Why Doing Prostration?

In Tibetan Buddhist tradition, there are two forms of prostration. They are: short and full prostrations. 

(1) It helps to overcome from your ego and deluded pride, and makes you peaceful and humble. 

(2) In short prostration you touch the five points of your body on the ground - forehead, two hands, and two knees. 

(3) In full prostration you lay down your whole body on the ground like a tree trunk falling on the ground. It is best to ask your teacher to teach on how doing it properly and traditionally. 

When is the right time to make Prostration?

You can do at any time of the day or night. However, doing prostration on a particularly sacred or holy day is extremely powerful and effective. Due to the sacredness of the day, the merit or virtue created through the practice of prostration becomes much more powerful. 

It is said in the Sutra that your merit and virtue become a thousand times stronger compared to the rest of the time. So, doing more prostration on a sacred day is important. For instance, doing more prostration on the day of a full moon generates greater merit. 

What should one recite when making prostrations 

There are several mantras, and prayers that one can recite while doing prostrations. Your mind must be filled with mantra sound or mantra syllables. Or one should recite the following mantras mindfully with a feeling of respect and humility. Also, one should have a feeling of regret towards the negative actions that one has committed in the past followed by a firm resolution and feelings of admiration to enlightened beings’ spiritual qualities.

Mantras.

(1) Tayatha - Om Muni Muni Maha Muniyeh Soha  [ Sakyamuni Buddha ]

(2) Om Benza Sattva Hung Phet  [ Vajrasattva Bodhisattva ]

(3) Om Mani Pad Me Hum  [ Cherenzig / Avalokestisvara / Kuan Yin Pusa ]

(4) Om Ah Hung Benza Guru Padma Siddhi Hung [ Guru Rinpoche ]

One can recite any of the above mantras when you do prostration. It is important and highly beneficial when you employ your body, speech, and mind during the entire prostration time. Bodily perform the prostration, verbally recite the mantra, and mentally reflect on the meaning of the mantra. 

The benefit of making prostrations

The practice of Prostration is one of the most effective ways to generate merit and virtue. Doing prostration is not that difficult and painful. In general, there are many benefits to making prostrations. However, the following are some of the most prominent: 

• Purification of negativities and karmic obscurations created over the series of past and present lifetimes. 

• Accumulation of merit for uninterrupted spiritual growth and to gain swift spiritual realization.

• It implants the seeds of the three Kayas within your mind stream. 

• It helps to overcome from your ego and deluded pride, and makes you peaceful and humble. 

• It releases physical and mental tension and knots .

• It unblocks and clears out the psychic nervous system and other channels through which the vital energy flows.

• It creates lightness, agility, flexibility, or even suppleness in your body by getting rid of physical lethargic feelings. 

• It burns fats in your body and helps one lose weight. It also helps to increase your digestive function. 

• It cures many of the chronic illnesses primarily caused by karmic debts. 

• It reshapes your body and mind, since the prostrations are a good exercise in the ordinary sense, and in the ultimate sense it is a yogic training of body and mind to lay down the groundwork for a sound base for spiritual development.

You will most likely feel an incredible contrast in your body, speech, and mind subsequent to making  21 or 108 prostrations each day for two to three weeks.

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Aspiration For Bodhichitta
For those in whom the precious Bodhichitta has not arisen
May it arise and not decrease
But increase further and further.

Dedication of Merit
By this merit may we obtain omniscience then.
Having defeated the enemies wrong-doings.
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With its stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness and death.

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