Take a Bow

There are some ideas or concepts that I think I know implicitly -- maybe buried deep within my subconscious -- that I somehow don't explicitly acknowledge. It's like the observation has been there all along, but, on the surface, I've never gotten around to where I have put two and two together.

In today's variation on a theme, I will discuss some aspects of Yunshui's Right To Think: "Onegaishimasu!". The topic concerns the act of bowing in relation to his aikido training. As part of this discussion, he included the following snippet that caused the proverbial light bulb to go off in me head.

The prayer posture adopted in Christianity is one of submission to God. It is essentially a physical manifestation of humility, a visible expression of the penitent petitioner’s unworthiness before God. In positioning oneself this way, there is a tacit acceptance that: a) God exists (otherwise who one earth are you bowing to?) and b) God is better than you (otherwise you could communicate face-to-face, as equals). Neither of these, as you may imagine, are tenets that I’m likely to embrace. They stem (especially the second) from the traditional Indo-European cultural significance of the bow. Throughout Occidental history, people have bowed and scraped to their social betters – our medieval forebears doffed hats and dipped knees to royalty and the aristocracy, who returned the courtesy by not having them thrown in the stocks, burned alive or hanged. By contrast, the Japanese bow is a mutual event, akin to a handshake in the West. When they meet, two Japanese people will bow to one another in greeting, as a demonstration of reciprocated respect.

Even when I was a Christian (many eons ago), I always had a problem with this idea of bowing one's head to pray. To my way of thinking, if we're created in God's image, shouldn't we look the guy straight in the eye?

But, of course, as Yunshui aptly points out, that's a big no no because we're silly mokes in comparison to Mr. Numero Uno. Looking the big guy in the eyes (does he even have eyes?) would be like a slave slapping his master on the back and saying, "Hahaha, that's a good one, boss!"

Even further though, if this God is everywhere, what difference should it make whether your head is tilted up or down? How do you know his "eyes" aren't on the ground? If you shut your eyes, who's to say you're not looking straight at each other in your mind? It just seems to me that, regardless of the position you're in or whether your eyes are open or shut, one truly can't avoid dealing with the almighty directly simply because he's omnipresent. So, why go to the trouble of bowing your head?

It should go without saying that my main objection to bowing one's head in prayer is that I don't believe in this master/slave or father/children schtick at all. If you've spent ANY amount of time on this blog, that last statement should be abundantly clear. :)