Do purification practices such as prostrations create as much merit as engaging in study and meditation? Are both necessary?
A student writes: What part do you think purification practices (such as the prostration practice) play in the process of creating merit and purifying our minds versus study and meditation? Do they both play a part at this stage, and to what extent? Nick Ribush responds: Well, as Lama Zopa Rinpoche says in “Making Life Meaningful,” it all depends on motivation. If you study and meditate with bodhicitta, that’s great purification and merit creation. Also, we recently had His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the East Coast (and he even came to our FPMT center, Kurukulla)–he emphasized many times the importance of study and the presence of what he called the Nalanda Tradition in all major Tibetan Buddhist lineages. And, as previous yogis have said, “Those who meditate without first studying are like armless rock-climbers.” So, study itself is purification and merit creation, if done with the right motivation. Rinpoche also says the greatest purification is following the advice of the guru, so
