Mudras & Hand Symbolism Part 2.pdf

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MUDRAS & HAND SYMBOLISM--THE POWER OF MUDRAS

PART 2: HAND MYSTERIES

Before we begin discussing mudras, let us first consider some interesting topics concerning hands.

This and the following article will be devoted to hand mysteries, symbolism, esotericism, signs, and

beliefs. Although our treatment of these subjects may be inadequate, from the scholarly point of

view, the lay person may find them interesting and we especially

dedicate this work for their peruse.

The miraculous hands--we usually take them for granted and do

not see how invaluable they are to us. We only miss their use

should a mishap befall them--just like everything else. In the

absence of hands civilizations would not have been built. No

progress would have been made in our social, industrial,

technological, and spiritual life. Human hands are partly

responsible for our evolutionary growth from our past animal,

primitive state to our present high-tech era. The hands are a

projection of our soul-desire to interact and function on the

physical plane, and it took million of years for this desire to

manifest in the three-dimensional state. Prior to that, during the

involutionary cycle, the creature called man lived in an etheric

state and with a form devoid of any bodily appendages as

recounted in Blavatsky's "Secret Doctrine."

At least one ancient philosopher acknowledged the worth of the

human hands: Aristotle called it the "organ of organs, the

instruments of instruments." As one of the Karmaindriya , hands

are the active agents of the cerebral system, and by extension, the human soul. It is what Immanuel

Kant called "the visible part of the brain." The nature of our thoughts and emotions are reflected in

ideodynamic movements of the hands that are normally visible with their gestures but at times goes

unnoticed, or is invisible to the naked eye. Proof of this may be found in the occult art of dowsing

where the imperceptible movement of the hand as motored by nerve impulses causes a pendulum to

sway under direction of an unseen subconscious intelligence--the pendulum merely acting as an

amplifier for the conscious aspect of the psyche.

Benjamin Walker in his book, "Body Magic," notes that no other part of the human body is so

intimately related to human behavior than the hands. Hand movements are expressive of human

thoughts, character, emotions, and attitudes. Graceful, flowing movements reveal a person who is

generally poised and tranquil, a person with culture and refinement. In men, when these gestures are

too exaggerated, or when they become too artificial, it indicates effeminate tendencies. A person with

a dignified, noble character makes hand gestures quite differently from a person who is debased and

boorish in nature. Aggressive hands can be seen by their violent and abrupt movements; just as

materialistic subjects are known by their heavy, pendulous, impassive hands. A fidgety hand is

reflective of a fidgety mind--someone with a nervous disposition and lacking a positive self- image.

Such a person knows not how to control his energy. He releases it through unconscious drumming of

his fingers and fiddling around with any available object. Limp hands betray the owner's lack of

goals, self-confidence, and zeal for life. Individuals who have the habit of hiding their hands and

closing their palms with their fingers reveals that they are secretive, cautious, and perhaps stingy.

Hiding the hands behind the back have several possible meanings among which are prudence, restrain

and observation or inspection. It is a diplomatic gesture and most nobles often unconsciously assume

it.

Man not only differ from animals by possessing reason, he also

differ from them by possessing hands that are able to fabricate

things, to convey his intentions, to communicate his thoughts and

feelings. Anthropoids may possess hands, but they lack a superior

reason to take full advantage of them. Dolphins and other

cetaceans may be equal or superior to man in spiritual

unfoldment--according to modern New-Age thought--yet,

without hands they do not have the ability to manifest certain

forms of creativity. Perhaps they do not need to, it is not for us to

debate over this here. We know that every life- form has its own

uniqueness; and Man, in his own distinction can rightly be called

"the builder" endowed as he is with the tools--his hands, to

manifest his creative will. Herein lies the blessing or curse of

man. With his hands he may build heaven on earth, or he may use

it destructively to manifest chaos and anarchy--a hellish

pandemonium that stalls evolutionary progress.

Understanding this religiously, man "the builder" constructs

magnificent temples to worship his gods or representatives of his

embodied ideals. That the hands may sometimes symbolize

excessive mundane activity and focus to the detriment of spiritual unfoldment can be understood

from the esoteric saying that the true spiritua l aspirant ought to spend his time and forces building a

temple "not made with hands." This in fact is what Freemasonry, one of the "esoteric brotherhoods"

is all about. Though the body is regarded as a temple of the soul not made by mortal hands, a higher

house of God, the Holy of Holies, the Sanctum Sanctorum, is meant in this spiritual precept. The

brothers of this august fraternity through rites, rituals and ceremonial initiations are taught how to

utilize carpenter's tools, esoterically understood, to build this fabulous celestial House of God in a

spiritual dimension--the true "Temple of the Spirit," or to be more precise, the Causal body which

relates to the many mystical symbols representing the Higher Self such as the Ark of the Covenant,

the candelabra, the Holy Grail, the Philosopher's Stone, etc.

The Causal body is the lotus that forms the seat of every enlightened being as portrayed by Buddhas

and Bodhisattvas in Buddhist iconography. Though the Causal body is not built by mortal hands,

personal effort in its fabrication is still required by worship, devotion, service, and spiritual exercises.

We are essentially told in every religion that salvation lies in our own hands. The higher Intelligences

will only assist us if we first help ourselves. No external aid is forthcoming if we refuse to take

responsibility for our own liberation, salvation, enlightenment, or evolution. The saying of Jesus that

heaven is "at hand," or approaching, may be construed to mean that heaven lies in our own grasp- "in

our own hands," if we allow it to be so by working for it, by awakening to the Truth, to a higher

awareness and consciousness. It entails personal responsibility. The New Jerusalem, King Solomon's

Temple, the Causal body, the Diamond body, or whatever you may call that evolving spiritual body

of the microcosm, must be perfected and made manifest on the physical plane through personal

effort. Doubts of our own divine, heavenly nature prolongs the sleep of the ages and prevents us from

cooperating with the Divine Architect. Later on in these series of articles we will apply the above

precept literally and use our hands as mudras to awaken and unfold our divine potentials like the

blossoming of a lotus flower.

Anatomy of the Hand

What is a hand? Below we quote from the Funk and Wagnall's Encyclopedia that explains this

comprehensively :

The hand is explained to be a,

"terminal portion of the arms or anterior limbs of humans and other primates,

especially adapted for grasping. The grasping appendages of other mammals and

lower forms of animals are sometimes called hands in order to distinguish them from

the feet of the hind limbs, but true hands appear only in the primates.

"Superficially the hand consists of a broad palm attached to the forearm by a joint

called the wrist. At one side and at the

outer edge of the palm are five digits, the

thumb and four fingers. The thumb in

humans is articulated so that it can be

brought opposite to the fingers and thus

be employed for grasping small objects.

The fingers themselves can be folded

forward over the palm for the holding of

objects. The chief difference between the

hands of humans and those of the other

primates is that the thumbs of the latter

cannot be opposed to the fingers.

"The human hand has 27 bones: the 8

bones of the carpus, or wrist, arranged in

two rows of four; the 5 bones of the

metacarpus, or palm, one to each digit;

and the 14 digital bones, or phalanges, 2

in the thumb and 3 in each finger. The

carpal bones fit into a shallow socket

formed by the bones of the forearm.

"The movements of the human hand are

accomplished by two sets of muscles and

tendons: the flexors, for bending the

fingers and thumb, and the extensors, for straightening out the digits. The flexor

muscles are located on the underside of the forearm and are attached by tendons to the

phalanges of the fingers. The extensor muscles are on the back of the forearm and are

similarly connected. The human thumb has two separate flexor muscles that move the

thumb in opposition and make grasping possible."

Four fingers and a thumb on each hand is the norm. There are cases though, when a person may have

extra fingers or thumb on one or both hands. Technically, this anomaly is called polydactylism. What

causes this is a mystery. According to one of the current scientific theories is that this is an atavistic

condition, a genetic remnant of a bygone age that appears from time to time for an unknown reason.

This anomaly not only occurs in human beings, they also appear in animals, and this the writer of this

article can vouch for as he is well familiar with it personally. In his youth the writer once reared

domestic chickens in his parents' farm--one had an upturned hind toe. Other than that she had the

normal amount of toes on each foot. However, all of her progeny were polydactylies. They boasted

five toes on the terminal part of each leg. According to popular superstition, extra digits in a hand is a

sign of great good or evil. An extra finger on the right hand is supposed to bring good luck, ill- fortune

if on the left. Six fingers on both hands indicates that its possessor will be famous or infamous in

some way, like Gath, the Philistine giant mentioned in the Bible (1 Chr 20:6).

How does the occult scientist explain polydactylism? From the metaphysical point of view, we know

that the physical body is a replica of the etheric body which is the blueprint of its physical

counterpart. The structure of the etheric body is amendable to the will of the Higher Self and to a

lesser extent to the psychological condition of the lower psyche. If a pregnant mother were shocked

in some way, for instance, this could have a disastrous effect on the fetus

or embryo disfiguring it in some way. Embryonic hands could possibly

acquire extra digits as a result of its host's sudden experience of fright or

terror. Another explanation of polydactylism is that for karmic reasons, the

Higher Self manufactures a vessel in accord with the soul's spiritual needs.

Whatever physical deformities it manifests in the physical form is for the

teaching of the soul some required lesson. However, how does that apply

to animals without a "soul"? As we have stated above the etheric body as

blueprint of the physical form may be altered by the will. At a lower level

of consciousness the imagination play a role in influencing the matrix that

a higher intelligence has formed. The subconscious mind is likewise

impressionable. What it perceives in a constant fashion it eventually outpictures in physical form.

This is how creatures evolve camouflages on their physical forms. But how do these principles relate

to our question above? In the case of animals, the evolution of their physical form and consciousness

aspects are directed by what is called "group-spirits" in occultism. These angelic spirits are always

experimenting in producing forms that would best adapt to the environment so that the Law of

Evolution may be best fulfilled. So abnormalities in nature are experiments done by the Directors of

Nature. However, as the tale of Jacob (See Genesis) of how he influenced the nature of the wool of

the sheep under his care would indicate, animals may likewise influence the form, or

color of their own progeny through the power of their subconscious minds. Apropos to

this, shamans are said to have the occult ability to shape-shift into various forms, just like

the Greek god Proteus. But this most likely concerns the astral body.

One other anomaly are webbed hands. Although not too common, this atavistic

characteristic does appear from time to time in human beings. In Buddhism, webbed

hands and feet are one of the marks of a Buddha; this, however, should not be construed

in a literal sense. Gaskell, the author of the "Dictionary of all Scriptures and Myth"

interprets this as the " . . . as yet, fettered organs of action," or in other words, the

emotional/mental glamour and illusions working through the senses, hands, feet, and

sexual organ. Gaskell's interpretation actually does not make sense when we consider

that a Buddha is supposed to be enlightened and to have transcended such mortal errors.

A better interpretation in our opinion would be that webbed hands signify spiritual

service in the cosmic sea of life.

One of the mysteries of nature regarding human hands is that there are plant-roots resembling them.

These roots originate from several species of the Dactylorhiza orchids and is commonly called

"Lucky-Hand Root." The number of digits vary from 3 to 10. It is normally carried in a pouch as an

amulet or all- round lucky charm. Although the subject of charms and hand amulets are fascinating,

they will not be discussed here; we will deal with them in another article.

The brain has more sets of nervous pathways leading to the hands than to any other part of the body.

In stress and anxiety, the temperature of the hands increases and it readily becomes sweaty. Lie-

detectors take advantage of this phenomenon by measuring the differences in the psychogalvanic skin

response of subjects during the ir interrogation.

It is said that hands make more than a thousand different movements every day. A single repetitive

motion of the hand may lead to serious injuries, as in the case of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS).

This is the swelling of the tendons in the carpal tunnel and the compression of nerves resulting in

numbness in the hand. Hands, especially the fingernails, are indicators of one's state of health. For

instance, horizontal ridges on the fingernails may indicate malnutrition; pitted nails may be

symptomatic of psoriasis; blue nails show problems in the circulation.

Function of the Hands

Hands may be used to bless or curse; to build or destroy, to harm or heal. It all depends upon how

well man attunes himself and understands the Will of the Cosmos or his True Self. This reaching-out

to a higher consciousness is symbolically depicted in the famous fresco painting by Michaelangelo

upon the ceiling of the Sistine chapel in Rome. "Genesis: the Creation of Man" as it is called, shows

Adam reaching out his hand attempting to touch the fingers of his

Maker.

The banishment from the Garden of Eden or paradise is symbolic of

man's descent upon a lower level of consciousness where he

unwittingly lost contact with higher intelligences and alternate

realitie s and thus forgot his spiritual roots and purpose of being. Just

like Persephone who was abducted by Hades and brought to the

netherworld, the soul of man is chained to a dark materialistic

consciousness by his ignorance. Ceres, the mother of Persephone, or

man's Christ nature ever seeks to redeem her or the human soul from

the clutches of avidya, ignorance. Adam (the generic term for man),

after consuming the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge was faintly aware

of the existence of the Tree of Life of which he was previously

oblivious. The "Lord," anxious that man would not consume this fruit

prematurely, banished him from Paradise. Man's subsequent search

for immortality became a powerful passion that millions of deaths

have not diminished. Man must look in the proper direction for that

which he now seeks. It is not to be found in the glamorous and

illusory worlds of lower psychicism and materialism. Until the false

ego and all that is mortal within man are given up, until all of that

false sense of egoic grandeur be displaced by the expression of the

Higher Self, man will not begin to sense the immortal life running

through his course and subtle veins and realize that immortality is already his as a Cosmic

inheritance.

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