Mahāmudrā

Lotsawa Marpa Chokyi Lodro, (1012-1097)

Mahāmudrā (T. phyag rgya chen po ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ་; C. dayin/dayshouyin), or ‘Great Seal’ is a meditation tradition that flourished in Tibet. While this tradition is practised in by all schools of Tibetan Buddhism, it is particularly associated with the Kagyü lineage. In the Kagyu lineage, Mahamudara is regarded as the highest form of meditation practice.

Ringu Tulku states: "The main point of Mahamudra is to see your true nature in a direct and experiential way. There is nothing greater than this, so it is called...great".

Etymology

Mudra means "seal. Maha means “great.”

Three modes of Mahamudra

The practice of Mahamudra can be divided as follows:

• Sutra Mahamudra is attaining buddhahood through the five paths and ten bhumis.
• Mantra Mahamudra is experiencing the four joys via the third empowerment, which leads to the four levels of emptiness.
• Essence Mahamudra (T. ngo bo'i phyag rgya chenpo ངོ་བོའི་ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ་) is described in terms of essence, nature, and expression. "The essence is non-arising, the nature is unobstructed, the expression is what manifests in manifold ways."

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche states:

Although the teachings of Essence Mahamudra and Dzogchen of the Natural State use different terminology, in actuality they do not differ at all. Through such teachings, the mind at the time of death merges with the dharmakaya the instant that the material body disintegrates. It is also possible to attain true and complete enlightenment in the dharmadhatu realm of Akanishtha while still remaining in this physical body.

Ground, Path, and Fruition

Mahamudra is also explained in terms of ground, path and fruition.

• Ground Mahamudra is the non-arising essence, unobstructed nature, and expression manifest in manifold ways. The Dzogchen teachings describe these three aspects as essence, nature and capacity.
• Path Mahamudra is naked, ordinary mind left to rest in unfabricated naturalness.
• Fruition Mahamudra is the final seizing of the Dharmakaya Throne of non-meditation.

Practice

Four yogas of Mahamudra

See also: four yogas of Mahamudra

The four yogas of Mahamudra are four stages of attainment in the meditation practice of Mahamudra.

The four yogas are:

1. one-pointedness (Skt. ekāgratā; T. rtse gcig རྩེ་གཅིག་), "for the most part, consists of shamatha and the gradual progression through the stages of shamatha with support, without support, and finally to the shamatha that delights the tathagatas."
2. simplicity (T. spros bral སྤྲོས་བྲལ་), "basically means non-fixation... Simplicity emphasizes vipashyana."
3. one taste (T. ro gcig རོ་གཅིག་), is the state of mind when shamatha and vipashyana become unified.
4. non-meditation (T. sgom med སྒོམ་མེད་) - at this stage, even subtle concepts of watcher and something watched (grāhya-grāhaka) are dissolved within the space free from mental constructs.

Samatha meditation within Mahamudra

Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche states:

In the practice of Mahamudra tranquility meditation ... we treat all thoughts as the same in order to gain sufficient distance and detachment from our current mental state, which will allow us to ease naturally into a state of tranquility without effort or contrivance [...] In order for the mind to settle, we need to suspend the value judgments that we impose on our mental activities [...] it is essential that we not try to create a state of tranquility but allow the mind to enter into tranquility naturally. This is an important notion in the Mahamudra tradition, that of nondoing. We do not do tranquility meditation, we allow tranquility to arise of its own accord, and it will do so only if we stop thinking of the meditative state as a thing that we need to do actively [...] In a manner of speaking, catching yourself in the act of distraction is the true test of tranquility meditation, for what counts is not the ability to prevent thoughts or emotions from arising but the ability to catch ourselves in a particular mental or emotional state. This is the very essence of tranquility meditation [in the context of Mahāmudrā] [...]

The Mahamudra style of meditation does not encourage us toward the different levels of meditative concentration traditionally described in the exoteric meditation manuals [...]

From the Mahamudra point of view, we should not desire meditative equipoise nor have an aversion to discursive thoughts and conflicting emotions but view both of these states with equanimity. Again, the significant point is not whether meditative equipoise is present but whether we are able to maintain awareness of our mental states. If disturbing thoughts do arise, as they certainly will, we should simply recognize these thoughts and emotions as transient phenomena.

Mahamudra and Dzogchen

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche states:

Although the teachings of Essence Mahamudra and Dzogchen of the Natural State use different terminology, in actuality they do not differ at all. Through such teachings, the mind at the time of death merges with the dharmakaya the instant that the material body disintegrates. It is also possible to attain true and complete enlightenment in the dharmadhatu realm of Akanishtha while still remaining in this physical body.

Jamgön Kongtrul stated that "the Mahamudra teachings of the Kagyu lineage arrive at the same point as the Dzogchen teachings of the Nyingma lineage."

Sources

• Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University 
• Ringu Tulku (2012), Confusion Arises as Wisdom—Gampopa's Heart Advice on the Path of Mahamudra, Shambhala 
• Ringu Tulku (2006), The Ri-Me Philosophy of Jamgon Kungtrul the Great, Shambhala 
• Traleg Kyabgon (2004), Mind at Ease, Shambhala Publications 
• Tsele Natsok Rangdrol (2009), Heart Lamp: Lamp of Mahamudra and Heart of the Matter, Rangjung Yeshe Publications 

Further Reading

• Dakpo Tashi Namgyal, Mahamudra, The Moonlight: Quintessence of Mind and Meditation, translated by Lobsang P. Lhalungpa, Wisdom Publications, 2nd ed. 2006.
• Dzogchen Ponlop, Wild Awakening: The Heart of Mahamudra & Dzogchen (Boston: Shambhala, 2004)
• Jackson, Roger R. and Kapstein, Matthew T. (ed.) Mahāmudrā and the bKa´-brgyud Tradition [PIATS 2006: Proceedings of the Eleventh Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies. Königswinter 2006], 2011
• Jackson, Roger R. Mind Seeing Mind: Mahāmudrā and the Geluk Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism (Wisdom, 2019)
• Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, Crystal Clear: Practical Advice for Mahamudra Meditators, translated by Erik Pema Kunsang, Ragjung Yeshe, 2004.
• Ringu Tulku, Confusion Arises as Wisdom—Gampopa's Heart Advice on the Path of Mahamudra (Shambhala, 2012)
• Roberts, Peter Alan. Mahamudra and Related Instructions: Core Teachings of the Kagyü Schools, Library of Tibetan Classics (Wisdom Publications, 2011)
• Roberts, Peter Alan. The Mind of Mahamudra: Advice from the Kagyu Masters, translated and introduced by Peter Alan Roberts (London: Wisdom Publications, 2015)
• Tsele Natsok Rangdrol, Lamp of Mahamudra, Shambhala, 1989.

External Links

• Mahāmudrā Series on Lotsawa House, Lotsawa House
• Roger Jackson: Mahāmudrā in the Geluk and Kagyü Traditions