Friday, November 11, 2005

buddhist bowing practice

one of the beautiful traditions in buddhist practice is bowing. i thought i'd share some of the reasons why bowing resonates with me, and how it cultivates peace, love, and gratitude within me. there are two types of bows. one is a half bow combined with gassho (hands together similar to namaste), and the other is a full bow to the floor.

in a half bow a person puts their two hands together in gassho, and bows at the waist lowering the head. this is used in zen practice all the time: when a person enters a zendo, faces their meditation cushion or the altar, before walking meditation, as a greeting, almost any time it feels right. the meaning of this is to communicate gratitude and to show recognition of the buddha nature within all of us.

lately i find myself spontaneously moved to bow to all kinds of people througout my day. i find this practice so beautiful, and so moving. i also know, from having people at the zendo bow to me, how powerful it is to be the recipient of a bow. it is like someone is acknowledging your deepest goodness, and giving you heartfelt respect. how infrequently does this type of thing happen in our culture? almost never. imagine if we all went around bowing to each other.

the other type of bow is more formal. one begins with the hands together in gassho and does a half bow, then continues down to a kneeling position. then the forehead touches the floor and both palms are raised upward, symbolizing the lifting up of one's buddha nature (or one's essential goodness). the act of touching the forehead to the floor is a way of symbolizing surrender of the ego. it also gives one a connection to the earth.

thich nhat hanh beautifully describes a full bow this way: we are individual waves on the water, but we are also the entirety of water. when we bow down we acknowledge our essential nature as water, surrendering to whatever form the water wants us to take. for me it is a way of touching that which is universal in me, and putting aside that which is individual.

i believe both of these practices help to inspire respect, gratitude, and an acknowledgement of our essential nature. and with this post i send out many, many bows to everyone!
Posted by Beth at 2:19 AM   

Comments:

Haiku,
Thank you for your wonderful explanation of the bow. It does give us some enlightenment to why the tradition was started and still remains. You are correct in the way it feels to give and receive the bow.
I fully bow to you and wish you peace and happiness.
Dave
# posted by Dave : Fri Nov 11, 02:57:22 AM HST
 
Funny, I've been catching myself bowing to people in daily life more and more lately (little "nod with hands to heart" bows). It always surprises me because I don't mean to do it. My intellect finds it kind of corny, but I guess my Spirit likes doing it, so whenever it catches me off guard...

As for the full, to the floor bow, reminds me of when I attempted Ngondro a few years back. It wound up being too much for my previously injured knees and back to take, but while it lasted I recall a feeling of disappearing into something beyond my body somewhere between bow number 74 and 100 each day. It is a full-being ritual, involving body, mind and spirit, in saying "yes, I am willing to surrender my belief in separation, just for this moment."

Freedom from clinging to the separate self is a critical aspect of being able to taste the sweetness of life. The life of a separate, isolated, competitive being is so threatened, frightened and empty. I bow to you so fully that I give myself away. I bow into you, in fact. Namaste.
# posted by Indigo : Fri Nov 11, 09:22:08 AM HST
 
Some years ago I was introduced to a weekly Taoism worship by my friend. After two or three weeks I stopped going because I didn't understand why they had to bow to start and bow to finish, and I felt uncomfortable, despite I liked the teachings. Last year I attended a meditation course tutored by a Buddhist monk. I thoroughly enjoyed the teachings but I was not sure about the bows. However I somewhat merged with the group in the end and bow like everyone else. I still didn't fully understand though why this ritual is so important. See no one ever explained to me!

Thanks Haiku for explaining. Now I can appreciate and respect bow more.
# posted by passioncity : Sat Nov 12, 09:29:46 AM HST
 
This is a superb post , and what great comments.
thank you all for your insights. it truly is amazing how natural bowing to another is. I love Indigo's comment that to our socialized minds it seems silly but spiritualy it just feels right.
(Gassho)
Bowing to the Buddha in you all, I can see his feet !
# posted by Johnny Newt : Thu Nov 17, 08:05:50 AM HST
 
Welcome Johnny. And yes, Haiku does have a way with words. Poetry in prose, with insight. Yum.
# posted by Indigo : Thu Nov 17, 06:08:17 PM HST
 
Great post by Haiku. Yes, accept, surrender and resurrect. Deep bows to all sentient beings.
# posted by greenbean : Mon Nov 21, 04:26:49 PM HST
 

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