Wooden kanglings

For the practice of gÇod (གཅོད་), it is neccesary to obtain a kangling - a human femur bone trumpet for this practice. Kyabjé Düd’jom Rinpoche Jig’drèl Yeshé Dorje and Künzang Dorje Rinpoche emphasised the importance of this — as did Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoche .

Until the early 1980s it was relatively easy and inexpensive to obtain a kangling — but now they are difficult to find and prohibitively expensive. Since 2000 it has become increasingly difficult to obtain them because export from India and Nepal has become illegal. It has also become problematic to travel with kanglings, in terms of international customs regulations.

The tradition of wooden kanglings has existed in Bhutan for centuries — and we have begun to make them in order to be able to travel internationally with them.

Real human bone femurs can be confiscated in certain counties and so having a travelling kangling is a valuable possibility for those who travel regularly.

As an international sangha — our sangha members often travel to retreats in each other’s countries: Britain, America, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Bhutan.

Nando Friedmann makes these marvellous kanglings. They are visually indistinguishable from femurs — but are about half the weight; so one would only know if one was familiar with the weight of a bone kangling.

rKang gLing རྐང་གླིང

Just to correct some erroneous views.

In Bhutan where wooden gÇod trumpets are traditionally made (as well as actual bone rKang gLing རྐང་གླིང) they are NOT called shing gLing ཤིང་གླིང་ — they are called rKang gLing རྐང་གླིང.

There are gompas of some schools where human bone is not permitted for monastics — therefore brass, copper, or silver rKang gLing རྐང་གླིང are made.

These are NOT called རག་གླང rag gLing (brass), ཟངས་གླིང zangs gLing (copper) and དངུལ་གླིང dNgul gLing (silver).

They are called རྐང་གླིང rKang gLing— even if the are metal rather than རྐང rKang (thigh bone).

རྐང་གླིང rKang gLing is a word that identifies the རྐང་གླིང trumpet used in gÇod whatever the material from which they may have been made.