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Prostration is a purification practice that is used as a tool to transcend the personal ego and overcome arrogance.
The practitioner begins by standing with legs together. The base of the palm and the tips of the fingers are pressed together and point upward, making a space in the middle that the thumbs are tucked into. The practitioner raises the hands a couple of inches above the head, and with the hands still pointing upward, touches the top of the head, the throat, and the heart. These symbolize the three doors: the body, speech, and mind of a buddha; touching each of these places symbolizes one’s wish to attain these qualities in oneself. The practitioner then kneels down and places the forehead on the floor and the palms flat on either side.
S/he then stands, brings the palms together overhead, and the process is repeated. In a full prostration, instead of kneeling, the whole body is laid flat out on the floor and the arms are stretched above the head before rising. One imagines the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas all around. One acknowledges their superior compassion and wisdom and, at the same time, aligns oneself with one’s own potential for attaining their state of Enlightenment. In order to enter into Tantric practice a practitioner is generally required to carry out one hundred thousand prostrations.
Westerners often misunderstand prostrations to be an act of personal obeisance, but when Buddhist students prostrate before their teacher they are not bowing to the teacher’s personality, but to what s/he represents—Buddhahood itself. Teachers in turn prostrate before they give teachings and before their own gurus for the same reasons.
http://chinabuddhismencyclopedia.com/en/index.php?title=Prostration_is_a_purification_practice