foreign sources of mudra

[cybermaai]

I am aware that the mudras used in many koryu styles and in Ninjutsu have origins in Tantric Buddhism. Is there any evidence of these or similar mudras in Chinese tantric or in Tibetan Buddhism?

Waiting with my fingers crossed...

[kenkyusha]

Yes for the Tibetan Buddhism. The Gelug(pa) sect has whole-body mudra to accompany specific bits of rhetoric, but the other major players (Karma Kagyu, Nyingma, Shakya, etc.) use hand mudra during Vajrayana meditation.

Be well,
Jigme

[gmlc123]

If you're interested in such, I would recommend you check out the following book.

The Bodhisattva Warriors: The Origin, Inner Philosophy, History and Symbolism of the Buddhist Martial Art Within India and China
by Nagaboshi, Shifu Tomio

Regards

[kenkyusha]

That author is... interesting... there are other sources which might be more authorative/less... questionable.

Be well,
Jigme

[Ron Tisdale]

Nagaboshi, Shifu Tomio ... cough, cough...actually, that would be Terence Dukes ...

I'll leave it to you to decide why he changed his name to write the book...

RT

[Joshua Lerner]

Originally posted by cybermaai
I am aware that the mudras used in many koryu styles and in Ninjutsu have origins in Tantric Buddhism. Is there any evidence of these or similar mudras in Chinese tantric or in Tibetan Buddhism?


An excellent source for information on the history of Tantric Buddhist mudra in Japanese martial arts -

"Marishiten: Buddhism and the Warrior Goddess" by David Avalon Hall, University of California - Berkeley 1990.

You can order it from UMI Dissertation Services (http://wwwlib.umi.com/dxweb)

This is the second time in the last few months I've recommended that someone on E-Budo pick up a copy of his dissertation. I should see about getting a cut.

An excellent book on Hindu and Buddhist Tantrism that contains some good information on mudra - The Tantric Tradition by Agehananda Bharati.

There is a short article titled "Daoist Hand Signs and Buddhist Mudra" in the book Daoist Identity: History, Lineage and Ritual, edited by Livia Kohn and Harold Roth.


Waiting with my fingers crossed...

Very funny ...

[Joseph Svinth]

Also look into Eurasian hand-counting systems. Roman numerals, for instance, make a lot of sense once you realize that they are finger positions, done between people who don't necessarily speak the same language, but still want to accurately and quickly communicate how much something costs. This in turn takes you into Buddhist numerology and Vedic astrology, all of which is, to my knowledge, related subject matter.

For reading, try:

Boyer, Carl B. A History of Mathematics, revised by Uta C. Merzbach (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2nd edition, 1991)

Joseph, George Ghevergese. The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics (London: I.B. Tauris, 1991)

Lagerwey, John. Taoist Ritual in Chinese Society and History (New York: Macmillan, 1987)