Need Info. About Mahamudra

Wickwoman

I have heard this word in passing and have no idea what it refers to: Mahamudra. I know of a document called: Tilopa's Mahamudra Instruction to Naropa.
Is Mahamudra a person, a buddha, a teaching, a technique, or a sect? None or all of the above? Any expert or other opinions will be received with great appreciation!

buddhafoot

I tried looking something up regarding this topic and found this - which leaves almost more confused....

mahamudra

mahamudra is the ultimate goal
mahamudra is reached
mahamudra is a sanskrit word meaning 'the great seal' and refers to the profound view of emptiness
mahamudra is throughthe
mahamudra is beyond all words and symbols
mahamudra is an approach to meditative practice that can be used by all
mahamudra is an approach to dharma that brings great
mahamudra is effectively
mahamudra is that one has to understand the teachings of relative truth and the teachings of the ultimate truth of
mahamudra is quite similar to the madhyamaka
mahamudra is an important text composed by the vidyadhara
mahamudra is divided into many kinds
mahamudra is an instantaneous method
mahamudra is a gut feeling of trust and the intellectual joy that something like this can exist
mahamudra is taught because there is nothing you can say about it
mahamudra is defined according to either the sutra or tantra classes of teachings
mahamudra is sanskrit for the tibetan chagchen
mahamudra is usually introduced quite early
mahamudra is the understanding which is based on our appreciation of the nature of mind
mahamudra is to add nothing to mind’s nature
mahamudra is without parallel and sublimely transcendental
mahamudra is dependant upon nothing; relax and settle in the continuum of unalloyed purity
mahamudra is the basis
mahamudra is not had by that alone
mahamudra is as follows
mahamudra is one the most important practice or meditation and also particularly karma
mahamudra is the principal method of meditation of the kagyu lineage
mahamudra is a state of your being when you are not separate from the total
mahamudra is the true nature of mind
mahamudra is a main theme
mahamudra is a meditation manual on one of the most advanced practices of the tibetan buddhist tradition
mahamudra is a treasury of practical instruction contains extensive teachings on the nature of mind
mahamudra is divided into four yogas or 'natural abidings"
mahamudra is the torch of supreme liberty shining forth through all conscious beings
mahamudra is like a mind that clings to nought
mahamudra is all about
mahamudra is about learning how to calm the mind and gain insight
mahamudra is an approach to dharma that
mahamudra is described as ?realization of emptiness?
mahamudra is that when the sixteenth karmapa came to the west
mahamudra is “ocean of certainty” by the ninth karmapa
mahamudra is extraordinarily fantastic
mahamudra is usually chanted on days of the new and full moon
mahamudra is one of the mind
mahamudra is a tibetan buddhist meditation centre established in 1981 under the guidance of two tibetan lamas
mahamudra is planning a series of teaching programme from sept to jan
mahamudra is open to any week 1 participant who wishes to continue
mahamudra is a rare jewel
mahamudra is the "great seal" of reality
mahamudra is direct meditation work with mind itself
mahamudra is concerned
mahamudra is a sanskrit term composed of two parts
mahamudra is meditation on the ultimate nature of one's own mind
mahamudra is positive but the wrong timing makes it a hindrance
mahamudra is the development of awareness which gives liberation
mahamudra is called the great movement
mahamudra is a mind free from attachment
mahamudra is synonymous with the kagyu tradition
mahamudra is the pinnacle of practice in the kagyu school of tibetan buddhism and this book is a timely examination of a subject of which there has been little
mahamudra is a formless teaching and system
mahamudra is de ultieme ervaring
mahamudra is; and the second point is how to practice it
mahamudra is generally associated with bka
mahamudra is very important for our sangha
mahamudra is the advanced practice and realization of the kagyu tradition
mahamudra is a vast and complex subject
mahamudra is a method of realizing the true nature of all things
mahamudra is
mahamudra is a system of meditation that directly addresses the habituated perception of duality
mahamudra is expounded and the pointing
mahamudra is open to all practitioners
mahamudra is expounded
mahamudra is a synthesis of hatha yoga and
mahamudra is a meditation technique which helps the meditator realize and experience the natural luminosity of
mahamudra is described as "realization of emptiness"

-bf

buddhafoot

Here is another link - if these seem to be helping you at all...

http://www.lifepositive.com/Spirit/world-religions/buddhism/tilopa.asp

-bf

Wickwoman

Yeah. That's what I'm talking about. I looked it up as is my habit and got thoroughly confused. I think it has something to do with Dogen. Who I have also heard mentioned and who I think is a person but past that I'm still confused. (Embarassed: I think Dogen is surely someone (?) I should know about.)

Thanks for the link. I'll take a look at that one and see if it clears things up.

harlan

Look into Tibetian Buddhism, or Vajrayana.

This is a good site.

http://www.berzinarchives.com/index.html

zenmonk_genryu

Wickwoman, interestingly, whilst Mahamudra is a term used in the Vajrayana tradition, you're not that far off. The practices of both Mahamudra and Dzogchen are nearly identical in some respects to that of Shikantaza (Just Sitting) in the Zen tradition, which was bought to Japan from China by Dogen in the 13th Century, when he returned after his awakening. All three are essentially formless meditation that rests in things as they are. Dogen is acknowledged as perhaps the foremost exponent of Shikantaza in his writings and teachings and is generally acknowledged as one of Zen greatest teachers.

To study the Way is to study the self.
To study the self is to forget the self.
To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things.
To be enlightened by all things,
Is to let fall one's own body and mind,
And those of others.
No trace of Enlightement remains,
And this traceless Enlightenment
Continues throughout eternity.

- Zen Master Dogen - From Genjokoan - The Koan of Everyday Life

Wickwoman

I was reading about it some more last night. And I am grasping that it's about letting the mind be as it is. Not preferring one thought or state of mind over another. Basically, samsara is the same as nirvana. All things are to become as "one flavor."

Thanks for the info ZM. I have been intending to learn more about Dogen. One of our group quotes Dogen often.

Balder

Hi, Wickwoman,

Mahamudra, as others have pointed out, is a practice tradition within Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism. It is closely related to Dzogchen. Here are a couple links to sites about Mahamudra. The first is quite interesting; it contains a complete course for Mahamudra training (though you are encouraged to work closely with a teacher as well).

http://www.mahamudracenter.org/MMCMemberMeditationGuide.htm

http://www.dharmafellowship.org/library/essays/mahamudra-dzogchen.htm

http://www.keithdowman.net/index.html

Best wishes,

Balder

mujaku

Better than Dogen is Zen Mater Ejo.

When Xuefeng spoke as he did, this was already being burned up in the flames of fire (tejas). Do you want to escape? Reciting scriptures, performing prostrations, raising and lowering each foot—everything is the manifestation of the great function of light.

True sitting is not arse sitting. The character for sitting (tso) in Chinese is two men sitting on the earth facing each other to talk. This means to face our Buddha-nature, the ground of true reality, which is the treasury of the light according to Master Ejo.

Hence we know that the sitting meditation of our school is absorption in the treasury of light inherited directly from Burning Lamp [Dipamkara Buddha, lit., light making Buddha] and Shakyamuni. This is the light that is not two (advaya) in ordinary people and sages, that is Ekayana (one vehicle) in past and present.

kowtaaia

http://www.yogadancer.com/Pages/Janu.shtml#Seal

Wickwoman

Balder wrote:

Hi, Wickwoman,

Mahamudra, as others have pointed out, is a practice tradition within Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism. It is closely related to Dzogchen. Here are a couple links to sites about Mahamudra. The first is quite interesting; it contains a complete course for Mahamudra training (though you are encouraged to work closely with a teacher as well).

http://www.mahamudracenter.org/MMCMemberMeditationGuide.htm

http://www.dharmafellowship.org/library/essays/mahamudra-dzogchen.htm

http://www.keithdowman.net/index.html

Best wishes,

Balder

Hi Balder! So glad you joined! I will check out this info. Looks like a few nights worth reading.

Wickwoman

Thanks Kotwaaia. I'll check it out.