OBEISANCE
Tibet 2007
Tibetan women offer prayers and penance as they circle the monastery by performing a series of prostrations. They perform this forehead on the ground position which can be called a ‘kowtow’, then rise, take one step forward, lie face down arms stretched in front, palms flat on the ground, then rise and bring themselves to the kowtow position again. They do this over and over until they have returned to where they began. I’ve read that this devotion can be performed for miles and miles as the person makes his way to a holy destination such as Mt. Kailas or a revered monastery.
The kowtow is a form of humbling oneself and was used in old China when in the company of superiors. In fact, servants would kowtow in front of the master’s carriage door, thereby becoming a human stepping stone.
(Of course Buddhists do not read our Bible, but the instinct to ask a deity for help is universal.)