Tibetan ringing Bowl Featured

The alms bowl - along with the robes - is a necessary requisite to be eligible for ordination. Its primary use is to collect food and as such it is a very powerful reminder, for monastics and laity alike, of the renunciation taken up in pursuit of the holy life. The vinaya training means that monastics don't keep food beyond midday so every day begins anew and there is no certainty that food will be offered.

Bowls can be made of either clay or iron (this now includes stainless steel). Both of these would be 'fired'. In the time of the Buddha a clay bowl was fired twice to make sure it was properly hard. Iron bowls were fired five times to build up a carbon coating to prevent them from rusting. Although stainless steel bowls won't rust they are still fired (usually only once to 'discolour' them) and for a monk-to-be firing the bowl is part of the ordination rite-of-passage. This is often the occasion for an informal celebration at the fire with one's peers. Because of the delicacy (and replacement expense) of the early bowls there are many vinaya rules to ensure that they are well cared for [e.g. not scraping, banging or chipping them]. In some traditions junior monks will be given a clay bowl for their first five years to practically establish the care required and engender respect for the bowl as a symbol of the holy life.

Lotus and Buddha symbol pattern.

Material: Brass

Dimensions: 4"3/4Dx2"1/2H

Preparation Time: 2-3 working days

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