To buddhists and dharma practitioners, prostration is the most respectable ritual to the Buddha. Besides being a religious rite, what benefits does prostration bring to ordinary people? Based on my own experience in meditation, prostration brings many benefits including improvement in physical, mental and emotional health. The more advanced practitioners can even access the compassionate energy of the Buddha and Heavenly beings, receive their blessings and protection, and may even develop special Dharma power.
"The story of healing by a lama"
Enclosing the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, Tibet, is a street named Bakuo Street. In Tibetan Buddhism, prostrating in circumambulation of a temple is a form of meditation practice. Along this street of prostration, there was a lama who prostrated daily. His forehead had a bump, the size of half an egg- probably due to prolonged period of prostration and kowtows (knocking the forehead on the ground).
One day, a woman carrying a child who was unconscious came to seek assistance. She stopped a lama who passed by and pleaded, "Teacher, please help him. " The lama shook his head, "I am unable to help." He stroked the child's head and said, "I have blessed and wished him well." However, the child remained unconscious.
I pointed to the lama who was prostrating and told the woman, "Seek his help". She stopped the lama who was prostrating and said, "I plead to you, teacher! My child had been unconscious for several days and doctors could not cure nor find the cause, please help to heal him."
The lama replied, "I don't know healing, why do you come to me?" I said, "I saw Buddha and Buddha said you are able to heal. Place your hands on the child's head and try." So the lama did as told. "What do I do next? " he asked. "Have you seen the Buddha's light during prostration?" I asked and he replied yes. I told him, "Send the Buddha's light to the child."
The lama placed his hand on the child, and after a while, the child miraculously opened his eyes and started crying. The child had been unconscious and silent for several days, but now he was able to open his eyes and cry. The mother was overjoyed with tears. Ever since this incident, the lama could no longer prostrate at the same place. Whenever he appears, he would attract a huge crowd asking for healing.
Actually, this lama was a diligent meditation practitioner. Though he had acquired strong energy, he did not know how to make use of it. He was actually not an intelligent person, and also did not do well in his academic and Buddhism studies. Nor was he competent in the Buddhism rituals except prostration. His master had told him, "prostration helps to develop your wisdom, and you would be wiser in the next life. " In order to be a more intelligent person in his next life, the lama prostrated every day and kow-towed repeatedly. He lost count of the number of times he had prostrated and kow-towed. He would prostrate with every step, rise and continue with the next step of prostration. He would not skip any step, nor take a break till he completed the round. Over a long period of continued practice, he accumulated very strong energy.
So even for an ordinary person who is not intelligent at all, as long as he practices prostration diligently and sincerely, he will attain excellent results. We should refrain from high expectations initially, but instead begin with the objective of improving mental and physical health. Meditating in purity and calmness, our body will emanate auspicious energy and our mind will be clear and not confused. We will be able to view problems with broader perspective. With a broader mind, we will attain a clear purpose in life and direction. This will help us overcome ignorance and reduce mistakes in life.
「天天大禮拜，智慧身端莊。」
對於佛教徒和正在學佛的人來說，大禮拜是禮佛的最恭敬禮儀。除了宗教禮儀之外，大禮拜對平常人有哪些利益呢？就我自己的修行經驗而言，大禮拜有很多好處：有利於身體健康；有利於精神情緒健康和心性的提升；更深一層還可以溝通神佛慈悲的能量，獲得護祐加持，甚至產生一些超能力。
【喇嘛治病的故事】
西藏拉薩大昭寺的外面，有一條幾乎是圓形的街圍著寺廟的週邊，有人叫它八廓街、八角街、八廊街。在藏密修行當中，有一個方法是繞寺禮拜修行。在這條禮拜的街道上，有個天天禮拜的喇嘛，他的額頭鼓起來一塊肌肉像貼了半個鴨蛋——可能是磕頭磕出來的。有一天，一位懷抱昏迷不醒孩子的婦女焦急地求救，她拽住一個過路的喇嘛：「師父，求求你幫幫他。」喇嘛搖搖頭：「我幫不了啊。」摸摸孩子的頭：「我加持過了，祝福過了。」雖加持了，孩子仍然昏迷。
我指一指磕頭的喇嘛，告訴那位婦女：「找他去。」
她攔下那位做大禮拜的喇嘛：「求求你，師父！我的孩子昏迷不醒好幾天了，醫生治不了，也找不出毛病來，請幫著治一下吧！」
那個喇嘛回答：「我不會治病，你找我幹嘛？」
我說：「我看到佛說你會治病。你把手放在孩子頭上試看看。」
他放上去了。「那我接下來又怎麼辦啊？」
我問：「你在禮拜的時候看到佛的光了嗎？」
他說：「看到了啊。」
我說：「好啊，把佛的光送給孩子就好了。」
他把手放在那兒，真是奇跡！一會兒孩子就睜開眼睛「哇」地哭了，很多天這孩子沒睜眼也沒聲音了，睜開眼睛馬上就能哭出聲音來，媽媽高興得不會笑只會哭了。 這樣一來，他再也不能在那兒磕頭禮拜了，只要一露面，大家就「呼」地撲上去找他治病。
其實這個喇嘛是個實修的人，有很強的能量，只是不會利用而已。他腦子不聰明，讀書不行，學經也不行，做法事更不會，只能磕頭。他師父告訴他：磕頭就能開智慧，下輩子就聰明了。為了修來世變聰明，他每天在那兒磕呀磕，也數不清一天磕多少個。走一步，磕一個頭，站起來劃一道，再往前磕，絕不會作假，絕不會偷懶，長期的修行，讓他積累了很強的能量。
