TIbetan singing bowls

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Tony Nec

Principal at Sound Healing Academy

Tony has over 25 years experience as a therapist, coach and trainer.He runs the Sound Healing Academy and has a busy practice in Cornwall, England.

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Latest posts by Tony Nec (see all)

• Live Distant Group Sound Healing - December 20, 2016
• How does Distant Sound Healing Work? Part 2 - December 15, 2016
• How does Distant Sound Healing Work? Part 1 - December 15, 2016

BACKGROUND TO TIBETAN SINGING BOWLS

Tibetan singing bowls have their origins in the Himalayan region and their use as a sound therapy instrument is believed to date back many centuries, but their history is shrouded in mystery with very little written information available.

Tibetan religious and spiritual philosophies entered Western culture as a result of the invasion of Tibet by China in 1950 and the subsequent move by the spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama to Nepal who placed the Tibetan government in exile. As a result widespread awareness and interest in Tibetan Buddhism (a unique Buddhist movement with its roots in ancient India) was opened up.

This combined with many Tibetan Lamas travelling to Western countries teaching about their unique culture and religion beliefs attracted many followers. These teachings involved ritual objects that are used in Tibetan Buddhism practices. Many of these were sacred sound instruments, including Tibetan singing bowls. Tibetan singing bowls, which are believed to be used by Tibetan Buddhist lamas, monks and nuns, were available for the first time, in increasing numbers to Westerners.

HOW TIBETAN SINGING BOWLS ARE MADE

The history of metal tools dates back to the Bronze Age in China (2500 BC – 200 AD) where much technical advancement was taking place in the working and production of metal objects, implements, tools and weapons. The ancient Chinese population adhered to their religious and spiritual belief that all things have an innate life form or energy, which they call ‘chi’.

Therefore in the production process each precious object and tool would have been invoked with various energies and blessed and consecrated according to the person the tool was created for including astrological associations. At some point in this period of history somewhere in the Himalayan region it is thought that the first metal singing bowls were created and which may have been oval in shape.

The way in which Tibetan astrology came in to being was through the understanding of astrology and its associations which originate from a combination of wisdom contained within the ancient scriptures of the Vedas, a body of Hindu text believed to be thousands of years old and are some of the oldest written text found by man.

The Hindu scriptures detail information about the ‘raga’, a sacred form of Indian music, which is used for spiritual purposes, and which they believed reflects the movements and sounds of the planets. The notation system of the Hindus assigned a note to each of the planets. As the ancient Hindu systems were passed throughout the Himalayan region and entered into Tibet, this ancient spiritual knowledge would have been deciphered and translated become ingrained into the Tibetan community, and eventually Tibetan Buddhism replace the major ‘Bonpo’ religion of the previous ages.

The influences of the ‘Bonpo’ into Tibetan Buddhism are evident and this combined with the Chinese astrological concepts came together in the creation of not only Tibetan Buddhism but also the creation of Tibetan singing bowls and their astrological associations and indeed sacred sounds as part of the Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, practices, development and devotion.

Tibetan singing bowls which have a unique combination of metals are so called because they originate from Tibet and when played they sing or create beautiful harmonic tones and overtones.

Listen to the sounds of the bowls…

It is believed that traditionally the Tibetan bowls were hand made from a combination of seven metals. The making of the Tibetan bowls is a ancient art form with each individual family having their own Tibetan singing bowl recipe for the weights of each of the traditional seven metals. The family’s production techniques and methods as well as blessings and consecrations are more than likely to be unique and held within the privacy of the makers and passed down only from generation to generation.

It is believed that since the invasion of Tibet many of the ancient family lines of Tibetan bowl makers have ceased with the destruction of many of the traditional ways. However some families escaped to Nepal and have continued to produce Tibetan singing bowls in the traditional ways. It is also believed that some of the families stayed in Tibet and continue to this day in secrecy producing singing bowls in the ancient way.

Because of the popularity of the Tibetan bowls in the West there are many bowls out there which are not produced in the traditional way by ancient Tibetan bowl makers and one should be mindful of the origin of the bowls and where possible ensure that the bowls are not from a source of machine made mass production which have been made to look like old or distressed Tibetan bowls. This is of course difficult for the everyday person difficult to ascertain and therefore the place with which the bowls were acquired should be able to help you in this matter.

Although the Tibetan singing bowls have traditional metal combinations it is likely that each family used the metals in unique combinations in terms of weights and according to their location and availability of metals at that point in time. Therefore each maker would have unique signature bowls, which are individual to that family and which could be recognised instantly by the maker or someone from its line. There are certain bowls which have mantras or words carved into different parts of the bowls and other bowls which have lines at varying different levels around the outside and inside of the bowl.

There are other bowls, which have deities inscribed into the bottom of them and which have different colours from every possible shade and tone of gold to browns and charcoal colours. Therefore every maker’s bowls are unique, but also each bowl is unique through the hand-made method of production forming unique shapes and patterns, creating an individual bowl aligned with that specific point in time and associated astrological connections.

ANCIENT OR NEW TIBETAN SINGING BOWLS?

It is thought that a great deal of the Tibetan bowls for sale today are new bowls which are either produced by traditional makers using ancient techniques or by modern craftspeople without ancient knowledge and or by machines which can mass produce Tibetan style singing bowls.

Often the newer bowls are made to look old using various techniques and this is usually for two reasons, firstly because the bowls may be trying to pass off as being older than they are and secondly because the Western market wants bowls that look like the old and ancient bowls.

The metals used and weights contained with the newer bowls are thought to still contain the seven metals but whether their weights are correct according to the ancient ways is unknown and the likelihood of the bowls being created according to astrological significance is quite low.

Ancient Tibetan singing bowls are difficult to acquire and very expensive with most ancient bowls either in Buddhist communities where they belong or in private collections or museums around the world. It is best to be mindful if a supplier is trying to pass off an old or ancient bowl for relatively small sum of up to $100 or so as it is unlikely that these bowls are old or ancient and it is very unlikely that you would be able to buy such a bowl for this amount of money.

This is not to say that these bowls are bad or you cannot use them for therapeutic sound purposes, because if their sound is good and it resonates with you then it will be perfect, but be mindful of unscrupulous or misinformed suppliers that overcharge and mislead.

The modern bowls, which are largely those played and available to most western people, still ring using the same technique as the ancient bowls. The sounds of the modern bowls are not as beautiful and harmonic as the ancient bowls, which have deep and powerful harmonic tones and overtones.

These modern bowls contain within them the original intention behind the creation of the ancient Tibetan singing bowls. Therefore it is this original intention or blueprint which can be developed with the use of either Tibetan mantra, chanted into the bowl when played, or the adding of ‘Djwal Khul’ aura-soma quintessence (which invokes the Tibetan ascended master and contains the enlightened wisdom of ancient Tibet).

The intention which you give to these bowls plays an important role and with the intention of honouring and devoting your work to the ancient Tibetan masters and makers of these beautiful instruments you will invoke this ancient energy into your bowls.