Khecarī mudrā

Khecarī Mudrā (Sanskrit, खेचरी मुद्रा)[1][2] is a yoga practice which is carried out by placing the tongue above the soft palate and into the nasal cavity. In the beginning stages and applicable for most practitioners, the tip of the tongue touches the soft palate as far back as possible without straining[3] or placed in contact with the uvula at the back of the mouth.[4] Variant spellings include Khechari Mudra, Kecharimudra,[5] and Kechari Mudra.[6] Mudrā (Sanskrit, मुद्रा, literally "seal"), when used in yoga, is a position that is designed to awaken spiritual energies in the body.[7]

Bhattacharyya defines Khecarī Mudrā as "name of Yogic posture which bestows spiritual attainment and enables one to overcome disease and death." He explains that "Kha denotes brahman, and that power which moves (cara) as the kinetic energy of brahman is known (as) Khecarī."[8] Singh defines Khecarī Mudrā as "the bliss of the vast expanse of spiritual consciousness, also known as divya mudrā or Śivāvasthā (the state of Śivā)."[9] He further identifies it in a higher sense—with the end state of consciousness, and not just the physical posture used to achieve that end: "So Khecarī Mudrā in Śaiva āgama means a state of universal consciousness which is the state of Śiva."[10] Abhinavagupta, in his Tantraloka, states that all other mudras derive from Khecarī mudrā, which he describes as "the stance of moving or flying through the void of the supreme consciousness."[11] The practice is also mentioned in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika (III. 6-7).

In recent times, it was taught by Paramahansa Yogananda as a part of Kriya Yoga practice.[12][13] Yogananda stated that:

Through the performance of Kechari Mudra, touching the tip of the tongue to the uvula, or "little tongue," (or placing it in the nasal cavity behind the uvula), that divine life-current draws the prana from the senses into the spine and draws it up through the chakras to Vaishvanara (Universal Spirit), uniting the consciousness with spirit.[14]

According to Swami Kriyananda, "The assumption of this mudra helps to hasten the advent of deep spiritual states of consciousness."[15] Swami Sivananda described Khecarī Mudrā as "the best of all Mudras."[16]

Contents

See also

External links

Notes

  1. ^ For romanization of the Sanskrit term as khecarī mudrā, see: White 1996, p. 135
  2. ^ Flood, p. 100
  3. ^ Janakananda, p. 114
  4. ^ Kriyananda, p. 450-451
  5. ^ Venkataratam, p. 4
  6. ^ Yogananda, p. 173
  7. ^ Kriyananda, p. 450
  8. ^ Bhattacharyya, p. 407
  9. ^ Singh, p. 242
  10. ^ "Khecarī Mudrā is of various sorts. Śaiva āgama does not set any store by mudrā in the sense of disposition of certain parts of the physical body. It interprets mudrā in a higher sense in three ways, viz. (1) mudam (harṣam) rati (dadāti) — that which give muda or joy, (2) muṃ drāvayati — that which dissolves mu or bondage (3) mudrayati iti — that which seals up (the universe into turīya).... That which enables living beings to acquire Self-realization in all the states of the embodied ones is Mudrā.... So Khecarī Mudrā in Śaiva āgama means a state of universal consciousness which is the state of Śiva". Singh, pp. 101-102
  11. ^ Muller-Ortega, p. 350.
  12. ^ "While practicing Kriya, when the mind becomes enchanted in listening to nada, the sound of Aum, a divine nectar-like current flows from the sahasrara. Through the performance of Kechari Mudra,...that divine life-current..." Lal Ghosh, p. 279
  13. ^ "This union can be achieved physically also, by what is known in yoga as kechari mudra — touching the tip of the tongue to nerves in the nasal passage, or to the uvula at the back of the mouth." Yogananda, p. 173
  14. ^ Discourses of Paramahansa Yogananda. Lal Ghosh, p.279
  15. ^ Kriyananda, p. 451
  16. ^ Sivananda, p. 59

References

  • Bhattacharyya, N. N. (1999), History of the Tantric Religion (Second Revised ed.), New Delhi: Manohar, ISBN 81-7304-025-7 
  • Flood, Gavin (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521438780 
  • Janakananda, Swami (1992), Yoga, Tantra and Meditation in Daily Life, Weiser, ISBN 9780877287681 
  • Kriyananda, Swami (2002), The Art and Science of Raja Yoga, Crystal Clarity Publishers, ISBN 978-1565891661 
  • Lal Ghosh, Sananda (1980), Mejda: The Family and the Early Life of Paramahansa Yogananda, Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers, ISBN 978-0876122655 
  • Muller-Ortega, Paul E. (2001), "A Poem by Abhinava Gupta", in White, David Gordon, Tantra in Practice, Motilal Banarsidass, p. 580, ISBN 9788120817784, http://books.google.com/?id=hayV4o50eUEC&pg=PA580 
  • Singh, Jaideva (1979), Śiva Sūtras, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-0407-4 
  • Sivananda, Swami (2005), Kundalini Yoga, Divine Life Society, ISBN 978-8170520528 
  • K. R. Venkataraman, M. K. Venkatarama Iyer, K. R. Srinivasan (1976), The Age of Vidyaranya, Kalpa Printers and Publishers 
  • White, David Gordon (1996), The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-89499-1 
  • Yogananda, Paramhansa (2003), The Essence of Self-Realization, Crystal Clarity Publishers, ISBN 0-916124-29-0