness sounds, “we stop all of our conversations and whatever we are doing and bring our awareness to our breathing,” and “with just three conscious breaths we can release the tensions in our body and mind and return to a cool and clear state of being.” It is meant to be done, in the same page’s words, “naturally, with enjoyment, and without solemnity”. The verses in the tool are ones Thich Nhat Hanh gives for listening to the bell, with one in the wording of Plum Village’s own practice page. The first is said with the breath: breathing in, “I listen, I listen”; breathing out, “Listen, listen. This wonderful sound brings me back to my true home.” For more short verses to say with the breath, see mindfulness gathas.
The bell itself is not the point. Plum Village suggests using “the ringing of our telephone, the local church bells, the cry of a baby, or even the sound of fire engines and ambulances” as bells of mindfulness too. A bell on your screen is a start; for more everyday cues, see how to be more mindful.
The half sound
In Plum Village one does not speak of hitting the bell but of inviting it to sound. The person who invites it first practises mindful breathing with a verse, then wakes the bell with a half sound, so that the whole community knows a full sound is coming, and waits “at least one inbreath and one outbreath” before the full sound. The tool does the same if you leave “Begin with a half sound” on: a soft, short sound, then the full bell seven seconds later.
Other Buddhist bells
The bell of mindfulness is one use of the bell among many. In Sōtō Zen the bell is a signal code for a sitting: “When zazen begins, the bell is rung three times,” in the school’s own zendo manners, with other counts for walking meditation and the end (details, the page notes, vary by temple). To time a sitting with a bell at the start and the end, use the meditation timer. The Tibetan hand bell held with the vajra is a ritual implement, not a timekeeping one: it stands for wisdom, and its ring is a reminder of emptiness rather than a call to stop and breathe. For temple bells, zendo bells and the rest, see why Buddhists ring bells.
For a struck or sung bowl, try the singing bowl; to pace your breathing, the breathing pacer. See all our free tools.
Frequently asked questions
What is a mindfulness bell?
In the Plum Village tradition of the Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, a bell of mindfulness is any sound that calls you back to your breathing: the monastery bell, a clock chiming, a telephone. When one sounds, Plum Village says, 'we stop all of our conversations and whatever we are doing and bring our awareness to our breathing.'
What do I do when the bell sounds?
Stop what you are doing and enjoy at least three breaths. Thich Nhat Hanh gives a verse for it: breathing in, 'I listen, I listen'; breathing out, 'Listen, listen. This wonderful sound brings me back to my true home.' Then carry on with what you were doing.
Why does Plum Village say 'invite' the bell?
Thich Nhat Hanh says that in Plum Village one does not speak of hitting the bell but of inviting it to sound: 'You cannot just pick up the instrument and make it sound; you must prepare yourself.' The person inviting it first prepares with a verse and mindful breathing, then wakes the bell with a half sound, so that everyone knows a full sound is coming and can stop and get ready to listen.
Why every fifteen minutes?
Because Thich Nhat Hanh describes it at Plum Village. In a teaching on inviting the bell he says that every time the clock there plays music, every quarter of an hour, everyone stops to breathe, and that in Plum Village and Deer Park Monastery the computer is programmed to sound a bell of mindfulness every quarter of an hour. You can choose a different interval, or random times.
Will the bell sound if I switch tabs or lock my phone?
It keeps sounding in a background tab, though the browser may delay it, in Chrome by up to about a minute. A browser's memory-saving mode can also put a tab you have not looked at for a while to sleep, which stops the bell until you come back and press Start again. On phones it can pause or stop when the screen locks or you switch apps. On a computer you can also turn on a notification for when the tab is in the background; most phone browsers do not let an ordinary web page show one. Your settings stay on your device and are never sent anywhere.
Sources
- Thich Nhat Hanh, 'Inviting the Bell', Plum Village App (edited transcript of a short teaching, posted 21 November 2021): inviting rather than hitting the bell, the bell master's verse, the half sound, the listening verse, the clock and the computers' bell every quarter of an hour, and other verses
- 'Extended Practices', Plum Village (official site of the Plum Village tradition): the bell of mindfulness, stopping to breathe, 'Listen, listen, this wonderful sound, brings me back, to my true home', and three conscious breaths
- 'Manners in the Zendo', SOTOZEN.COM (official site of the Sōtō Zen school): the bells that open and close zazen and kinhin
- Why Do Buddhists Ring Bells?, e-Buddhism.com: temple bells, zendo bells and the Tibetan bell, across the traditions