vairocsana-het-pontja
The seven point meditation posture is comonly paracticed in Mahamudra, which is also known as the Seven Points of Vairocana. This meditation posture strives to achieve balance in mind and body through the sitting posture.
In India, this position for sitting meditation is called the full lotus position, and we know it as the crossed-legged position. As often seen in Buddha statues, the legs are in the vajra posture, with both legs crossed and the soles facing upwards. Thus it is known as the full vajra position.
Sitting in the full lotus position allows the body and mind to stay in complete equilibrium, removing discursive thoughts and facilitating blood circulation. It allows the body to remain soft yet able to endure hardships. Through the seven point meditation posture, one may obtain primordial wisdom, achieve meditational stability, and directly attain Buddhahood.
Why is it called the seven points of Vairocana? It is because Vairocana Buddha is the central Dhyani Buddha of the Five Buddhas, known also as the Great Sun Tathagata (Dainichi Nyorai). Vairocana is the principal deity of Esoteric Buddhism, and is the main deity of both the Vajradhatu Mandala and Garbhadhatu Mandala, symbolizing Universal Illumination.
The image of Vairocana within the Diamond, or Vajradhatu, Mandala is known as the Wisdom Truth Body of the Great Sun, in which he displays the Wisdom-Fist Mudra. The image of Vairocana in the Womb, or Garbhadhatu, Mandala, represents the principle or reason (in Japanese, Ri) aspect of Dainichi, and is known as the Principle Truth Body of the Great Sun. In this image Vairocana displays the Dharmadhatu Mudra (in Japanese, Hokaijyo-in).
Vairocana is never seen in a standing posture, but only in the sitting position. This carries a deeper meaning, as he is the central figure of the Dhyani Buddhas and his image shows him entering into profoundly deep meditation. Thus, the teaching of Mahamudra begins with the meditation posture of Vairocana, where the legs are crossed in the vajra posture of the full lotus position, with the soles of the feet facing upwards.
Postures
The posture which is used for meditation is called the Seven Dharmas of Vairocana, meaning a physical posture has seven aspects which encourage mental clarity. If the position of the body is correct, it will calm an agitated mind, cheer up an unhappy mind, and produce clarity in a torpid mind.
The first of the seven points of posture is to sit down, to sit on some kind of cushion. The reason why you sit to meditate is that if you attempt to meditate while walking around, your mind simply will not come to rest as easily as it does when you’re sitting. Sometimes it’s fine, of course, to practice walking meditation, but for the most part it’s done while sitting down. You might ask, why don’t we lie down to meditate? Well, lying down might bring the mind to some kind of rest, but it will tend to make it lethargic and sleepy. So, it’s best to meditate sitting.
If you are flexible, you can sit in the vajra posture, which is usually known in the West as the lotus posture. But if you’re not that flexible, or you find this posture uncomfortable, or you can’t sit cross-legged at all, and you need to sit in a chair, don’t worry about it. Don’t feel that it will harm or inhibit your meditation, to simply sit in a chair. In any case, the first of the seven points of posture is to sit down.
The second point is to place our hand evenly. This is sometimes understood as referring to the left hand being placed palm up in our lap and the right hand is place palm up in the left. But it can also simply be understood as keeping our hands at the same height, so that we’re not lifting our left hand up and lowering our right hand to the ground, or vice versa. So, we can simply just place our hands palm downward on our thighs just behind the knees in what is called the earth pressing gesture. The function, in any case, is that by placing the hands evenly and at rest, your mind comes to rest.
The third point of posture is that our spine be as straight as possible. This is quite important because by keeping our back straight, we straighten out the subtle channels within our body through which our subtle winds or energies flow.1 If these channels are bent, such as if our back is bent, these channels will be bent. But if our back and channels are straight, then the winds or energies will flow properly, which will allow our mind to relax naturally, and become calm.
The fourth point is that the shoulders be pushed back a little bit. Here the shoulders are really just an example. It means that all parts of our body are held in a proper and wakeful posture, so that they are relaxed, but not so relaxed that the posture becomes sloppy.
The fifth point is that our neck be bent like a hook, which means that our chin be brought back in and down. This should happen naturally simply by straightening our back, but the reason it’s mentioned separately is that if our chin sticks out to the front, this will cause our mind to become more conceptual.
The sixth is to touch your tongue to the palate. The reason for this instruction is that when our mind starts to relax, a great deal of saliva will flow and fill our mouth, making us have to swallow every few seconds. But if our tongue is touching the palate, this won’t happen
The seventh and final point of posture is the gaze, which is what we do with our eyes. This is important because our thoughts tend to follow our gaze, or our eyes. Some people for this reason find it helpful to meditate with closed eyes, which is okay. Other people find that this makes their mind torpid and sleepy. If so, we should meditate with open eyes, and not move the eyes left or right. We simply let your gaze remain, looking straight-ahead.
más forrás: Mahamudra 178.o
Mahamudra: The Moonlight -- Quintessence of Mind and Meditation
szerző: Dakpo Tashi Namgyal
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