Buddhists show their respect and veneration in a variety of ways. Particular gestures vary throughout the world depending upon cultural context and local custom. The symbolic means of reverence most frequently used by Fo Guang Buddhists are:
- Palms pressed together at chest level.
- Greeting and thanking others with the phrase “omitofo,” which is the Chinese pronunciation for Amitabha Buddha’s name.
- Waving hello and good-bye with the lotus mudra (thumb and middle finger together to form the lotus bud with other fingers raised as petals and leaves). This is, in effect, a way of giving a lotus to others in recognition of their potential to become a Buddha.
- Removing shoes and/or hat before entering shrines.
- Only entering shrines through the side door the central opening is formally reserved for the master and monastics. (Chinese temples are frequently constructed with triple-opening entrances to various halls.)
- Bowing to the Buddha and Bodhisattva images, monastics, and others. This action helps remove self-centeredness and symbolises one’s humility and respect. It is also a means to open within oneself the state of mind which an image or person represents. Doing so facilitates the development of those virtuous, qualities in one’s own life. Bowing is usually done either once of three times in succession three is a particularly auspicious number.
- Prostrating before an image has the same significance as bowing, only more so. When a prostration is made, one is also prostration to the Buddha nature that lies deeply within him.
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