(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org, please feel free to visit the school website)
Written by Joseph Shermis
To pursue a path of peace and spiritual growth, one first must find the peace and inner strength that lies within one’s body and spirit. The techniques of Mudras, the ancient art that is yoga for the hands, are picture tools that identify the deeper meanings of pursuing such a path.
A mudra is a bodily posture or symbolic gesture. In any and all pictures and statues of Buddha, Jesus, Mahavir, Shiva, and any spiritual icon are shown with the hands and fingers curled in a specific posture. Portrayals of Moses show him using the mudras that symbolize blessing, divine protection, knowledge, and receiving guidance from the divine.
Yoga is an ancient art and systematic science. Its purpose is to facilitate the union of one's will with God's will. The central teaching of yoga is that man's true nature is divine, perfect, and infinite. Yoga is a scientific method for making man realize his true nature, and for reuniting the individual soul with the Universal Spirit, thus bringing discipline into one's life. The yoga for the hands, mudras, allows the practitioner to communicate specific intent within this context. Like Yoga, they align the spirit with that intent, but unlike yoga, mudras can be practiced anywhere at anytime, and can even be incorporated into one’s own lexicon of communication actions to bring spiritual dimension to one’s life.
Mudras are hand gestures that impart the expression of thought and emotion. The hand postures of the mudras are designed to re-channel breath and energy into various areas of the physical body, energy body, and mental body. Such finger postures not only have a therapeutic effect on the mind-body system but also accentuate mental keenness and acuity.
The purpose of mudras is to actualize certain inner states so that they can anticipate their physical expression. The intent the hand positions symbolize allows the practitioner to bring their visualization into a physical manifestation. The manifestation assists the practitioner in bringing about a connection between the practitioner and the energy, entity or deity visualized in a given practice. In Buddhism the 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.
Use
your mudra hand to show expression of your thoughts and feelings. Yoga
mudra is excellent physical healing for your hands and is also an art.
The self healing of the mudra hand posture is a kind of holistic healing.
The Buddha mudra can be seen in many Buddha images and statues. The Buddha
hand gesture goes best with the Buddha mantra while in sitting meditation.