Are you looking for a way to relax and clear negative emotions, an effective weight-loss method, or an exercise that engages the whole body and enhances wisdom? If your answer is “Yes,” why not try practicing prostration? This article will introduce you to prostration and the benefits of regularly making this ancient devotional discipline a part of your life. It will also guide you through the correct ways of practicing prostration, helping you understand its health benefits. Learn more to embark on achieving thorough purification of body and mind.
What Are Prostrations?
The practice of prostration originated in Tibetan Buddhism and is considered the most respectful homage-paying ritual in Buddhism, as well as an important method of spiritual cultivation. Bowing down to the buddhas and bodhisattvas with one’s entire body not only expresses sincerity and respect toward them but also helps eliminate arrogance and attachments within oneself. Most importantly, practicing prostration has significant effects regarding strengthening the body and mind, weight loss, and detoxification, and it also helps eliminate negative emotions and develop wisdom.
Guide to Mastering Prostration
When practicing prostration, it is advisable to wear loose and comfortable clothing, preferably soft, absorbent cotton attire. In addition, you can place a yoga mat on the floor to provide insulation and prevent chills from seeping into your body. It also serves as a nonslip cushion to avoid direct contact with the hard ground.
It is essential to have an object of veneration when practicing prostration, which can be a statue of the deity, buddha, or bodhisattva of your choice, or an image of your master. It is crucial not to prostrate to an empty space. Once the preparations are in place, you can begin the practice. Here is an introduction to the three-part movement sequence of prostration:
1. Empty Your Mind and Stand Straight
Start by standing in front of the object of veneration, eyes naturally open or slightly closed, palms pressed together, feeling respectful and grateful. You can visualize a beautiful, pure scene or empty your mind of thoughts, preparing for the practice with a calm and relaxed mindset.
2. Palms Together; Your Body, Speech, and Mind Are Pure
Next, stretch both arms to the sides with palms facing upward, slowly raising them above the head. Then, join the palms together again, moving downward, lightly touching the forehead, chin, and chest with the fingertips, and focusing on purifying body, speech, and mind.
3. Full-Body Prostration With Reverence
Gradually kneel, then support the body with both hands, slowly lowering the body until fully prostrated on the ground. After extending both arms forward, turn your palms to face upward; then gently touch the forehead to the ground three times. Then, raise both hands above the back of the head, join them together, lower the hands with palms facing down, and slowly rise to a standing position. This completes one full movement sequence of prostration.
Video Tutorial:Prostration: Grandmaster JinBodhi’s Instructional Guide
What Are the Benefits of Practicing Prostration?
Understanding the benefits of practicing prostration can provide motivation and goals for the practice. Practicing prostration is a form of gentle aerobic exercise effective for weight loss and body flexibility. Here are three benefits of practicing prostration:
1. Weight Loss, Detoxification, and Bowel-Movement Aid
Prostrating is a full-body exercise. During the practice, the continuous flow of movements, the bowing down and standing up, effectively engage all muscles, especially eliminating excess fat around the abdominal area. It also promotes intestinal peristalsis, aiding in digestion and bowel movement; drinking some room- temperature water before practicing can help flush out toxins, alleviate allergies, and boost immunity.
2. Stretching Muscles and Joints for Blood Circulation
Due to the lack of exercise, irregular habits, and frequent late nights common to the modern lifestyle, people often experience fatigue, weakness, and susceptibility to illness. Practicing prostration is an ideal choice for addressing these issues. The continuous prostration movements involve the entire spine, from the neck and thoracic cage to the lumbar vertebrae, along with major joints in the limbs, allowing muscles and joints to stretch. This promotes the circulation of blood and metabolism, which helps revitalize sedentary individuals and restore energy and vitality to their lives.
3. Eliminating Ego and Awakening Wisdom
Practicing prostration is an excellent method for eliminating ego and pride. When we prostrate and visualize the offering of our body, speech, and mind to the buddhas and bodhisattvas, it helps eliminate our ego, pride, and mental afflictions, leading to true inner purification. Additionally, repeatedly touching the forehead to the ground contributes to the development of wisdom, so that the practitioner can have a deeper understanding of the world and self-awareness, getting insight into the nature of things and therefore, solving the problems they encounter with greater ease.
Testimonials From Bodhi Meditation
Bodhi Meditation primarily focuses on teaching meditation worldwide with Bodhi Meditation Centers in over 10 countries, and regularly conducts group prostration practices. Participants are taught the specific movements and visualizations by Grandmaster JinBodhi. The combination of correct movements and special visualization techniques can bring tremendous benefits to both body and mind. Here are three testimonials regarding the benefits of practicing prostration:
1. Healing Cataracts by Practicing Prostrations | Beifang, Los Angeles Bodhi Meditation Center
I have a hereditary cataract. My father lost vision in one eye due to cataract surgery, so he was worried that another cataract surgery in the other eye would cause him total vision loss. After joining Bodhi Meditation, I wanted to do something for my father. Fortunately, I learned how to do prostration from Grandmaster JinBodhi and persisted in practicing it for two hours every day. At the same time, I repented, expressed gratitude, and prayed for my father. As a result, my father benefited immensely, and until his passing, he maintained his vision in one eye.
Through practicing prostration, I no longer need glasses, and the cataract that required surgery has healed without the need for an operation. Furthermore, I used to be afraid of going out at night and couldn’t see the road even with streetlights. Walking was challenging, and I would easily stumble. However, after I’d been practicing prostration for some time, one night, around 11 p.m., I was amazed that I could thread a needle and sew a button on my clothes under very dim light conditions. The effect of practicing prostration is truly miraculous!
2. Relief From Hemorrhoid Troubles Thanks to Prostrations | Tirong, Taipei Bodhi Meditation Center
I had hemorrhoids for six years, external hemorrhoids that would flare up every one or two months, causing a lot of bleeding and lasting for about 10 days each time. To say the least, it was very uncomfortable. The doctor prescribed a topical ointment, but the condition still recurred frequently.
Following a fellow practitioner’s recommendation, I started doing 36 repetitions each of the full prostration and half prostration every morning and have been doing so for four months. Miraculously, in these four months, I haven’t had a single episode of hemorrhoid flareup. I am truly overjoyed! Additionally, after completing the prostrations every morning, I feel that my mind is very clear.
3. Knee Pain Relieved Through Prostration | Tengkuo, Toronto Bodhi Meditation Center
My left knee had been in pain and swollen for five or six months, causing me to limp when walking. During a chanting class, Grandmaster JinBodhi said that when encountering obstacles, one should prostrate and repent more. So, I began reciting Buddhist sutras while doing prostration and repenting; I prayed to Grandmaster JinBodhi and the bodhisattvas to guide the souls I had harmed to be reborn in the Pure Land. One day, while doing prostration, I suddenly heard a “click” in my left knee, and the joint was unexpectedly restored. After I’d completed the class, the swelling and pain in my knee was noticeably reduced, and I experienced a great degree of recovery.
Practice Prostration With Grandmaster JinBodhi
Prostrating is not only an essential practice for mind cultivation but also an effective method for improving overall health. If you can incorporate practicing prostration into your daily life, it will significantly enhance your health and happiness. If you have any questions about practicing prostration or want to learn more, feel free to join classes at Bodhi Meditation or enroll in online courses through Bodhi Meditation College. Additionally, you may follow Grandmaster JinBodhi’s YouTube channel and Facebook page for more content related to physical and mental health.
Extra Reading:
How Should We Visualize While Prostrating to Awaken Wisdom?
Prostration: A Treasured Find for Fitness
More Testimonials: