A complete Buddhist practice, in my opinion, includes a prostration practice. Complete instructions on how to perform a prostration are found under the heading Prostrations under Advanced Zen. There you will also find a video of three very fast prostrations. We suggest preforming each prostration much slower.
To avoid the tedious process of counting fifty four prostrations as a part of our morning and evening practice, we can recite fifty four verses instead. Each prostration session then becomes a learning experience as we repeat the Taking Refuge verses, the Repentance Gatha, the Three General Resolutions, the Four Noble Truths, the Five Hindrances, the Eight Folds of the Eightfold Path, the Ten Cardinal Precepts, and the Twelve Nidayas.
Here’s a great (and funny) book about two monks who performed prostrations all the way from Los Angeles to The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in northern California:
News from True Cultivators: Letters to the Venerable Abbot Hua
All recitations are silent, inward, not spoken.
We begin with Taking Refuge.
With the first prostration, we recite:
I take refuge in the Buddha and resolve that with all beings I will understand the Great Way whereby the Buddha seed may forever thrive.
With the second prostration, we recite:
I take refuge in the Dharma and resolve that with all beings I will enter deeply into the sutra treasure whereby my wisdom may grow as vast as the ocean.
With the third prostration, recite:
I take refuge in the Sangha and in its wisdom, example, and never failing help, and resolve to live in harmony with all sentient beings.
With the fourth prostration, we recite:
For the second time, I take refuge in the Buddha and resolve that with all beings I will understand the Great Way whereby the Buddha seed may forever thrive.
With the fifth prostration, we recite:
For the second time, I take refuge in the Dharma and resolve that with all beings I will enter deeply into the sutra treasure whereby my wisdom may grow as vast as the ocean.
With the sixth prostration, we recite:
For the second time, I take refuge in the Sangha and in its wisdom, example, and never failing help, and resolve to live in harmony with all sentient beings.
With the seventh prostration, we recite:
For the third time, I take refuge in the Buddha and resolve that with all beings I will understand the Great Way whereby the Buddha seed may forever thrive.
With the eighth prostration, we recite:
For the third time, I take refuge in the Dharma and resolve that with all beings I will enter deeply into the sutra treasure whereby my wisdom may grow as vast as the ocean.
With the ninth prostration, we recite:
For the third time, I take refuge in the Sangha and in its wisdom, example, and never failing help, and resolve to live in harmony with all sentient beings.
Three repetitions of the Taking Refuge verses is traditional.
After we are used to nine prostrations and have memorized the Taking Refuge verses, we can gradually do more prostrations.
To increase our daily prostration practice from nine to twelve, we recite the Repentance Gatha three times.
With the tenth prostration, we recite:
All evil deeds committed by me since time immemorial, stemming from greed, anger and delusion, arising from body, speech and mind, I now repent having committed.
With the eleventh prostration, we recite:
For a second time, all evil deeds committed by me since time immemorial, stemming from greed, anger and delusion, arising from body, speech and mind, I now repent having committed.
With the twelfth prostration, we recite:
For a third time, all evil deeds committed by me since time immemorial, stemming from greed, anger and delusion, arising from body, speech and mind, I now repent having committed.
We can substitute “ignorance” for “delusion” if we prefer.
With the thirteenth prostration, we recite the Three General Resolutions (just the words, not the number, of course):
13. I resolve to avoid evil.
14. I resolve to do good.
15. I resolve to liberate all sentient beings.
We next recite the Four Noble Truths (ariya sacca). Re-word as desired.
16. All compounded things are unsatisfactory/dukkha.
17. Craving, tanha, conditioned by ignorance/avijja, is dukkha samudaya, the origin of dukkha.
18. Dukkha can be brought to cessation, dukkha nirodha.
19. The eightfold path, ariyo atthangiko maggo, is the path to cessation of dukkha.
The next five recitations relate to the Five Hindrances (re-word as desired):
20. I resolve to overcome sense desire (by practicing Silent Present Moment Awareness).
21. I resolve to overcome ill will/anger/hatred (by practicing Loving Kindness (metta) meditation).
22. I resolve to overcome sloth and torpor (by performing prostrations).
23. I resolve to overcome restlessness and worry (by practicing every day).
24. I resolve to overcome doubt (by observing how I change as I continue practicing every day).
With prostrations twenty-five to thirty-two, we recite the eight folds of the Eightfold Path, (ariyo atthangiko maggo), also known as the path leading to cessation/nirodha of suffering/dukkha, or dukkha nirodha gamini patipada.
25. Right understanding, samma ditthi, is the first fold.
26. Right thought, samma sankappa, is the second fold.
27. Right speech, samma vacha, is the third fold.
28. Right action, samma kammanta, is the fourth fold.
29. Right livelihood, samma ajiva, is the fifth fold.
30. Right effort, samma vayama, is the sixth fold.
31. Right mindfulness, samma sati, is the seventh fold.
32. Right concentration, samma samadhi, is the eighth fold.
The next ten prostrations are recited with the Ten Cardinal Precepts as worded by Roshi Philip Kapleau.
33. I resolve not to kill, but to cherish all life.
34. I resolve not to take what is not given, but to respect the things of others.
35. I resolve not to engage in improper sexuality, but to lead a life of purity and self-restraint.
36. I resolve not to lie, but to speak the truth.
37. I resolve not to cause others to take substances that impair the mind, nor to do so myself, but to keep the mind clear.
38. I resolve not to speak of the faults of others, but to be understanding and sympathetic.
39. I resolve not to praise myself and to disparage others, but to overcome my own shortcomings.
40. I resolve not to withhold spiritual or material aid, but to give them freely when needed.
40. I resolve not to indulge in anger, but to exercise restraint.
42. I resolve not to revile the Three Treasure (the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha), but to cherish and uphold them.
We conclude the first half of the traditional one hundred eight prostrations by reciting the twelve nidayas of the doctrine of Dependent Origination or Dependent Arising.
The Pali term for Dependent Origination is pratityasamupada.
43. The arising of ignorance (avijja) leads to volition. (Avijja paccaya sankhara)
44. The arising of volition (sankhara) leads to consciousness. (Sankhara paccaya vinnanam)
45. The arising of consciousness (vinnana) leads to name and form. (Vinnana paccaya namarupam)
46. The arising of name and form (nama-rupa) leads to the six sense organs. (Nama-rupa paccaya salayatanam)
47. The arising of the six sense organs (the five senses plus the mind) (salayatana) leads to contact. (Salayatana paccaya phasso)
48. The arising of contact (phassa) leads to feeling. (Phasso paccayam vedana)
49. The arising of feeling (vedana) leads to craving. (Vedana paccaya tanha)
50. The arising of craving (tanha) leads to clinging. (Tanha paccaya upadanam)
51. The arising of clinging (upadana) leads to becoming. (Upadana paccaya bhava)
52. The arising of becoming (bhava) leads to birth. (Bhava paccaya jati)
53. The arising of birth (jati) leads to old age, sickness, and death. (Jati paccaya jara-maranam)
54. The arising of old age, sickness and death (jara-marana) leads to sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair. (soka-parideva-dukkha-domanassupayasa sambhavan’ti)
Only after we have become comfortable with fifty four daily prostrations should we move on to one hundred eight. Additional verses for the next fifty four prostrations are provided at the website, although repeating these fifty four a second time also works, of course. We recommend learning the verses for the second fifty four for the same reasons we learn these.
