Message 85

Christmas (Noël), Paris, 25 December 2005

Mahamudra

Mudra indicates a phenomenon in the embodied consciousness, which is expressed by the body through a particular gesture or overture. Imitating or contriving mudras and thereby imagining a ‘spiritual’ status is the tragedy (not truth) that we run into, due to our endless pursuit of ego and its illusory expectations.

For example, Khechari Mudra. Khe means sky. Khechari means consciousness remaining free like the sky in spite of the clouds (of thought) emerging and vanishing. Khechari is the consciousness free from occupation & obsession. All our problems persist because our consciousness remains everlastingly occupied with our pursuits and thus our mind remains full and heart remains empty! We do not know what we have missed – the vast emptiness the Khe, the love, the intelligence which is everything. If one is unable to understand all this in Swadhyay reflections, then the best alternative is to do a lot of Talabya Kriya, which in itself, is very beneficial. This also helps to achieve a vertical position of the tongue behind the ‘bell’ in the throat, which is known as Khechari Mudra. This vertical position generates a feeling of tranquility as verbal vibrations emanating from horizontality are now much reduced (law of the science of physics). But without the basic understanding (Swadhyay), mere Khechari Mudra keeps the mind as petty as ever before with all its pollutions, perversions, prejudices, pretensions and paradoxes.

Maha Mudra is called Maha (means supreme, excellent), because it is the state of consciousness in which life is not polluted by the mind. Most significant evidence of life and love is sexual energy and sensory perceptions. This energy is sacred as life is sacred. What is perverse is sexuality and sensuality, which is mind – the enemy of life. The mudra (phenomenon) in which sexual energy (life) remains free of the burden of sexuality (mind), even though it may appear and disappear as conditioned reflexes occasionally, is called Maha Mudra. It is indeed great (Maha) as it is the freedom of life from the stranglehold of mind. It is the blast of the mind into bliss and benediction. Sexual Energy is the profound process, but sexuality is the profane pornography. Sexual Energy is vital, virile and nice, but sexuality is vulgar, vicious and nude. In Maha Mudra, there is no ‘controlled’ mind, but mind in natural control, which is order, harmony and peace.

Controlled mind is full of carnality. It is lured by the sexual and ‘spiritual’ rewards in the ‘next’ life. That is why in a particular theological belief-system, the martyrs (terrorists and suicide-bombers) are promised 72 houris – virginal beings with black eyes and alabaster skin – to attend the martyr’s desires in ‘paradise’! But, of course, the converse cannot be conceived as true in a man-composed theology. Therefore, women martyrs cannot expect to get 72 Angel boy-friends and thus they are only assured of becoming the ‘purest’ and most beautiful form of angel at the highest level possible in ‘heaven’!

Once Shibendu was invited to visit a magnificent temple in London, which has been constructed and established by an Indian sect. The chief of the temple mentioned during a discussion that the visit of the Head of the Order from India was specially arranged for the inauguration of the temple in such a way that there was no woman passenger or staff in the flight as the Head never saw the face of a woman since he was 10 years old, that is, for the last 70 years (He was 80 years old then)! This inverted carnality is, of course, worshiped by the abstractions and ascriptions of the cult members. All opposite contains the elements of its own opposite. This truth is obscured by the mind in its craving to belong to a particular group for security and the mind’s everlasting need for psychological dependency. But, thank God, the culture of killing and being killed is almost absent in Indian cultism unless it is enormously provoked as reaction and retaliation. Indian religious traditions are programmed to feeding (bhandaras) and being fed!

Mahamudra is the holistic dimension in embodied consciousness of human beings. It is a radical change. It is mutation of fragmentations in the consciousness. But those who cannot understand Mahamudra in this swadhyay-dimension, are expected to be content with its dimension in tapas as demonstrated in Kriya-Yoga initiation programmes. This mudra acts on swadhisthan chakra (no. 2 from the bottom) and helps in the preservation of sexual energy without degenerating it into sexuality. It promotes comprehension and contentment, not carnality and confusion.

Energy of understanding in Mahamudra has been very beautifully narrated in the following twenty verses. A few ritualistic verses containing Buddhist invocations have been omitted. Origin was in Bengal but preservation was in Tibet. Process is more important than personalities. Hence the teaching (in verses) is presented below without going into details of names and regions. These verses are indeed blasting. Shibendu may have an opportunity to perform the blasting ceremony in some future retreats.

1. Is space anywhere supported? Upon what does it rest?
Like space, Mahamudra is dependant upon nothing;
Relax and settle in the continuum of unalloyed purity,
And, your bonds loosening, release is certain.

2. Gazing intently into the empty sky, vision ceases;
Likewise, when mind gazes into mind itself,
And supreme enlightenment is gained.

3. Like the morning mist that dissolves into thin air,
Going nowhere but ceasing to be,
Waves of conceptualization, all the mind’s creation, dissolve,
When you behold your mind’s true nature.

4. Pure space has neither colour nor shape
And it cannot be stained either black or white;
So also, mind’s essence is beyond both colour and shape
And it cannot be sullied by black or white deeds.

5. Although space has been designated ‘empty’,
In reality it is inexpressible;
Although the nature of mind is called ‘clear light’,
Its every ascription is baseless verbal fiction.

6. The mind’s original nature is like space,
It pervades and embraces all things under the sun;
Be still and stay relaxed in genuine ease,
Be quiet and let sound reverberate as an echo,
Keep your mind silent and watch the ending of all worlds.

7. The body is essentially empty like the stem of a reed,
And the mind, like pure space, utterly transcends the world of thought;
Relax into your intrinsic nature with neither abandon nor control,
Mind with no objective is Mahamudra,
And, with practice perfected, supreme enlightenment is gained.

8. The clear light of Mahamudra cannot be revealed
By the canonical scriptures or metaphysical treatises
Of the Mantravada, the Paramitas or the Tripitaka;
The clear light is veiled by concepts and ideals.

9. Free of intellectual conceits, disavowing dogmatic principles,
The truth of every school and scripture is revealed.

10. In the transcending of mind’s dualities is Supreme vision;
In a still and silent mind is Supreme Meditation;
In spontaneity is Supreme Activity;
And when all hopes and fears have died, the Goal is reached.

11. Beyond all mental images the mind is naturally clear;
Follow no path to follow the path of the Buddhas,
Employ no technique to gain supreme enlightenment.

12. Exist there in a state of non-meditation,
And attaining no-attainment, you attain Mahamudra.

13. A tree spreads its branches and puts forth leaves,
But when its root is cut its foliage withers;
So too, when the root of the mind is severed,
The branches of the tree of samsara die.

14. A single lamp dispels the darkness of a thousand aeons;
Likewise, a single flash of the mind’s clear light
Erases aeons of karmic conditioning and spiritual blindness.

15. The truth beyond mind cannot be grasped by any faculty of mind,
The meaning of non-action cannot be understood in compulsive activity;
To realise the meaning of non-action and beyond mind,
Cut the mind at its root and rest in naked awareness.

16. Allow the muddy waters of mental activity to clear,
Refrain from both positive and negative projection, leave appearances alone;
The phenomenal world, without addition or subtraction, is Mahamudra.

17. The unborn omnipresent base dissolves your impulsions and delusions;
Do not be conceited or calculating but rest in the unborn essence
And let all conceptions of yourself and the universe melt away.

18. The highest vision opens every gate;
The highest meditation plumbs the infinite depths;
The highest activity is ungoverned yet decisive;
And the highest goal is ordinary being devoid of hope and fear.

19. If the mind is dull and you are unable to practice these instructions,
Retaining essential breath and expelling the sap of awareness,
Practising fixed gazes – methods of focusing the mind,
Discipline yourself until the state of total awareness abides.

20. May this pith instruction in Mahamudra
Remain in the hearts of fortunate beings.

AWARENESS IS MAHAMUDRA WHICH IMPLIES
‘HEART IS FULL, MIND IS EMPTY’
‘UNDERSTANDING IS FULL, UNDERTAKING IS EMPTY’

Download the Message in PDF format:  Message 85: Heart is Full, Mind is Empty (English)