May 7, 2024
What 3 steps and 1 bow means to longtime volunteers
By Joy Rojas
Take three short steps, then get down on your knees and prostrate, palms facing upward. Repeat.
Performed on important occasions, most recently by Tzu Chi volunteers on Dharma Master Cheng Yen’s 87th birthday on May 2, this simple yet profound gesture of repentance, humility, faith, and submission is a tradition that never grows old, even for those who have been doing it for years.
It was likely in 2005 when Charlie Centes experienced in his first 3 steps and 1 bow. Supported by the Catholic congregation known as the Sisters of Mary, first as a young scholar in Cebu then as a maintenance man in the congregation’s Girlstown campus in Sta. Mesa, Manila, he stayed when the Tzu Chi Foundation acquired the Sta. Mesa property from the sisters and transformed it into the Buddhist Tzu Chi Campus.
To this day, his thoughts while participating in the ritual are the same. “Whenever I do the 3 steps and 1 bow, I think that I am fulfilling the dreams of Master Cheng Yen for the world, which are to purify the hearts of the people, to harmonize society, and no one disaster in this world,” says Charlie, a certified commissioner since 2011. “If we can do this, maybe our world will be like paradise.”
Retinal detachment prevented Violeta Cuna from joining 3 steps and 1 bow for the last two years. Still, she remembers the feeling it leaves her with. “It’s like you’re asking for forgiveness,” she says. “You feel much lighter afterwards, like all your sins are washed away.”
Now 80, she was working as an accountant for her brother when she became a Tzu Chi volunteer, commuting all the way from Caloocan to lend a hand, first in the kitchen and then in the warehouse. When her nephews and nieces were old enough to handle the business, she resigned and went full-time with the foundation.
“Every year I would go to Taiwan,” she says. “And each time I come home I feel recharged.”
To Master Cheng Yen, Violeta wishes her a long and healthy life. “And for her to fulfill her mission of spreading the teachings of Buddhism in Nepal,” she says. (Nepal, the birthplace of Buddha, is predominantly Hindu.)
“Happy Birthday, Master Cheng Yen,” says Charlie. “No matter what happens in this world, I hope we can overcome all the challenges and do our part as Tzu Chi volunteers.”
Just before dawn, Tzu Chi volunteers gather outside the Jing Si Abode of Buddhist Tzu Chi Campus (BTCC) in Sta. Mesa, Manila, to participate in 3 steps and 1 bow in honor of Dharma Master Cheng Yen’s 87th birthday on May 2. 【Photo by Marella Saldonido】
With palms together in prayer, Tzu Chi volunteers perform 3 steps and 1 bow from the garden path leading to the Jing Si Abode. 【Photo by Marella Saldonido】
The “bow” in 3 steps and 1 bow is a prostration with palms facing upward—a simple yet profound gesture of repentance, faith, humility, and submission. 【Photo by Dorothy Castro】
Charlie Centes (middle) has participated in 3 steps and 1 bow since the Tzu Chi Foundation acquired the property where BTCC stands today from the Sisters of Mary congregation in 2005. 【Photo by Marella Saldonido】
“Whenever I do the 3 steps and 1 bow, I think that I am fulfilling the dreams of Master Cheng Yen for the world, which are to purify the hearts of the people, to harmonize society, and no one disaster in this world,” says Charlie. “If we can do this, maybe our world will be like paradise.” 【Photo by Marella Saldonido】
Retinal displacement now prevents Violeta Cuna from joining 3 steps and 1 bow. “You feel much lighter afterwards, like all your sins are washed away,” says Violeta, who last participated two years ago. 【Photo by Marella Saldonido】
Tzu Chi Philippines CEO Henry Yuñez bows as volunteers slowly make their way to the Jing Si Abode. 【Photo by Marella Saldonido】
An arial shot of the final formation of 3 steps and 1 bow outside the Jing Si Abode. 【Photo by Harold Alzaga】
After the ceremony and light breakfast, volunteers meet at the Jing Si Hall for a short program. Dr. Josefino “Jo” Qua gives an update on plans to build a Tzu Chi hospital in BTCC. 【Photo by Dorothy Castro】