Prostrations: body, speech and mind bowing together
Bow to a representation of the Buddha with joined palms and the body touching the ground — a short daily act of respect, and one of the ngöndro practices.
Why it works
Alexander Berzin presents prostration as something done before every meditation session and, on his teacher Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey’s advice, three times on waking and before sleep, to set the intention for the day. In the short form described in the lamrim texts the palms are joined with the thumbs inside, for method and wisdom, and touched to the crown, forehead, throat and heart — each linked with a quality of a buddha’s body, speech and mind — before the body touches the ground at seven points: hands, knees, feet and forehead. He stresses that physical prostration should be joined by verbal and mental prostration — words of praise and an attitude of respect — so the gesture carries an intention rather than being exercise. In ngöndro, prostration is repeated, usually 100,000 times, to build positive force and cleanse negative force before tantric practice.
How to do it
- Set up a simple representation of the Buddha — a picture or statue — somewhere clean.
- Stand with palms joined, thumbs tucked inside. Touch them to the crown of the head, the forehead, the throat and the heart.
- Bring the hands, knees, feet and forehead to the ground, then get up promptly and stand straight, as Berzin’s account advises.
- Do three. As you bow, let the words and the attitude match the body: respect for what the Buddha represents, and the wish to develop those qualities.
- Try three on waking and three before sleep for a week, keeping them unhurried and private if those around you would find them strange.
- Adapt to what your body allows, and if you want to undertake ngöndro prostrations, receive the practice and its verses from a teacher of your lineage.
Evidence
The short prostration with four points and seven points of contact, the advice to prostrate before sessions and at waking and sleeping, and the threefold physical, verbal and mental prostration are from Berzin’s teaching on the six preparatory practices. Study Buddhism’s glossary defines ngöndro as practices such as prostration usually repeated 100,000 times, and Berzin notes that all four schools ask for it, with different verses and counts, and that Sakya, Nyingma and Kagyu tend to do it earlier in training than Gelug. (anecdotal)
Berzin notes there are variants of the gesture across texts and lineages. Prostration as a devotional practice has not been studied; the physical demands of full prostrations are real, so pace yourself and ask about alternatives if you have knee or back limits.
Sources
- Berzin, A. A Proper Seat, Prostration and Sitting Posture — The Six Preparatory Practices before Meditation. Study Buddhism (Berzin Archives).
- Study Buddhism Glossary. “Ngondro” (preliminary practices, such as prostration, usually repeated 100,000 times).
- Berzin, A. How Do the Tibetan Buddhist Traditions Differ? (monastic lineage, study, ritual and meditation, emptiness, perception). Study Buddhism (Berzin Archives).
Common mistake
Turning prostrations into a workout or a race toward 100,000 on your own. The tradition treats the count as part of a teacher-guided ngöndro, and treats the attitude behind each bow as what makes it a prostration at all.
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