Prostration (Buddhism)
A prostration (Pali: panipāta, Skt.: namas-kara, Ch.: 禮拜, lǐbài, Jp.: raihai) is a gesture used in Buddhist practice to show reverence to the Triple Gem (comprising the Buddha, his teachings, and the spiritual community) and other objects of veneration.
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Among Buddhists prostration is believed to be beneficial for practitioners for several reasons, including:
- an experience of giving or veneration
- an act to purify defilements, especially conceit
- a preparatory act for meditation
- an act that accumulates merit (see karma)
In contemporary Western Buddhism, some teachers use prostrations as a practice unto itself, while other teachers relegate prostrations to customary liturgical ritual, ancillary to meditation.
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