Prostration

There is a tradition in many societies and cultures of bowing as a sign of respect. We bow or curtsy to the Queen, Catholics genuflect when they enter a church and we lower our gaze when a funeral cortege drives past. Eastern cultures and societies have a tradition of prostrating, which is, in effect, extreme bowing.

Prostrations involve touching our forehead on the ground and are performed both as a mark of respect and to help develop humility. So if we entered a Buddhist temple, we would prostrate to the statue of the Buddha at the front to show respect and develop humility. If we had a little personal shrine at home we may also prostrate to our Buddha statue, for the same reasons.

Man prostrating

You’re not prostrating to the statue to get a metaphorical pat on the head from an invisible being. It’s to teach you humility and remind you so that there are things much more important than you around who are also suffering more than you are.

Prostrations can also be used as a form of penance, or ritual cleansing. If we have built up negative karma which we wish to rid ourselves of, we may choose to perform a number of prostrations (such as 100) to help reduce the effect of, or even rid ourselves completely of, the effect the negative karma will have on us.

Prostrations can also be done in a group

When Westerners see people from the East or Muslims bending down to ‘kiss the ground’, we are missing the point. They are actually prostrating to develop respect and humility. There was an instance recently when the Pakistan cricket team toured England. Whenever a Pakistani batsman reached a significant milestone, such as scoring 50 or 100 runs, they would bend down and kiss the ground, or at least that’s how it was reported by the commentators. What they were actually doing was prostrating to Allah. They were thanking Allah for granting them the good fortune to achieve such a high score and dedicating it to his glory. It also shows how we can completely miss the point of something if we approach it with our own prejudices and opinions, rather than considering the perspective of the person doing it.

Prostrations can be physical or mental. We don’t actually have to get down on our hands and knees. We could make a symbolic bow of the head or imagine ourself doing it. The effect is the same as it’s about training the mind.