What's with all the bowing?

At the end of meditation or yoga practice, it is common for the teacher to bow. Maybe you bow back, maybe you don’t, but it’s worth taking a look at the gesture in any case.

Bowing has actually become a semi-normal part of pop culture. I’ve seen politicians bow after making a speech, actors on sitcoms bowing to indicate some kind of affinity with yogadom, and pals who bow as a way of saying “hello”, “goodbye”, “good point”, or “awesome”.

While some might think of bowing as indicating an affinity for the worlds of eastern thought, others of us may find it a bit questionable, like, “why should I bow to you?” Isn’t bowing some kind of subservient gesture?

Well, who knows. But I thought I’d take this moment to say a few words about what I mean when I bow to you at the end of our practice.

Traditionally, bowing involves touching palms and lowering your head. It is quite beautiful. In my tradition of Shambhala Buddhism, we bow in a somewhat different way, with hands on thighs. This is called a “warrior’s bow.” It’s almost like you’re making of yourself an actual bow (as in bow-and-arrow) and in bending forward, you are releasing the arrow—of goodness, kindness, curiosity, bravery—the weapons in the warrior’s arsenal.

For our purpose, let’s look at the bow as consisting of three parts. Play around with this and see how it feels to you. If you would like to bow at the end of our practice, please give it a try. If bowing just feels too strange and foreign, by all means, do NOT give it a try.

The first part of our bow has a quality of gathering, or rising up…you touch in with what you aspire to. It could be gentleness, courage, joy, or greatness in any form. You could simply touch in with your basic, indestructible goodness. This is always an awesome start, maybe the best one of all. I am good. I am worthy. I am valuable. Like that.

The second part, the slight bend forward, has the quality of vulnerability, of giving. As you bend, you feel what you are offering and let it go. My teacher, Sakyong Mipham, describes this as like when treetops bend in the wind. You feel something and respond. As you go forward, there should be a quality of completely released.

The third part is when you rise back up. You haven’t held on to anything so there is a feeling of complete freshness, openness, and new beginning. Once again it is dawn, and once again the great sun rises in the East.

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categorized in: dharma, meditation, open heart project