Mudra
Mudra (Skt., ‘seal’, ‘sign’). In both Hinduism and Buddhism, a sign of power, through the body, especially the hands.
In Hinduism, the mudras of ritual worship (pūjā) are an outward and visible sign of spiritual reality which they bring into being. Thus mudras frequently appear in Hindu sculpture (as they do in Jain and Buddhist), especially dhyāna (meditation, hands linked in front of body with palms upward), abhaya, cf. abhaya-vacana (fear-repelling, hand lifted, palm outward), and varada (hand held out, palm upward, bestowing bounty). The añjali mudra is the best-known to the outsider, since it is the ‘palms together’, at the level of the chest, greeting in India. As a mudra, it expresses the truth underlying all appearance.
In Buddhism (Chin., yin-hsiang; Jap., in-zō; Korean, insang), a mudra is a particular configuration of the hands accompanying a mantra and associated with a visualization or other mental act.
In Hinduism, the mudras of ritual worship (pūjā) are an outward and visible sign of spiritual reality which they bring into being. Thus mudras frequently appear in Hindu sculpture (as they do in Jain and Buddhist), especially dhyāna (meditation, hands linked in front of body with palms upward), abhaya, cf. abhaya-vacana (fear-repelling, hand lifted, palm outward), and varada (hand held out, palm upward, bestowing bounty). The añjali mudra is the best-known to the outsider, since it is the ‘palms together’, at the level of the chest, greeting in India. As a mudra, it expresses the truth underlying all appearance.
In Buddhism (Chin., yin-hsiang; Jap., in-zō; Korean, insang), a mudra is a particular configuration of the hands accompanying a mantra and associated with a visualization or other mental act.
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Mudra