Pranna Timer Review- 03.06.08
Pranna Timers ~ these incense meditation timers may not be the expected NOTCOT content, but when i received an email about these i was genuinely intrigued. “Using gravity instead of batteries, incense instead of circuits.” And the site had these beautiful handmade wooden contraptions that sit next to ancient singing bowls…
To further indulge my curiosity of a COMPLETELY technology free activity (timed meditation? or any other random timing you need once you perfectly calibrate how long it takes a certain length of incense to burn)… Pranna Timers sent one over, so here is the review - with close up shots of how exactly it does its thing, and a video of how it sounds as well! Check out your minute of zen below (please don’t mind the airplane noises that had to fly over right when i was filming it…)
Here is my quick little video for your 1 min of zen…
“The meditation timers are matched to specific bowls by hand, with special attention paid to the sound of the ring. The sound of a real hand-pounded singing bowl is perfect to end a period of zazen.”
Opening up the box…
Incense, Singing bowl, and Timer in the carrying case.
The timer… and extra loops!
Upon lifting the cover, you see the swinging piece… as well as an engraving!
This is how the piece attaches and swings freely…
Here’s the full set up once first lit…
and a close up… of those final moments…
Curious how this design came about? Founder, David Wilmore, says “Not finding an appropriate meditation timer in 1997, I began working on one that uses no electricity. I developed a timer that uses incense to measure the time and gravity to ring a bell.”
“In a zendo, someone else often watches the time, leaving you free to focus on your meditation. This is what the PrannaTimer is designed to do. Once the incense is lit, all else can be set aside until one hears the bell. And the reward for sitting until the bell rings is quite nice — a beautiful tone that lingers in the air.”
This intriguing timer design is actually patented, but they still offer a DIY option, where you can order a kit that will instruct you how to create your own by hand out of woods of your choice! Also nice is that they “make a “Rainforest Donation” of $15 to Rainforest Alliance for all timers that use imported woods. Giving $15 for each board-foot of wood allows PrannaTimer to have a “net positive impact”, while acknowledging our use of limited resources.”
All in all, i must say reviewing this was a really fun experience, although i found myself fixated on watching that incense burn down to the very slow moment that it finally swings free and creates the incredible ring of the singing bowl… and granted i did have my cell phone on me (i was on a conference call for part of it), my laptop beside me, and two digicams videoing/photographing the process… there was something mesmerizing about watching gravity do its thing, and feeling slightly less tech reliant for a few moments…
These timers are beautiful. I’ve been using one for a while now and love it!
----- dave t 15.07.10 03:35