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Mahāmudrā (Sanskrit; Tibetan: Chagchen,Wylie: phyag chen,contraction of Chagya Chenpo,Wylie: phyag rgya chen po)literally means "great seal" or "great symbol." It "isa multivalent term of great importance in later Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism" which "also occurs occasionally inHindu and East Asian Buddhist esotericism."
The name refers to the way one who hasrealized mahāmudrā (that is, one who has succeeded in the practices ofmahāmudrā) experiences reality: mudra refers to the fact that eachphenomenon appears vividly, and maha refers to the fact that it is beyondconcept, imagination, and projection.
Mahāmudrā is a body of teachings thatrepresents the culmination of all the practices of the new translationschools of TibetanBuddhism, who believe it to be the quintessential message of all of theirsacred texts.
History & semantic field
The usage and meaning of the term mahāmudrā evolvedover the course of hundreds of years of Indian and Tibetan history, and as a result, theterm may refer variously to "a ritual hand-gesture, oneof a sequence of 'seals' inTantric practice, thenature of reality as emptiness, a meditation procedure focusing on thenature of mind, an innate blissful gnosis cognizing emptiness nondually, or thesupreme attainment of buddhahood at theculmination of the Tantric path."
Origin of the term in the tantras
It has been speculated that the firstuse of the term was in the c. 7th century Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa, inwhich it refers to a hand gesture.The term is mentioned with increasing frequency as Buddhist tantradeveloped further, particularly in theYogatantras, where it appears in Tattvasaṁgraha and the Vajraśekhara-tantra.Here it also denotes a hand gesture, now linked to three other hand mudrās—theaction (karma), pledge (samaya), anddharma mudrās—butalso involves "mantra recitations and visualizations that symbolize andhelp to effect one’s complete identification with a deity’s divine form orawakening mind (bodhicitta)."[1] InMahāyoga tantrassuch as the Guhyasamāja tantra,it "has multiple meanings, including a contemplation-recitation conduciveto the adamantine body, speech, and mind of the tathāgatas; and theobject-—emptiness-—through realization of which 'all is accomplished,'"and it is also used as a synonym for awakened mind, which is said to be"primordially unborn, empty, unarisen, nonexistent, devoid of self,naturally luminous, and immaculate like the sky."
Inthe yoginī or Anuttarayoga tantras,mahāmudrā "emerges as a major Buddhist concept.">As scholar Roger Jackson explains,
Though still connected there to creation-stage maṇḍala practice, it ismore often related to completion-stage meditations involving the manipulationof mental and physical forces in the subtle body so as to produce a divine formand a luminous, blissful, nonconceptual gnosis. In the completion-stagediscussions in such Tantric systems as the Hevajra, Cakrasaṁvara, and Kālacakra,mahāmudrā has three especially important meanings. First, it may refer to apractitioner’s female consort in sexual yoga practices. Second, as before, itis one of a sequence of mudrās corresponding to various Buddhist concepts,experiences, and path-stages. Here, though, it usually is the culmination ofthe series, a direct realization of the nature of mind and reality thattranscends and perfects other, more conventional seals, including thoseinvolving actual or visualized sexual yoga. Third, Mahāmudrā by itself connotesthe ultimate truth, realization, or achievement of yoginī Tantra practice: thegreat seal that marks all phenomena and experiences; a synonym for suchness,sameness, emptiness, space, and the goddess Nairātmyā (no-self); unchangingbliss beyond object and subject, shape, thought, or expression; and theultimate gnostic attainment, mahāmudrā-siddhī.
Thubten Yeshe explains: "Mahāmudrāmeans absolute seal, totality, unchangeability. Sealing something implies thatyou cannot destroy it. Mahāmudrā was not created or invented by anybody;therefore it cannot be destroyed. It is absolute reality".
Aryadeva summarises: "The discussionof how to attain mahāmudrā entails methods for meditating on mind itself assomething having voidness as itsnature".
Lineages of mahāmudrā
Mahāmudrā is most well known as ateaching within the Kagyu (w. Bka´brgyud) lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. However the Tibetan Buddhist Gelug and Sakya schoolsalso practice mahāmudrā, as does Shingon Buddhism, the other major sub-schoolof the Vajrayana.
The Nyingma and Bön traditions practise Dzogchen, a cognate but distinct method ofdirect introduction to the emptynature of mind.Nyingma students may also receive supplemental training in mahāmudrā, and thePalyul Nyingma lineage preserves a lineage of the"Union of Mahāmudrā and Ati Yoga" originated byKarma Chagme.
All of the various Tibetan mahāmudrālineages originated with the tantric Mahasiddhas of the Pala Empire India in the 8th to 12thCenturies. The 'Profound Action' lineage originated with Maitreya andAsanga and was introduced to Tibet by Marpa and Atisha. Marpa introduced the lineage to the Kagyuschooland Atisha to the Kadam school, whichlater produced the Gelug school. Gampopa later received both the Kagyu andKadam transmissions of the lineage and passed them through to the present dayKagyu. The 'Profound View' lineage of mahāmudrā, which originated with Nagarjuna, also was introduced to Tibet byAtisha. Marpa introduced to Tibet the 'Profound Blessing Meditation Experience'lineage that is believed to have originated with the primordial Buddha Vajradhara and was passed to Tilopa and Naropa. Marpa also introduced a mahāmudrā lineage thattraced back through Saraha and Maitripa.
To be continued....
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