“The Buddhist practice of bowing to the Buddha diminishes one’s habits of self-importance, pride, and arrogance. It is also a good physical exercise that can make the body strong.…” (WM 38)

“Bowing is an important practice in Buddhism. It involves a full prostration— the placing of the forehead, forearms, and knees on the ground in a total gesture of reverence and of worship. It is usually done before an image of the Buddha, Bodhisattva, sage, or before a holy text. It is a misconception, though, to think that the worshipper is bowing to a statue of the Buddha, to a wooden or stone or clay image. The Buddha we bow to is the Buddha inside our true minds, the pure, good, and perfect spiritual nature that has no shape or form. Images of the Buddha are simply symbols of the real thing.” (PDS (Feb. 1984) 4)

Seven Ways to Bow---“There are seven different ways that people bow to the Buddha:

“1) The first is ‘arrogant bowing,’ and describes a person who, although he or she bows to the Buddha, still has a mark of a self. When someone like this bows to the Buddha, it is forced and is accompanied by thoughts like this: ‘What am I doing bowing to the Buddha? Why do I have to bow to him?’ A person like this becomes annoyed at being forced to put his head down. He sees everyone else bowing and feels that if he does not bow along with them, he will stand out, and so out of embarrassment he bows to the Buddha. Although he bows, his mark of self is still not empty; on the contrary, he is filled with arrogance.

“2) The second kind of bowing is called ‘seeking fame.’ This category describes one who hears others praising a cultivator saying, ‘That person bows often and really cultivates vigorously; he bows to the Buddhas, he bows to sutras, and he bows repentance ceremonies. He is truly a diligent cultivator.’ Upon hearing the praise of this cultivator, he also wishes to be recognized as a cultivator, and so he begins to vigorously bow to the Buddha. Although he finds pleasure in bowing, he does not truly bow to the Buddha; he is bowing for recognition. He is seeking recognition as a cultivator, and the pleasure he finds is in that recognition and in his dreams of fame.

“3) The third is called ‘bowing with body and mind concurring’.…This describes a person who bows when he sees others bowing. In mindless imitation, both his body and his mind go along with what everyone else is doing. He doesn’t have the slightest concern as to whether bowing to the Buddha is beneficial or not, or whether it is reasonable or superstitious. Not seeking for recognition, he just follows along with everyone else, his body and mind concurring. This kind of bowing has no real benefits and no real faults.

“4) The fourth kind of bowing is called ‘wise and pure.’ ‘Wise’ refers to the functioning of wisdom, and ‘pure’ refers to the development of purity. This describes one who uses true wisdom to purify his body and mind. People who are wise use this method to bow to the Buddha, and by doing so, they purify the Three Karmas of body, mouth, and mind. “When someone uses this fourth method to bow to the Buddha, his bodily karma is correct inasmuch as he does not kill, steal, commit sexual misconduct, and so in this way his bodily karma is purified. When he uses this method to bow to the Buddha, he entertains no thoughts of greed, anger, or delusion; rather he possesses the wisdom born from single-mindedly and respectfully bowing to the Buddha, and so his karma of mind also becomes pure. When someone bows to the Buddha, he also recites the Buddha’s name, and by doing so, or by holding and reciting sutras and mantras, his mouth karma is also correct and devoid of any harsh speech, false speech, irresponsible speech or duplicity and is thereby purified. When the Three Karmas of body, mouth, and mind are pure, this is called ‘wise and pure bowing’ with which one uses true wisdom to bow to the Buddha.

“5) The fifth kind of bowing is called ‘pervading everywhere throughout the Dharma Realm’.…It describes one who, when bowing, contemplates: ‘Although I have not yet become a Buddha in body, the nature of my mind fills the Dharma Realm. As I bow before this one Buddha, I bow everywhere before all Buddhas. I am not just bowing before one Buddha; my transformation bodies bow before each Buddha, simultaneously making offerings to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.’

“Consider that ‘everything is made from the mind alone,’ and so one’s mind totally pervades the Dharma Realm. One’s bowing practice totally pervades the Dharma Realm. What is the Dharma Realm? All of the Great World Systems of a Billion Worlds (world systems) are contained within it. In fact, nothing is outside of the Dharma Realm. With this kind of bowing, you contemplate your respectful bowing pervading everywhere throughout the Dharma Realm.

“6) The sixth is called ‘sincerely cultivating proper contemplation.’ One who cultivates proper concentration is one who concentrates his mind and contemplates: ‘Bowing to the Buddha is bowing to the Buddhas of the Dharma Realm; bowing to the Buddhas of the Dharma Realm is just bowing to one Buddha.’ This is because ‘all Buddhas of the ten directions and the three periods of time share one Dharma body in common, and all Buddhas’ lands and ways are identical.’ A concentrated mind must be used to bow to the Buddha, to contemplate the Buddha, and to cultivate, so that you will not have polluted thoughts.

“It is not considered proper concentration if when you are bowing, your mind runs off to the movies, or to the race track, or goes off hunting, or to a dance hall, a bar, or a restaurant. You need not purchase a ticket for your mind to travel off in all directions. With no travel arrangements at all, suddenly it is in the heavens, and suddenly it is on earth. Sometimes your mind will fly off to New York and then for no apparent reason, it comes back to San Francisco... It is nothing more than polluted thought and is called deviant contemplation or improper contemplation. If you cultivate with proper contemplation, you will not have these polluted thoughts. You would bow to the Buddha with an undivided mind.

“‘Sincerely cultivating’ means that when you bow once, that surpasses one million bows made by someone who bows while having polluted thoughts. And so in cultivating, ‘when you reach the gate, you enter.’ You should understand this Dharma-door, because if you do not, then when you see others bowing to the Buddha, you will not bow the way they do but instead will think, ‘As soon as I’m finished bowing, I’m going to have a cup of coffee, or perhaps I’ll have a drink.’ People like that have no control over their minds, and after they have finished bowing, they run off to have a drink.

“The problem is that not only do they themselves go out to have a drink, but they drag everyone else out with them. That is really pitiful. That is not ‘cultivating purely with proper contemplation,’ but is a form of deviant contemplation, because if you have false thoughts while you are bowing, your worship is devoid of any merit and virtue.

“7) The seventh is called the ‘true mark of impartial bowing.’ It describes a person who bows and yet does not bow; who does not bow while he bows. When I say this, some of you are thinking, ‘You say we should bow and yet not bow, and not bow but yet bow. Therefore, if I don’t bow to the Buddha, wouldn’t I be bowing to the Buddha?’ That is not what I mean. With this kind of bowing, although you bow to the Buddha, you are not attached to a mark of bowing to the Buddha. You cannot distort the meaning and say that while you are not bowing to the Buddha, it counts as bowing to the Buddha. One who speaks like that is mentally disturbed.

“The ‘true mark of impartial bowing’ means that ‘I am bowing to the Buddha, I am impartially bowing to the Triple Jewel; I am reverent to the Buddha, reverent to the Dharma, and reverent to the Sangha. Although I bow in this way, I, nevertheless, do not think that I am bowing. ‘Not one thought is produced, nor is one thought destroyed.’ This is the Dharma of the ‘true mark of impartial bowing.’ It is a Dharma that involves neither coming into being nor ceasing to be: ‘When not even one thought arises, the entire substance appears.’ When you bow to the Buddha to the point that not even one thought is produced, you cause your body to manifest throughout the entire Dharma Realm. Although your body is bowing here, it is the same size as the Dharma Realm. This is just the true mark that has no mark. You bow until there are no people, no self, no living beings, and no life span. You become identical to the Dharma Realm. Your body is the Dharma Realm; the Dharma Realm is your body.

“Isn’t this wonderful? Before, your body was just a speck on Mount Sumeru, and Mount Sumeru was the size of a dust mote in the Dharma Realm. But when you reach the point of the ‘true appearance which has no appearance,’ Mount Sumeru is contained within your Dharma body. You now contain Mount Sumeru. Isn’t this wonderful? You contain absolutely everything; everything in the universe is contained within your nature, and you understand everything. The true mark of impartial bowing is an inconceivable state. If you can reach this state while bowing to the Buddha, can you then explain all of its wonderful aspects? No, they are ineffable.” (UW 19-23)

拜/禮拜/頂禮