Mudras
Some days ago a friend from Canada sent me a text with pictures about Mudras, the subtle art of hand position, which I also found on the web.
I looked up my seminar notes and found something my spiritual teacher Dr. Sri Kumar said in a seminar about White Magic, Arosa 2001, about mudras / the hands (my notes):
“Holding the hands is a science by itself, the science of mudras. There are many ways of holding the two palms of the hands: First establish the necessary purity and second the power of thought to direct the energy and third the use of hands for direction of energy….
When not used, keep the hands locked, in whatever way. When it comes to the posture of Namaskar, it is to bring the left and right energies together. The posture of Namaskar is to offer oneself to something higher then you. Holding the right in the left, the right by the left, meaning, you are looking for ascension, higher energies. The contrary is to bring down the energy. There are 16 mudras used in higher states. The right hand relates to the soul, the left to the personality. In any posture the thumbs have to join. In Namaskar the bottoms of the thumbs have to join. Many other usages can be learned later. All postures will be taught, when you have really begun. For the time being, use to close the hands and offer them to acts of good will. Mental, emotional and physical cleanliness and purity is necessary. Be aware of the power of the hands and hence keep them clean. … When we gain the necessary energy, the other postures can be given slowly. Also the eyes. First we work with the throat, which speaks of the personality. Normally we speak flattering ourselves and critical of others. We speak from the personality standpoint. The speech is constructive. The energy centres related to the hands relate to the throat. You speak with the hands. Many people do a lot of dances when they speak. First working with speech, silence, OM. Stop speaking about the personality, about oneself. Normally you speak about yourself much more as you are, about others less than what is there. These distortions must go. The true work of healing will come when man has learned how to speak and think: Thinking from the heart, not from the solar plexus.
Many of the group members lose energy for nothing. It would be helpful to join the hands or close the legs or feet. If you sit open, the energy flows out. When we are habituated to keep ourselves closed while not at work, the rest of the process can be safely explained.
Buddha with teaching mudra, Ajanta, India. Photo of a friend
