pt4xix

Great Seal
(Maha Mudra)
Yoga has changed. Have you noticed? During my three decades of teaching
I have watched the yoga that we practice in the West become physically
harder and harder. On one hand, that’s positive. It means that while many
of us are seizing the opportunity to challenge
ourselves, we are also enjoying the benefits
of one of the most complete and effective
forms of exercise ever developed. On the
other hand, it causes us to make assumptions
about yoga that are simply inaccurate.
We assume that the more we advance in
our practice, the more vigorous and complicated
it should be. Accomplished practitioners
are expected to relish physical intensity,
but according to yogic adepts, just the opposite
is true. As practice evolves it becomes
less, not more, physical. True adepts require
less and less effort to attain the higher states
of yoga. From their perspective, the most
profound practices are ones that provide
access to the subtlest dimensions of the self.
Compared to asana, these methods link us
more directly to yoga’s ultimate goal—selfrealization.
What are these techniques, and
how are they organized?
Classic texts describe four practices—
asana, bandha, pranayama, and mudra—that
are arranged in a hierarchy; each builds on
the ones before it. Asanas (postures) steady
the body and mind, preparing them for
deeper practices; bandhas (locks) help us
retain vital energy; pranayama techniques
(breathing practices) build and regulate
energy; and mudras (subtle techniques of
internal control) allow us to direct and channel
it. Together, these techniques create an
internal alchemy—a transformation affecting
every level of the self.
Among the most revered of these methods
is maha mudra. Like other mudras, it is
a practice that arranges the body so that its
outward form (its “gesture or attitude”—
literal meanings of the word mudra) contributes
to the awakening of a new spiritual perspective.
Inwardly, maha mudra combines
asana, bandha, and pranayama to create a
kind of seal (yet another meaning), preventing
internal energies from being dissipated.
By both activating the body’s subtle forces
and teaching us how to contain them, maha
mudra quietly deepens concentration and
creates a powerful bridge between body,
mind, and spirit.