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Third Prostration - Transcending Birth and Death
Plum Village is preparing to celebrate its 20th anniversary with a commemorative volume, hundreds of pages thick, including poems, music, images, and writings by venerable monks, nuns, guest monks, lay friends, and related sanghas, to be published separately in English, French, and Vietnamese. Everyone is invited to send their contributions to Lower Hamlet (deadline: October 15) to enrich the commemorative volume. To mark the occasion, Plum Village is organizing two retreats:
- a 7-day retreat in French for psychotherapists
- a 21-day retreat in English with the theme “The Hand of the Buddha” for Dharma teachers and friends from all over the world
Plum Village also emphasizes the practice of the Three Prostrations as a path of deep contemplation:
- the first prostration reminds us of the interbeing between ourselves and all things
- the second prostration, symbolized by a vertical and a horizontal line, helps us recognize the great beings, the Bodhisattvas, who are present in flesh and bone in our daily life
- the third prostration, symbolized by a circle, leads to completeness and liberation from birth and death when we let go of the idea of body and life
This process is nourished by the energy and great vows of four exemplary Bodhisattvas, helping us to embrace our suffering:
- Avalokiteshvara – the symbol of loving kindness and deep listening
- Manjushri – the symbol of Prajnaparamita wisdom
- Samantabhadra – the great vow to act for the benefit of all beings
- Kshitigarbha – the vow to rescue beings in all circumstances
When contemplating the Three Prostrations, we realize that the Bodhisattvas are not mythical images but are alive around us and within us, helping us to have insight, peace, strength, and engagement in the present moment.
