Mahamudra: The Great Seal
Photo Credit: Suzanne Christine
Mahamudra (literally “Great Seal”) represents the pinnacle of meditation practice and realization in Tibetan Buddhism. The Great Seal refers to the fact that all phenomena are sealed by emptiness, the great sunyata, the vast openness of all that is. Realization of emptiness unlocks the grip of our habitual patterns of ignorance, it unlocks duality.
This tradition offers direct methods for recognizing, realizing, and fully actualizing awareness-emptiness, appearance-emptiness, awareness, appearance and emptiness inseparable- the true nature of mind and reality. On the path, with the basis of compassion and loving kindness, through progressive stages of practice, participants develop increasingly subtle awareness leading to many realizations, until complete realization is actualized. Mahamudra has unique step by step pointing out instructions that are given orally to lead practitioners into awakening. The journey greatly enhances our ability to turn all of our life experiences to liberation, leading to profound transformation within our daily lives. Both lovely and challenging circumstances become fuel for awakening into awareness-emptiness, primordial purity. Habitual patterns are liberated and our true nature can shine and radiate. When realization dawns, great compassion and love arises.
Mahamudra’s roots trace back to Indian Buddhist masters such as Tilopa and Naropa in the Kagyu lineage and Niguma and Sukhasiddhi, in the Shangpa Lineage. They were then transmitted in Tibet by great masters like Marpa who passed them to Milarepa from who the Kagyu lineage came, and Khyungpo Naljor who founded the Shangpa. My root lama, the previous Kalu Rinpoche was a holder of both of these Mahamudra lineages, and was a living embodiment of the actualization of awakening.
At its core, Mahamudra teaches that the mind’s true nature is empty, luminous, and free from dualistic grasping. It transcends ordinary mental fabrications and conceptual thought, revealing a state of primordial awareness. This awareness is unconditioned, beyond birth and death, and is the basis for enlightenment.
Realization of who we truly are, and what the nature of reality is cannot be understood or realized through the conceptual mind. Therefore, practice emphasizes direct experience rather than intellectual understanding. Realization and awakening can only be realized through direct experience. Therefore practice, with the profound pointing out instructions, is emphasized on the path of Mahamudra. Practitioners are guided to recognize the mind’s nature directly. Mahamudra practice typically involves two stages of meditation. First is Calm Abiding, or Shamatha as it is called in Sanskrit, that develops a stable and concentrated mind by focusing on an object, such as the breath, to calm mental distractions so that the mind is able to engage in the second stage which is Insight or Vipashyana (Sanskrit). With Vipashyana one investigates the nature of mind and phenomena to realize their empty, luminous nature. Awareness, along with form, feeling, perception, thoughts, and consciousness, that has been taken as a self, is realized to be awareness-emptiness, appearance-emptiness. Engaging in the Vipashyana of Mahamudra leads to direct experience and then realization of the true nature of mind, of self, of reality. Beyond duality we realize limitless compassion and love.
Mahamudra is revered for its simplicity and profundity. It offers a direct path to enlightenment by revealing the mind’s natural state without elaborate rituals or philosophical study. It can also be greatly complemented by tantric practices and to fully actualize realization it must be integrated into daily life. It stands as a cornerstone of Tibetan Buddhist meditation, inviting practitioners to experience the ultimate reality beyond concepts. Through disciplined practice and guidance, we can joyfully attain complete awakening.
