Messy Bow

Question:

Master,

I plan to bow to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Repentance. I shared my intention to my mother who indicated that she too would like to do it. However, she felt that since we have crampy and quite untidy quarters, she is afraid that it lacks the proper adornments and thus respectfulness towards all those many Buddhas. Could you teach us how to properly bow this repentance?
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NL

Answer:

Your mother is right in showing reluctance to bow to the repentance. If she feels that strongly about it then please do not go against her wishes.

You could go outside and bow to Shakyamuni Buddha 10,000 times too. Great Master Xuan Hua used to bow outside of his parents’ house too.
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Personally, I feel that it’s more important for our mind to be most respectful when bowing. In that case, the environment bears little consequences: you are not creating offenses at all. In contrast, people who bow to the Buddhas in the most adorned Buddha Halls and yet fail to be respectful are in worse shape.