Mahāmudrā

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Key Term	Mahāmudrā
In Tibetan Script	ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ།
Wylie Tibetan Transliteration	phyag rgya chen po
Devanagari Sanskrit Script	महामुद्रा
Romanized Sanskrit	mahāmudrā
Tibetan Phonetic Rendering	Chagya chenpo
English Standard	Great Seal
Richard Barron's English Term	supreme seal
Jeffrey Hopkin's English Term	great seal
Ives Waldo's English Term	great seal
Term Type	Noun
Source Language	Sanskrit
Basic Meaning	Mahāmudrā refers to an advanced meditation tradition in Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna forms of Buddhism and some other things associated with such practice.
Has the Sense of	It has a sense of being the binding force and refers to the reality of all things. Just as a seal makes a document binding, reality binds all things and also our understanding of the true nature of things. It also refers to a symbolic gesture.
Related Terms	mudrā;Kagyu
Related Topic Pages	https://kuenselonline.com/chagchen-the-great-seal-2/
Definitions

Mahāmudrā refers to an advanced meditation tradition in Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna forms of Into-Tibetan Buddhism that is focused on the realization of the empty and luminous nature of the mind. It also refers to the resultant state of buddhahood attained through such meditation practice. In Tibet, this tradition is particularly associated with the Kagyu school, although all other schools also profess this tradition. The term also appears as part of the four seals, alongside dharmamūdra, samayamudrā, and karmamudrā.

Mahāmudrā refers to an advanced meditation tradition in Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna forms of Into-Tibetan Buddhism that is focused on the realization of the empty and luminous nature of the mind. It also refers to the resultant state of buddhahood attained through such meditation practice. In Tibet, this tradition is particularly associated with the Kagyu school, although all other schools also profess this tradition. The term also appears as part of the four seals, alongside dharmamūdra, samayamudrā, and karmamudrā.

Mahāyāna, or the Great Vehicle, refers to the system of Buddhist thought and practice which developed around the beginning of Common Era, focusing on the pursuit of the state of full enlightenment of the Buddha through the realization of the wisdom of emptiness and the cultivation of compassion.

The Kagyu school traces its origin to the eleventh-century translator Marpa, who studied in India with Nāropa. Marpa's student Milarepa trained Gampopa, who founded the first monastery of the Kagyu order. As many as twelve subtraditions grew out from there, the best known being the Karma Kagyu, the Drikung, and the Drukpa.