By Bowing We Are Giving Up Ourselves

After zazen we bow to the floor nine times. By bowing we are giving up ourselves. To give up ourselves means to give up our dualistic ideas. So there is no difference between zazen practice and bowing. Usually to bow means to pay our respects to something which is more worthy of respect than ourselves. But when you bow to Buddha you should have no idea of Buddha, you just become one with Buddha, you are already Buddha himself. When you become one with Buddha, one with everything that exists, you find the true meaning of being. When you forget all your dualistic ideas, everything becomes your teacher, and everything can be the object of worship.

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If you do not have a firm conviction of big mind in your practice, your bow will be dualistic. When you are just yourself, you bow to yourself in its true sense, and you are one with everything. Only when you are you yourself can you bow to everything in its true sense. Bowing is a very serious practice. You should be prepared to bow even in your last moment; when you cannot do anything except bow, you should do it. This kind of conviction is necessary. Bow with this spirit and all the precepts, all the teachings are yours, and you will posess everything within your big mind.

Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, “Bowing” passage from Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind

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Some Buddhists bow more than others; I happen to bow a lot. It’s a central part of practice, a way to embody respect, humility and love — a way of saying “yes” — even as we face the mysteries of existence. The Zen teacher Dogen said that “As long as there is true bowing, the Way of the Buddha will not deteriorate.”

Every morning before I do anything else, and every evening before I retire, I bow before the Butsudan, or altar. It is a way to take refuge and remind myself that no matter how well or how badly the day goes or has gone, the ground of my being in this transient life is a source of compassion, creativity, and connection. It reminds me that my self-worth is not based on what happens or doesn’t happen, what I do or don’t do, what I have or don’t have.

Bowing is a mindful movement that brings physicality into our practice. In my ministry, bowing before people is a way to embody the fact that we are interconnected and reminds me to see the face of the Buddha in those that I serve, moving me beyond the boundaries of my personal limitations.

“Why do Buddhists bow so much?”

By Tony Stultz| July 10, 2017, Lion's Roar