Buddhism: Prostrations Part II

The Venerable Thubten Chodron physically demonstrates how prostrations are done.

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People & Blogs

Tags:

• buddhism
• prostrations
• religion
• spirituality
• meditation
• tibet

[afrogirlandfamily]

I love how you talk. your voice is so soothing and sounds as if you're peaceful

[lisamann]

This is very good instruction! Hope it is helping people do these prostrations without hurting themselves!

[maiashakti]

Thank you so much for giving us these instructive and peace-filled videos. Prostration practice helps us to see past the duality of mental vs. physical, and to appreciate our selves and the universe with deepened holistic insight. Tashi delek, to all!

[ruzickaw]

@ChironWapitiIndus Prostrating to the Buddha as a form of respect and greeting , is one thing.

But what the Tibetan monks are doing with their countless prostration has nothing to do with Buddhism.

As a gymnastic it is ok., because just sitting and meditating, and sitting and chanting without doing any bodily work makes people weak.

They lose contact with the earth and get lost in abstruse mind games.

[ChironWapitiIndus]

@ruzickaw All sects, (at least all that I'm familiar with) including Zen, Tibetan, and Theravada, have some sort of prostration practice. In the earliest Buddhist writings there are several instances of people prostrating to the Buddha while he was still alive. Of course, the different sects all prostrate in different ways.

[ruzickaw]

Could you explain me where the psychology fits into this tool? I see it just as gymnastics.

[LazarusRemains]

@ruzickaw The word 'distortion' implies that Buddhism is a fixed phenomenon - infact, like all traditions, it is constantly in change, so while I don't think the Buddha himself did this practice, that really has no bearing on whether the practice is helpful or not.

Sometimes people think that Theravada must be the most 'pure' Buddhism, since it is closer to what the Buddha taught, but all traditions share common theory, only differing in their tools. Prostrations are a psychological tool.

[ruzickaw]

Did the Buddha ever do prostrations or is it just a Tibetan distorsion?

[lamrimeater]

@tangenss Previous buddhas and Bodhisattvas!

[HotelCA83]

Doing this will prevent prostrate cancer.

[ChopstickTech]

@Irtidad It is Tibetan Buddhism, there are differences in practice from Theravada.