Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.
Prostrations!
Irris
Explorer
Hey all! I was just doing some googly-eyed Googling and discovered
http://www.dharmaling.org/en/practices/29-prostrations
This answered a lot of questions I didn't even know I had! Reading stories and articles that mention prostrations, it was never very clear to me what exactly that entailed or why it was done. I'm also thinking about a visit to a temple soon and some of the proper etiquette has been daunting to absorb. Perhaps this will be of some help to other New Buddhists like me!
http://www.dharmaling.org/en/practices/29-prostrations
This answered a lot of questions I didn't even know I had! Reading stories and articles that mention prostrations, it was never very clear to me what exactly that entailed or why it was done. I'm also thinking about a visit to a temple soon and some of the proper etiquette has been daunting to absorb. Perhaps this will be of some help to other New Buddhists like me!
0
Comments
If bowing is meaningful to you personally, then bow. If not, then don't worry about it.
It is one of many expediency in practice to achieve the equalibrium of single-mind or Buddhahood. No bowing is nothing improper.
They are a powerful method for the development of dedication, humility, and bodhicitta.
I really love the reasoning behind why someone would do this. Getting rid of our pride concept can be a huge obstacle.
the more you do it the more you can remember and keep track of.
some people do thousands a day.
I used to do a large number of them a day when I was working on ngondro. at first it was very difficult both mentally and physically but like anything else, you get better with practice.
So is the speed pretty much the same as the drawing on the provided website? Just curious.
rather than the Om Ah Hung animation you should recite the refuge prayer when you do them. Its much faster in Tibetan than it is in English.
Prostrations are a universally beneficial practice in my opinion.
Would you say the whole thing loses meaning when it's done almost compulsively like that?
I was raised Catholic and we had to make the sign of the cross over our torso and head a lot, and over time, you just did it mechanically like a robot. No meaning or mindfulness of it at all. Just like the prayers we said at mass. Mindless reciting from memory.
Would you say these fall under this same category if done too much and too often?
I think it certainly can. It depends on the individual though. The practice itself has its benefits, its up to the practitioner to apply the practice correctly in order to reap them.
We're all awkward and clumsy the first few times we do something anyway
Absolutely!
If we are mindful and humble it will look beautiful anyway.
The speed of the prayer issue actually directly relates to our ability to maintain mindfulness and the visualization connected with the practice, its not about doing it fast or looking good. If we can time the prayer to flow rhythmically and in time with the physical exercise its much easier to maintain the visualization etc. Thats what you want to "get better" at. Doing the practice in a way that is correct and fruitful. Not just being able to do nice prostrations.
nonsense.
What is "sincerity of single-minded heart"?
What does that even mean?
Speed and rhythm allow the practitioner to maintain the proper mindfulness, visualization and motivation. Keeping a good rhythm and pace are conducive to the practice. The practice is about developing bodhicitta and diminishing ego clinging, not "sincerity of single-minded heart".