In this chapter, I will explain a third technique of meditation, one that is used as a preparatory exercise before the walking and sitting meditation. This technique is called mindful prostration.
Prostration is something with which practitioners of various religious traditions around the world are quite familiar. In Thailand, for instance, prostration is used as a means of paying respect to one's parents, teachers or figures of religious reverence. In other religious traditions prostration may be used as a form of worship towards an object of worship – a god, an angel, or some saintly figure, for example.
In this meditation tradition, the prostration is in one sense a means of paying respect to the meditation practice itself. So, besides serving as a preparatory exercise, it can also be thought of as a means of creating humble and sincere appreciation of the meditation we are about to practice, reminding us that meditation is not just a hobby or pastime, but rather an important training, worthy of sincere appreciation. Since we intend to incorporate the practice into our lives and make it a part of who we are, it is helpful to remind ourselves of this fact by taking the meditation practice as an object of reverence.
So when we prostrate, we are not worshipping a deity or bowing down to an individual entity of any sort. Prostration is simply a way of paying respect to the practice itself and developing humility and sincerity at the outset. Also, as mentioned, it is a useful preparatory exercise, since it forces us to pay very close attention to the movements of the body as we perform the prostrations.
The technique of mindful prostration is performed as follows:
1. One begins by sitting on the knees, traditionally on the toes (A) [1], but if this is uncomfortable you can also sit down on the tops of your feet (B), or as is most comfortable for you.
2. The hands are placed palm down on the thighs (1), the back is straight, and the eyes are open.
Start by turning the right hand ninety degrees on the thigh until that the thumb is on top, with the mind focused on the movement of the hand. As the hand begins to turn, say to yourself, in the mind, ‘turning’. When the hand is halfway through the turning motion, say again ‘turning’, and when the hand completes the movement, say a third time ‘turning’ (2). We repeat the word three times, in order to remain fully aware of the motion throughout all three periods - the beginning, middle and end.
Next, raise the right hand to the chest, stopping right before the thumb touches the chest, saying ‘raising, raising, raising’ (3). Then touch the edge thumb to the chest, saying ‘touching, touching, touching’ (4), three times with the thumb touching the chest. Then repeat this sequence with the left hand, ‘turning, turning, turning’ (5), ‘raising, raising, raising’ (6), ‘touching, touching, touching’ (7). The left hand should touch not only the chest, but also the right hand, palm to palm.
Next, bring both hands up to the forehead, saying ‘raising, raising, raising' as you the hands (8), and 'touching, touching, touching’ when the edges of the thumb touch the forehead (9). Then bring the hands back down to the chest, repeating to yourself ‘lowering, lowering, lowering' (10), 'touching, touching, touching’ (11).
Next, comes the actual prostration. First bend the back to a forty-five degree angle, saying ‘bending, bending, bending’ (12) as you do so. Then lower the right hand to the floor in front, saying ‘lowering, lowering, lowering' (13), 'touching, touching, touching’, still keeping it at a ninety degree angle to the floor (14), this time with the edge of the little finger touching the floor. Finally, turn the hand palm down to cover the floor, saying in your mind 'covering, covering, covering' (15). Then do the same with the left hand – ‘lowering, lowering, lowering' (16), 'touching, touching, touching’ (17), 'covering, covering, covering' (18). The hands should now be side by side with the thumbs touching; the hands should not be too close together, approximately four inches between index fingers.
Next, lower the head to touch the thumbs, saying ‘bending, bending, bending’ as you bend the back (19) and 'touching, touching, touching’ when the forehead actually touches the thumbs (20). Then raise the back again until the arms are straight, saying ‘raising, raising, raising’ (21). This is the first prostration.
Once the arms are straight, we start all over a second time, this time with the hands on the floor, saying as we turn the right hand, ‘turning, turning, turning’ (22), then ‘raising, raising, raising’ (23), ‘touching, touching, touching’ (24). Then the left hand, ‘turning, turning, turning’ (25), ‘raising, raising, raising’ (26), ‘touching, touching, touching’ (27). As we raise the left hand this time, though, we must also raise the back from a forty-five degree angle to a straight upright position. We need not acknowledge this movement separately; simply straighten the back as you lift the right hand to the chest (see 26).
Then raise both hands up to the forehead again, saying in the mind, ‘raising, raising, raising' (28), 'touching, touching, touching’ (29), and down to the chest again, ‘lowering, lowering, lowering' (30), 'touching, touching, touching’ (31). Then bend the back again, ‘bending, bending, bending’. [2] Then lower the hands again one by one, ‘lowering, lowering, lowering', 'touching, touching, touching’, 'covering, covering, covering', ‘lowering, lowering, lowering', 'touching, touching, touching’, 'covering, covering, covering'. Then touching the thumbs with the forehead, ‘bending, bending, bending’, 'touching, touching, touching’, and back up again, ‘raising, raising, raising’. This is the second prostration, after which a third prostration should be performed exactly the same way, repeating the above one more time from (22).
After the third prostration we come up from the floor with the right hand as usual, ‘turning, turning, turning’, ‘raising, raising, raising’, ‘touching, touching, touching’, and the left hand, ‘turning, turning, turning’, ‘raising, raising, raising’, ‘touching, touching, touching’. Then we bring the hands up to the forehead again as before, ‘raising, raising, raising'. 'touching, touching, touching’, and back down to the chest, ‘lowering, lowering, lowering', 'touching, touching, touching’. This time, however, instead of bending to do a fourth prostration, we bring the hands down one at a time to rest on the thighs, returning them to their original position. So, starting with the right hand, we say in the mind, ‘lowering, lowering, lowering' (32), 'touching, touching, touching’ (33), 'covering, covering, covering' (34), and then the left hand, ‘lowering, lowering, lowering' (35), 'touching, touching, touching’ (36), 'covering, covering, covering' (37).
Once we finish the prostrations, we continue on with the walking meditation and then finally the sitting meditation. Again, it is important that once you finish the prostrations you maintain mindfulness into the walking meditation, not standing up hastily or unmindfully. Before you begin to stand, you should acknowledge to yourself ‘sitting, sitting’ (38), and then ‘standing, standing’ as you go to stand up (39). Once you are standing, continue immediately with the walking meditation so that your clear awareness of the present moment is constant. In this way, the mindful prostration will act as a support for the walking meditation just as the walking meditation acts as a support for the sitting meditation.
Once one has completed all three meditation techniques, the meditator is instructed to rest for a short time and then, in the case of an intensive meditation course, continue with another round, practicing round after round for the duration of the lesson, normally one twenty-four hour period. Once this period is over, one should seek out one's teacher to be given the next lesson, at which point more detailed walking and sitting practice may be given. Since this book is aimed towards giving the basics of meditation, advanced lessons will not be discussed herein. One should seek such guidance from a qualified instructor after undertaking these basic practices in the manner proscribed for a suitable period of time. If one is unable to enter a meditation course, one may begin by practicing these techniques once or twice a day and contacting a teacher on a weekly or monthly basis to obtain new lessons at a more gradual pace, according to a regimen agreed upon between teacher and student.
This concludes my explanation of the formal meditation practice; in the next and final chapter I will discuss how to incorporate the concepts learned in this book into one's daily life. Thank you again for your interest, and again I wish you peace, happiness and clarity of mind.
Notes:
[1] Parenthesis indicates a corresponding illustration in the appendix.
[2] From here, the technique is the same as illustrations 12 to 31, repeated twice more.
Yuttadhammo
thanks!