Mahamudra

Mahamudra (Sanskrit: great seal' or 'great symbol) or Chagchen (Wylie: phyag-chen) (Tibetan) is a method of direct introduction to the nature of Mind (or Buddha-nature) and the practice of stabilizing the accompanying transcendental realization.

It is practiced by the Kagyu, Gelug and Sakya schools of Tibetan Buddhism and possibly also by derivative Vajrayana orders in China, Russia and Japan. The Nyingma and Bön traditions and their derivatives practise a cognate but distinct method of direct introduction called dzogchen.

The term mahamudra is often explained as referring to the uncontestable validity of the experience. For example, if a document bears the Great Seal of the Emperor, then there is no question as to the authenticity of that document. Similarly, it is said that during the genuine experience of mahamudra, one has no question that one is directly glimpsing the nature of Mind (which is Tathagatagarbha, realization that it is possible to achieve Buddhahood) and that recalling and stabilizing this experience leads to profound certainty and eventual enlightenment.

The meditative practice of Mahamudra is divided into two distinct stages: śamatha ("tranquility") and vipaśyanā (often rendered "insight"). The first can be described as concentration whereby one learns, patiently, to "tame" or focus one's mind or mental awareness. After the power of effortless concentrated consciousness had been achieved, the second stage of vipashyana can begin. During this part of the exercise, the practitioner's mind is trained to witness sensory, emotional and mental processes without attachment, i.e. while observing images, sounds and sensations, a meditator's consciousness disidentifies from any particular object, having as the result bodhi or enlightenment.

Essentially in the special vipassana of Mahamudra, one recognizes that awareness (the subjective perceiver) and the conscious process (the object of perception) are not two different things, and duality is transcended in progressive stages. Active awareness resting in this recognition while the 'movement' of thoughts and emotions continues is the fuel for self-sustaining samadhi or enlightenment. Each thought, perception and conscious impulse liberates on its own as it emerges, refreshing one's realization.

Mahamudra, belonging to a class of non-energetic yogas (contrast the six yogas of Naropa), is the most widespread meditative practice in Tibetan Buddhism. Some say the Soto Zen practice of meditation, with śamatha and vipassyana named in Chinese chih and kuan ( 止觀 ), is essentially the same. In both traditions the direct pointing-out transmission occurs between master and disciple. The Mahamudra teachings, however, on both tranquility and insight meditation are much more detailed than in the Soto schools. One could say that as Soto is to enlightened Haiku, so Mahamudra is to enlightened songs of profound and precise instruction (e.g., the songs of Milarepa).

Mahamudra in Yoga

The term "mahamudra" is sometimes applied to the asana (posture, mudra) of the legs in lotus position, the spine quite erect and the hands resting palm up in the lap (thumbs usually touching). The term is also apparently used in the (?) tradition to name a series of dynamic yoga positions, done in conjunction with the breath, with the purpose of awakening the kundalini energy.

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Mahamudra in Yoga

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