Prostrations: Bodily Practices of Buddhist Liberation
Overview
A prostration is a set of movements that brings the body from a fully upright position to a completely prone position.
Buddhists throughout Tibet perform prostrations in a number of different contexts. Some Buddhist practitioners perform months or years’ worth of prostrations as part of pilgrimages, covering large distances and encountering enormous physical difficulties.
Other practitioners perform prostrations in small numbers when entering a temple, monastery or shrine or when meeting a revered teacher or encountering a particularly sacred object or teacher. This can be a sign of respect and deference.
Other practitioners perform large numbers of prostrations at sacred Buddhist sites, in retreats, in monasteries or in their homes. These more continuous prostration practices might last a few months, a few years or even decades, done alongside other practices. Large accumulations of prostrations are frequently performed during the Preliminary Practice (sngon ‘gro) accumulation period for novice monastics and dedicated lay practitioners in the Kagyu, Nyingma and Sakya schools of Tibetan Buddhism, or as part of confessional practices such as the 35 Confession Buddhas from the Sutra of the Three Heaps (phung po gsum pa’i mdo).
Viewing: “Shakyamuni Buddha – with the 35 Buddhas of Confession” from Himalayan Art Resource
In this unit, you will come to understand the place of prostrations as they are utilized in various Tibetan Buddhist contexts, experience the physical practice of prostration, and finally, reflect on the connections between the physical practices of prostration and Tibetan Buddhist mind-training.
Assignment
Readings:
Dza Patrul, Words of My Perfect Teacher, “Prostration, the Antidote to Pride” pg. 317-321.
Kati Fitzgerald, “Preliminary Practices: Bloody Knees, Calloused Palms and the Transformative Nature of Women’s Labor” Religions.
Viewings
Embodied Experience
Perform 108 Prostrations at your own pace.
*** If you have any concerns, physical, mental or otherwise, about completing the practice, you might consider experimenting with these modifications: go slowly and take breaks, complete the practice while seated and visualize yourself performing the physical practice, use a combination of the above methods.
Reflection
What did you feel in your body? Did that experience change through the exercise? What did you encounter in your mind? Did this change throughout the exercise?
Discussion Questions
After completing the readings, watching the videos, viewing the images, and writing your reflection, gather together as a group. Share your reflections and experiences and then consider using the following questions to generate discussion.
- Are prostrations difficult? What is the relationship between exertion and liberation? Why do Buddhists bother to do difficult things?
- Consider reading passages from:
- Gampopa’s Jewel Ornament of Liberation (dam chos yid bzhin nor bu thar pa rin po che’i rgyan); Chapter 14: The Perfection of Patience (85-89) and Chapter 15: The Perfection of Perseverance (pg. 90-93)
- Shantideva’s A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life (byang chub sems dpa’i spyod pa la ‘jug pa); Chapter Six: The Perfection of Patience [Patience] & Chapter Seven: The Perfection of Zeal [Enthusiasm]
- What kinds of thoughts arise during prostration practice? Is meditative concentration more or less difficult for you when you are also engaged in rhythmic movement? What is the relationship between movement and meditation?
- What were you prostrating toward in your physical environment and/or your mind? What is the purpose of bowing down to a support of the dharma? What are practitioners really subduing themselves before?
- What was happening with your breathing during the prostrations? Were you able to control or regulate your breath? How does the breath operate as a conduit between the mind and body? Where is the mind really located?
Cite This Module
Kati Fitzgerald. 2026. “Prostrations: Bodily Practices of Buddhist Liberation.” In Stephanie Balkwill and Amy Langenberg (eds.), Buddhist Bodies Collective. https://buddhistbodies.com/378-2/practice-bodies/prostrations-bodily-practices-of-buddhist-liberation/
Author Bio: Kati Fitzgerald
Kati Fitzgerald is the Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Assistant Professor in the Religious Studies Program and the Department of Cultural Studies & Comparative Literature at the University of Minnesota. She holds a PhD in Comparative Studies from The Ohio State University and specializes in contemporary Tibetan religions. She uses primarily ethnographic methods in contemporary Tibet to understand the religious theories of everyday Buddhists.