What are Mudra's
Mudra's is a term with many meanings.
It is used to signify a gesture, a mystic posture of the hands, a seal, or even a symbol.
There are many postures to our bodies; we have eye postures, body postures, and various
breathing techniques that we call mudras. These symbolic finger, eye, and body postures can
vividly depict certain states or processes of consciousness, conversely, specific positions can
also lead to the states of consciousness that they symbolize.  You are probably wondering, what
does this all mean? The origins of Mudra’s are a complete mystery in and of itself. Mudras are
used throughout the entire world.  In rituals around the world, our European ancestors were very
familiar with specific gestures, which they used to underline and seal what they thought and
wanted to say. If you look around and examine our everyday life you will see many mudra’s, it is
characterized by many body gestures, the origins of which hardly anyone knows today, but holds
power for many: crossing our fingers for someone, clapping our hands as applause, the handshake,
holding hands, or “giving someone the finger” opps! To display our low opinion of them.
The Mudras are just as familiar in Indian dance, where the hands, eyes, and body movements act
and/or dance the entire drama without words.
Mudras are also practiced in Tantric rituals. They play a large role in Buddhism, where six
mudras are very familiar in the pictorial depictions of ‘Gautama Buddha’.  Hatha yoga also
expresses the many states of mind, such as mourning, joy, anger, and serenity, though gestures
and body positions. They realize that the reverse also applies; certain gestures can positively
influence the psyche.

A mudra is a bodily posture or symbolic gesture. In Buddhist iconography every buddha is depicted
with a characteristic gesture of the hands. Such gestures correspond to natural gestures (of
teaching, protecting, and so on) and also to certain aspects of the Buddhist teaching or of the
particular buddha depicted.
Here mudras accompany the performance of liturgies and the recitation of mantras. They also
help to actualize certain inner states in that they anticipate their physical expression; thus they
assist in bringing about a connection between the practitioner and the buddha visualized in a
given practice.

The most important mudras are:
1.) Dhyani Mudra.................(gesture of meditation)
2.) Vitarka Mudra................(teaching gesture)
3.) Dharmachakra Mudra.....(gesture of turning the wheel of the teaching)
4.) Bhumisparsha Mudra......(gesture of touching the earth)
5.) Abhaya Mudra...............(gesture of fearlessness and granting protection)
6.) Varada Mudra................(gesture of granting wishes)
7.) Uttarabodhi Mudra.........(gesture of supreme enlightenment)
8.) Mudra of Supreme Wisdom
9.) Anjali Mudra...................(gesture of greeting and veneration)
10.) Vajrapradama Mudra....(gesture of unshakable confidence)


1.)Dhyani Mudra                 In this mudra, the back of the right hand rests on the palm of the
other in such a way that the tips of the thumbs lightly touch one another. The hands rest in the
lap. The right hand, resting on top, symbolizes the state of enlightenment; the other hand, resting
below, the world of appearance. This gesture expresses overcoming the world of appearance
through enlightenment, as well as the enlightened state of mind for which samsara and nirvana are
one. In a special form of this mudra, the middle, ring, and little fingers of both hands lie on top
one another and the thumbs and index finger of each hand, touching each other, form a circle,
which here also symbolizes the world of appearance and the true nature of reality.



2.)Vitarka Mudra                 The right hand points upward, the left downward; both palms are
tuned outward. The thumb and index finger of each hand form a circle. The right hand is at
shoulder level, the left at the level of the hips. In a variant of this teaching gesture, the left
hand rests palm upward in the lap, and the right hand is raised to shoulder level with its thumb
and index finger forming a circle. In a further form of this mudra, the index finger and little
fingers of both hands are fully extended, the middle and ring fingers somewhat curved inward. The
left hand points upward, the right downward.



3.)Dharmachakra Mudra                 The left palm is tuned inward (toward the body), the right
outward, and the circles formed by the thumbs and index fingers of each hand touch one another.



4.)Bhumisparsha Mudra                 The left hand rests palm upward in the lap; the right hand,
hanging over the knee, palm inward, points to the earth. Sometimes the left hand holds a begging
bowl. This is the gesture with which the Buddha summoned the Earth as witness to his realization
of buddhahood. It is considered a gesture of unshakability; thus Akshobhya (the Unshakable) is
usually depicted with this mudra.



5.)Abhaya Mudra                 Here the right hand is raised to shoulder height with fingers
extended and palm turned outward. This is the gesture of the Buddha Shakyamuni immediately
after attaining enlightenment.



6.)Varada Mudra                 The right hand, palm facing out, is directed downward. When
Shakyamuni is depicted with this mudra, it symbolizes summoning Heaven as witness to his
buddhahood. This mudra is also seen in representations of Ratnasambhava. In a variant, the thumb
and index finger of the downward extended hand touch one another. Frequently the abhaya and
varada mudras are combined: the right hand makes the gesture of fearlessness, the left that of
wish granting.



7.)Uttarabodhi Mudra                 Both hands are held at the level of the chest, the two raised
index fingers touch one another, the remaining fingers are crossed and folded down.; the thumbs
touch each other at the tips or are also crossed and folded. This mudra is frequently seen in
images of Vairochana.



8.)Mudra of Supreme Wisdom                 The right index finger is grasped by the five fingers of
the left hand. This mudra, characteristic of Vairochana, is the subject of many interretations in
esoteric Buddhism, most which have to do with the relationship between the empirical world of
manifoldness and the principle that is its basis-the unified world principle, the realization of
unity in the manifold as embodied in Buddha.



9.)Anjali Mudra                 The palms are held together at the level of the chest. This is the
customary gesture of greeting in India. Used as a mudra, it expresses "suchness" (tahata).



10.)Vajrapradama Mudra                 The fingertips of the hands are crossed. This is gesture of
unshakable confidence.

The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen
M u d r a s Yoga in your hands
Let us move our bodies in new & joy~ful ways!
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