Singing Bowl History: an alternative view

Singing bowls have been made all across Asia for 1,000 years. The bowls featured in The Singing Bowl Museum are mostly from Nepal. They are commonly referred to as Tibetan singing bowls or Himalayan singing bowls. Various other types of singing bowls were produced in China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.

In The Singing Bowl Book, I theorize that most of the bowls from China were likely destroyed during their cultural revolution. This is evident from the lack of Chinese singing bowls and the fact that most singing bowls from China have been found in other countries, having been brought out of China decades ago.

Singing bowls are ubiquitous in Japan. They are found in every temple and on most home shrines. Antique Japanese bowls are rarely found for sale. One Japanese antique expert told me, "to us that would be like selling a family gravestone. It's a spiritual object and does not leave the family."

Zen and other Mahayana sects in other countries, like Vietnam, also use singing bowls. However, the bowls from the Theravada countries Cambodia, Thailand and Laos no longer use singing bowls. Their bowls are locked in museums and temple storerooms, unused and collecting dust. They may have been used as begging bowls or the popular water sprinkling bowls in those countries.

The Himalayan singing bowls also seem to have gone through a long period of disuse, to be rediscovered in the late 20th century. 

Singing bowls are not part of traditional Tibetan Buddhist practice as many people believe. The ancient singing bowls may have been used by Theravada or Mahayana sects that no longer exist in Nepal. The bowls were stored for many years by families traditionally associated with their trade. The practice of using singing bowls in Tibetan Buddhist practice is a recent trend.

Singing bowls were first brought to America in the 1960s with the teachings of Zen master Suzuki Roshi. They began to be used in Tibetan meditation practices in 1971 when Chogyam Trungpa introduced them to the Shambhala Meditation Centers he founded throughout the USA. Trungpa actually learned the tradition from Suzuki Roshi.

Singing bowls were not used in Vajrayana practice. Even when I began studying Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal, singing bowls were not used. They were only adopted in recent years, growing in popularity after 2010. A singing bowl even appeared on the puja table of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, who openly chastised me about singing bowls, discrediting them with a laugh.

The insistence that singing bowls be considered part of Tibetan culture and Tibetan Buddhism has mostly come from the outside. However, their adoption could only happen if they were actually beloved and useful in the practice, just as they are in so many places. Today they are commonly used in Tibetan centers as they are in other sects: to begin and end the period of silent meditation.

Rather than the common internet myth that singing bowls are an ancient part of Tibetan Buddhism, the actual history seems more complex with singing bowls only used by certain sects, coming in and out of favor during different periods of time.

They became more widely known as the Shambhala centers spread. In 1974, Dorje Lama opened The Tibet Shop in San Francisco. This was the first retail store to sell singing bowls. Karma Moffett, long time singing bowl recording artist and Bay Area icon, worked at The Tibet Shop for years and became one of the first recording artists and collectors. I bought my first antique singing bowls from Karma in 1998. 

As Tibetan import shops became more widespread, singing bowls were one of the favorite import items. The misnomer Tibetan singing bowl probably comes from the fact that they were sold in Tibetan gift shops around the world for the first few decades. 

Dorje Lama and Karma actually bought their singing bowls from another importer, an unnamed woman who began the singing bowl trade in Northern California. Dealers in Southern California and New York came in the 1980s. By the 1990s, Canada, Chicago, Boston and other places had antique dealers who also sold singing bowls. The trade was picking up and new bowls were being produced.

Similar trends were happening in Germany and Holland, where there was a great interest in the healing potential of sound instruments and the mysticism of Tibetan culture.

By the time I launched Himalayan Bowls in 2001, the Asian antique market was already largely dried up. There were very few quality Himalayan antiques left of any kind. The dealers at the Asian antique shows had few items of real beauty or value. They sat in sparse halls complaining that things used to be so much better. Antique stores were closing down and new warehouses were opening up with reproduction furniture rather than real antiques. The Tibetan shops were selling brand new items but calling them “old,” meaning “old style.” This caused a lot of confusion and skepticism from their customers. 

In a climate of low supply and confused information, I was actually very fortunate to be able to get into the antiques. While something like an antique handbell was extremely difficult to find, I had access to hundreds of singing bowls at a time. 

While other dealers bought a few pieces at a time, I bought every bowl I could get. I invested my life savings into the singing bowls, more than once. I had another career teaching university as well as a successful private practice helping special needs children. I was making money and it was time to invest. I chose to invest in the bowls. My personal collection and the large buying trips became the basis for the museum. Until my last buying trip at the end of 2014, I bought every great singing bowl that was available in Nepal, plus kept up on what other dealers were selling so I did not miss anything for the museum collection.

In the years since, new singing bowls have become hugely popular. Most people can’t afford a fine antique so it is great that the quality of the new bowls has improved. The quality of hand hammered bronze bowls has steadily increased over the last 20 years. Thanks to my work and the work of other importers, the artisans in Nepal now produce a singing bowl better than any made in the past 200 years. They can’t make them like the fine examples in the museum, but maybe in the future they will.