Meditation Posture: Hands
Dhyana Mudra
The word “dhyana” just means “meditation” and “mudra” means “position of the fingers.” The illustration shows the classic meditation mudra, with the right hand resting on the left, thumb-tips lightly touching.
This is a very comfortable position in which to rest the hands. It also acts as a “meditation effort meter.” When you’re slacking off in meditation and your mind is daydreaming, you’ll find that the thumbs drift apart. On the other hand, when you’re straining (which often happens unconsciously) the thumbs will be pressed together, making a small “mountain.”
So if you keep monitoring what’s going on in your thumb-tips it will help you to become more aware of whether you’re making too much or too little effort — of just the right amount.
When your meditation is going well and you’re alert but relaxed (i.e. you’re making just the right amount of effort in a relaxed and sensitive way) the thumbs are lightly touching.
Often people find that as they start to relax in meditation they begin to have pleasant sensations in the hands, and in the tips of the thumbs in particular. It can feel as if a mild current of energy is flowing between the thumbs in a very enjoyable way. This is normal. It’s nothing to worry about (people worry about all kinds of things, even pleasurable ones). In fact it’s a good sign because this only happens when you’re beginning to relax and when the mind is calming down significantly.
At that same time it’s nothing to get excited about. It’s not a sign that you’re enlightened and although it is an indication that your practice could go deeper, getting excited will actually stop that from happening. Telling you this probably won’t stop over-excitement happening in your practice — you’ll have to learn by experience — but it may help you to catch yourself sooner and just relax into the meditation practice when this sort of phenomenon happens.
Comments
Comment from terence
Time: March 28, 2008, 6:58 am
in this picture (’meditation posture: hands’), the left hand seems to be resting on the right hand–the opposite of what the text says. am i seeing backwards?
Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: March 28, 2008, 2:31 pm
HI Terence,
Well spotted! While it’s traditional to have the right hand on top of the left, not everyone does this all the time. In fact when I’m very tired I sometimes sit with the left hand on top because the difference is enough to be gently stimulating.
Also, the photograph may have gotten reversed at some point!
All the best,
Bodhipaksa
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