Ancient Bowls, New Bowls

The other day a friend of mine was raving about the sound meditations offered by a friend of hers. The person in question is a sweet, open hearted being who offers these meditations from a place of great authenticity. He uses new bowls. For most of the people who attend the meditations, they are the only bowls they have ever heard. I invited my friend to experience as sound healing session at my home. She was speechless. Never had she heard such magnificent tones and harmonics. Not just that, she felt the energy of the blessings and mantras offered by the monks during the making of the bowls. This is part of their inheritance and it is infinate in nature. My friend began to stutter and smatter about how completely different the experience was.. and she really "got it" about the energetic, tonal and experiential difference between the old bowls, made for consciousness transformation and healing, and new bowls, often machine made and made for commerce. It was obvious.

People are always wanting to get a lot of bowls at a cheap price. I maintain that one old bowl of high quality is so much more than several newer ones. The students that come to my school often want an entire set of bowls right away. I suggest they get no more than three high quality ones to work with for a while.To really develop a relationship with a few good bowls takes time. That is not to say that all old bowls are good. Today there are less and less high quality ancient bowls available. There is so much one must take into consideration when purchasing a bowl. Does the vendor have a direct relationship with the supplier in Nepal or Tibet. If so, for how long. Was the bowl purchased from a wholesaler in the USA who brings in other products? I get my bowls from a Tibetan Buddhist who has a 30 year relationship with the Tibetans and goes over there to maintain that relationship on a regular basis. This is so important to establishing trust and being sure that we get the best of the best instruments.