Bowing from the beginning

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  • Shonin
    Member
    • Apr 2009
    • 885

    Bowing from the beginning

    How and when do we bow during practice? Unless I missed it in the other thread. then just slap me and send me over there.

    Dave
  • will
    Member
    • Jun 2007
    • 2331

    #2
    Re: Bowing from the beginning

    Depends.

    Bowing has no real goal so...

    In monasteries, you Gassho someone when you meet them.

    You can do full prostration bows daily, or just do them during Sesshin or Zazenkai.

    I was going to let Jundo respond, but I'll talk anyway. Before Zazen, I bow to the Rupa, and then bow to the cushion. Sometimes I bow while on the cushion before sitting Zazen.

    You can gassho when entering or leaving a room, before eating, and before doing Samu or some kind of chores. It's really not a big deal.

    Gassho (there you go)

    W
    [size=85:z6oilzbt]
    To save all sentient beings, though beings are numberless.
    To penetrate reality, though reality is boundless.
    To transform all delusion, though delusions are immeasurable.
    To attain the enlightened way, a way non-attainable.
    [/size:z6oilzbt]

    Comment

    • will
      Member
      • Jun 2007
      • 2331

      #3
      Re: Bowing from the beginning

      After that post I noticed that I actually bow quite frequently.

      To set it down, here's when I bow:

      Entering/Leaving a room (including the washroom)
      Before eating
      To the Rupa (randomly, like when I get up from the computer)
      To the Rupa before sitting
      To the cushion before sitting
      At the end of Zazen period
      Getting up from Zazen
      Before doing chores
      And other times just random

      Sometimes it's a full Gassho, and sometimes it's just a quick one. Sometimes a nod of the head.


      W
      [size=85:z6oilzbt]
      To save all sentient beings, though beings are numberless.
      To penetrate reality, though reality is boundless.
      To transform all delusion, though delusions are immeasurable.
      To attain the enlightened way, a way non-attainable.
      [/size:z6oilzbt]

      Comment

      • Tobiishi
        Member
        • Jan 2009
        • 461

        #4
        Re: Bowing from the beginning

        I sit in different places depending on if my wife is asleep or at work, time of day, weather etc.- point being, I often have no buddha before me, so I pick some random thing, try to recognize my connection to it and bow to that. Yesterday I bowed reverently to a red plastic cup one of the kids left out.

        I have not had to do my sitting in the bathroom yet... :wink:

        gassho
        tobiishi
        It occurs to me that my attachment to this body is entirely arbitrary. All the evidence is subjective.

        Comment

        • will
          Member
          • Jun 2007
          • 2331

          #5
          Re: Bowing from the beginning

          It's funny. There's no goal to the bow, yet when we bow, we bow to the universe and the universe bows with us. That really sounds grand, but it's actually not like that. Bowing is as difficult to describe from a Zen point of view as any other thing we do (including Zazen).

          Someone might say that a bow is humility, but it's not quite like that. If we try to be humble, it's not really Zen practice. (To express the core of the inexpressible. Not through "our" action, but by allowing our self to be what we are at this moment. To allow Bigmind to flourish.)

          It all seems really fancy. It is, and it isn't.

          So, there might be humility in the bow, but it is not there because "we" try to do it. A bow can be a bow without us needing to force it.

          Zen is a path of non-discrimination.

          Gassho

          W
          [size=85:z6oilzbt]
          To save all sentient beings, though beings are numberless.
          To penetrate reality, though reality is boundless.
          To transform all delusion, though delusions are immeasurable.
          To attain the enlightened way, a way non-attainable.
          [/size:z6oilzbt]

          Comment

          • Shohei
            Member
            • Oct 2007
            • 2854

            #6
            Re: Bowing from the beginning

            /me bows to you all as he enters the conversation to say...

            lol, ^^ what they said and ... always an "and or plus" with me, lately... anywho
            In my head.. i bow plenty. No better way to say it but i bow in my head with my eyes to people. I sometimes bow by yielding some in conversation in which there is that drive to be acknowledged or right... shut my pie hole and mental bow. thanks for the lesson!

            When prior/during/after sitting i bow to the cats/the wall/noisy tv/universe/you guys and gals. I bow to the sitalongs (A coworker asked i was praying for the computer to work right :P),at lots and at nothing. @ work and such i dont often bow "out loud". some times i do. sometimes its an automatic Gassho

            If we try to be humble, it's not really Zen practice
            hehe not always! sometimes trying or "faking it" is a really good thing. sometimes.( i work with people as i provide services and goods to clients... believe me, i have had to try to be humble in that moment . after the moment had past and the client had left it got me to see who was really going to be more difficult and that was a bit humbling.

            Gassho (and bowing outloud towards you all, facing my screen.)
            Shohei

            Comment

            • Jundo
              Treeleaf Founder and Priest
              • Apr 2006
              • 40325

              #7
              Re: Bowing from the beginning

              Originally posted by ZenDave
              How and when do we bow during practice? Unless I missed it in the other thread. then just slap me and send me over there.

              Dave
              Hi,

              During our 4 hour Zazenkai tomorrow (Saturday, recorded version available thereafter), I will make it a point to try to talk through both the way of bowing and how to hold the hands (Gassho and Shashu). Basically, when walking through a Zen hall from place to place, hands are in Shashu. When greeting others (as Will says) you give a brief Gassho. Otherwise, just follow along.

              For Kinhin, we had some practice (and an explanation of Shashu) here.

              http://blog.beliefnet.com/treeleafzen/2 ... eat-4.html

              For full prostrations, follow along. However, we had some practice here in how to do it (position the hands and such)

              http://blog.beliefnet.com/treeleafzen/2 ... eat-3.html

              If you ever visit various Zen centers and temples, you will find that no two places do such things exactly alike (although everyone claims to be doing it the orthodox way, nobody is ever quite the same) ... so, when in Rome ...

              Gassho, Jundo
              ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

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