There are three types of prostrations presented at Amidaji temple:
1)
Half
body prostration from sitting
2)
Half
body prostration from standing
3)
Full
body prostration from standing
1)
Half body
prostration from sitting
We place our hands in gassho on the
crown of our head, at the forehead, at the throat level, and at the level of
the heart. Then we bow with our head touching the ground and our palms facing
upwards. We slightly raise our palms and we keep them there for a few seconds.
We do this three times and at the end we bow with our hands in gassho from
sitting.
2)
Half body
prostration from standing
We place our hands in gassho on the
crown of our head, at the forehead, at the throat level, and at the level of
the heart. Then we crouch and we bow with our head touching the ground and our
palms facing upwards. We slightly raise our palms and we keep them there for a
few seconds. We do this three times and at the end we bow with our hands in gassho
from standing position.
3)
Full body
prostration from standing
We place our hands in gassho on the
crown of our head, at the forehead, at the throat level, and at the level of
the heart. Then we lie down with all body touching the ground. We raise our
palms on the crown of our heads and we keep them there for a few seconds. We do
this three times and at the end we bow with our hands in gassho from standing
position.
All
the time we do these prostrations we continually say Nembutsu, especially when
we touch the crown of our head, the forehead, the throat, the heart, when we
raise our palms facing upwards in the first two prostrations, and when we
finish any type of prostration with the final bow.
The significance
of the gestures:
All
three types of prostrations are addressed to Amida Buddha.
Placing
our hands in gassho on the crown of our head means that we consider Amida
Buddha and Amida Dharma above ourselves,
and above everything, that He is the most important (Enlightened) Person in our
religious life, and that we rely exclusively on Him. To put Amida Buddha there,
on the highest part of our body is the highest gesture of respect.
Then,
when we place our hands in gassho at the level of our forehead we mean we
worship Amida Buddha with our mind, at the throat level – we worship Him with
our voice, at the heart level – we worship Him with our heart and when we
prostrate fully or partially – we worship Him with our body and entire being.
Raising
the hands with palms facing upwards is like lifting the Buddha's feet above our
head, which is another profound gesture of worship and respect.
Of course, these three types of prostrations are not mandatory as simple faith and Nembutsu are enough. However, I post them here just in case you would like to use them at home in your daily devotions. Sometimes we use them at the temple, too.
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