Tibetan singing bowls are a mysterious combination of art, science, spirituality and sound healing; an ancient connection for humanity. This rich mesh of qualities makes for many different paths of enjoyment.

Himalayan Singing Bowls?

Despite the name, Tibetan singing bowls rarely come from Tibet today, especially antique ones.  In the 1970’s and 1980’s many ancient bowls made their way over the Himalayas to Nepal where they were sold to tourists or collected and shipped out of the country.  That incredible source for singing bowls has long been exhausted.  These days the only sources for old bowls are rural areas of the Himalayan mountains and the foothills as well as the provinces of northeast India.  Instead of Tibetan, a more exact nomenclature would be Himalayan singing bowls.  But who are we to fight popular perception so throughout this website you will see both phrases used interchangeably.

Singing Bowls in Old Tibet

The use of singing bowls goes far back into history. It is said that the first uses of the sounds of metal bowls for the purpose of the transformation of consciousness were by the original followers of the Buddha 2,500 years ago. Before the teachings of the Buddha were brought to Tibet by Padmasambhava in the 700’s the craft of making exquisite objects from precious and semi-precious metals was well established in Tibet. The first practitioners using the sounds from metals in Tibet were the indigenous Bön whose practices permeate modern Tibetan Buddhism and provide some of its distinct flavor.

Ceremonial Use

In old Tibet singing bowls were used in ceremonial practices and as a medium for receiving teachings. Based on accounts of early travelers in Tibet it would appear that monasteries would have hundreds or even thousands of singing bowls that would be brought out for grand ceremonies. Sometimes the singing bowls would be rung in such a way as to sound like a tune or music to the observer, other times not.

Stories about the use of singing bowls in actual practice are virtually non-existent, that is you are hard pressed to find any written teachings using singing bowls. This would indicate that most teaching lineages in Tibet did not have use singing bowls or they were reserved for private transmissions, empowerments and initiations.

Special Singing Bowls

While many singing bowls served dual purposes some were made for specific practices. Medicine bowls are large flat bottomed bowls that were used by monks to lay out a mandala of herbs for use by the sick. It could take a long time to lay out the mandala and then the bowl would be placed on the body of the person for whom the herbs were meant. Then the bowl would be rung, sometimes only once, to potentate and actualize the medicine and to enhance the person’s receptivity. These bowls are rare and very expensive. One kind of bowl that is still available are lingam bowls. These bowls come with a raised area in the center signifying the male principle. Often these bowls were altar pieces and extremely well-preserved examples hundreds of years old still surface from time to time.

Truly Ancient Singing Bowls

In old Tibet there was a solid tradition of retaining objects and relics for many centuries. Unlike Europe, China and the Middle East Tibet had a long history of relative peace where institutions, monasteries, could accumulate and protect precious objects. Tibet was never subjected to the kind of financial stress that would result in the wholesale melting of precious objects for bullion nor was there a religious reformation that necessitated the destruction of the previous belief system’s touchstones. In 1950 there were likely ancient singing bowls in Tibet, some over a thousand years old, that had been in continuous use in inner and secret practice. What these singing bowls looked like and where they have gone is one of those mysteries that comes to mind sometimes when I hold a really special bowl.

The Essentials for Buying Tibetan Singing Bowls

• Sound
• Sound Healing
• Antiquity
• Resonance
• Structural Integrity

Singing Bowl Sound

There are a lot of reasons for owning Himalayan singing bowls but the place to really start is sound. There are very few sounds that we hear in our daily lives with their unique attention grabbing characteristics. Taste in sound is as individual as taste in food, and there is nothing like a wealth of samples to hone your preferences. When your browse through our singing bowl store, you’ll see that every bowl has individual sound clips that you can listen to.  We make great efforts to record the bowls clearly and accurately.  As our Guarantee states, we unconditionally guarantee every aspect of each singing bowl and that the sound and appearance match our descriptions.  If you are not pleased for any reason you may return what you order for a full refund of the cost of the items.

Sound Healing

While the phrase “Tibetan singing bowl” might be a modern construction the blending of sound and practice in Tibet goes back further even than the introduction of Buddhism 1300 years ago.  What is the basis of this practice with sound? Humans’ first experience is vibration, which is a window into the potency of sound healing using Tibetan singing bowls.  The history of singing bowls in Tibet includes the Bon tradition as well as all the schools of Tibetan Buddhism where bells, horns and gongs are used in ceremony.  One early visitor to Tibet reported witnessing a ceremony in which a thousand monks each made a sound with their own bowl.

Antiquity

Over our many decades of playing, buying and selling we have only handled old singing bowls. New bowls can make nice sounds but they lack the character and lineage of genuine antiques.  Old brass bowls also have something that new ones simply cannot replicate. When copper and other metals sit together for a while a process of mellowing happens.  This is just as true for a brass saxophone as it is for a brass bowl. The wonderful metal objects you see here combine artistry, utility and antiquity.  When you review our fine selection, you can be assured each one comes from some time in the past and is not brand new or from recent decades.

Resonance is has a subtle but universal appeal. On an objective level resonance is a mathematical relationship between the frequencies of different sounds.  On an experiental level it is the good feeling you experience when you hear it. Resonance is part of  the magnetism that draws you into the experience of singing bowls. The varied composition of the metals and the unique hand made shapes of singing bowls provides the basis for a broad range of tones and relationships. Sometimes the quality of resonance only becomes apparent after you listen to a bowl for a while.  Other times you feel it from the first tone.  All the bowls that I sell have this subtle quality of resonance.  It is one of the things I am looking for on my buying trips to the Himalayas.

Structural integrity essentially has to do with the singing bowl being free of cracks or structural compromises.  Mostly this is the case but antique brass can be brittle, handling can be rough and “issues” can arise.

The most obvious cracks are visual. The location of a crack is important, if it is at the top of the bowl near the rim you are going to have problems. If it is on the bottom or very low on the side there is a good chance it will not degrade the sound quality of the bowl.  Cracks that do not go through the bowl, are visible on one side and not the other generally are fine. Size maters really only if the crack is angled to move up the sidewall. You can have a 4 inch bowl with a 2 inch bottom crack that still sounds sweet. Unfortunately some bowls have cracks you can hear but not see. These can be very subtle, that is not evident unless you hit a bowl quite hard.  If that is not your style, hitting it hard, a sonic cracked bowl can be an excellent value.

We are very careful about bowls with “issues”, and generally avoid bringing them back from the Himalayas. The exception to that are bowls with great sound and cracks in the right places.  Still sometimes bowls arrive with sonic flaws that maybe we missed over there or, more likely, were damaged in transit.  Sometimes just the change in air pressure can give a bowl a hairline crack. If there are any issues with structural integrity our standard is to disclose it in the bowl description.

In addition to the ancient art of metallurgy the ancient art of carpet weaving is native to the Himalayas, and in particular, Tibetan carpet weaving. I sell little pieces of this art as practical display mats which help to be a foundation for optimum sound quality.

Singing Bowl Types

Modern Singing Bowls