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Yoga of the Mahamudra: The Mystical Way of Balance

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I have been delighted with several of Will Johnson's books, and I have found this one to be the most profound and challenging of his works. Traditional students of Vajrayana Mahamudra teaching might take issue with his application of these teachings to ideas involving the body-mind in a method that has been variously described as somatic psychology or somatheraputic methodology. Tibetan Buddhism doesn't actually teach very much with regard to the nature of the physical body. Mostly the body is simply taken as the vehicle that allows one to experience karma in the form of physical sensations or emotional sensations. Meditation in this tradition mostly considers the body as an impediment to be transcended.

On the other hand if one practices the Chinese form of Yoga called Qigong or Taiji you can experience a vast range of meditative practices that take the body and its internal energies as their object. As a teacher of these Chinese practices I yearned for a meditative method that was as mentally deep and transformative as Tibetan Buddhist curricula while still taking the body as an object of focus. The first time that I read a translation of Tilopa's millennium old instructions for Mahamudra practice, I was taken by how much it sounded like the primary instruction that I give my taiji students. However, I was still at a loss for a practical method for implementing these mind instructions for a physical practice.

When I found this text I had at least one good approach to solving this dilemma. The second half of this book contains exercises that are physical embodiments of contemplating the philosophical explanations in the first half. Will Johnson terms these "Somatic Koans" in reference to the famous koan riddles of Zen Buddhism. If one practices these physical riddles the body will hopefully discover that the answers, or rather the un-answers to the problem of the body. I will give the "pith" description of the first Koan as and example. "Stand as tall as you possibly can while remaining as relaxed as you possibly can". These contemplations are as intellectually impenetrable as their famous purely mental progenitors, and if you give them the same time and diligence, they have the same potential to liberate your mind.

I would recommend this book highly to everyone, but especially anyone interested in body oriented or moving meditation. Dancers, runners and internal martial artist will find questions to the answers their body has been whispering with every wave of pleasure that occurs inside the magic moments when everything flows.

There are a number of good exercises (posture & breathing--though holding the breath for healing etc. is discounted) & wise observations (the value of balance & mindfulness meditation) in this book, but mostly it depicts the author's personal, impressionistic path. It includes Tilopa's famous & wonderful Mahamudra (MM) Song as an appendix, however, the book is not a commentary on it. The author uses only 3 lines of it to expound his personal views--heavily oriented towards the physical: bodywork, Hatha Yoga, dance, & the author's inventive "somatic koans." There's a Hindu bent to the book: the cover is a picture of the Hindu god Shiva, & the author advocates p. 144 "walk in Shiva's path." He repeatedly uses theistic terminology & Western mystical concepts--fine for comparison purposes, but not MM. Despite his rhetoric, Hinduism has nothing to do with MM, a Tibetan Buddhist wisdom teaching--the highest one of the Kagyu school (there's also a Gelugpa version--see the Dalai Lama's book). The author describes some Theravada Buddhist practices, but MM is a Vajrayana practice--a type of Mahayana, not Theravada--they don't practice MM. He also mentions Rinzai--a Japanese Mahayana but not Vajrayana sect (as is Japanese Shingon). While I agree with him that p. 144 "The practice is always one of personal exploration & personal discovery," his title is misleading; his teachings are not authentic MM. At best it's a low level, very loose, physically-oriented, New Age interpretation of a very high level, authentic, numinous, noetic path. In Hindu terms, it's a Hatha Yoga interpretation of Jnana Yoga. In Jungian/Myers-Briggs terms, it seems to be Extroverted, Sensate, Feeler, Perceptive. Since I'm far from that, (iNtuitive Thinker), I don't attune well with it--indeed, if I'd read this review before buying the book, I wouldn't have. Still, it's valuable to develop one's inferior function (Sensate for me), it's strong suit is my weak suit, & beauty is in the eye of the beholder--others may love it. It is easy to read.

But, it doesn't compare with other books I've read:
-- Osho's "Tantra-the Supreme Understanding," an enlightening/impressive interpretation of Tilopa's Song
-- Eckhart Tolle's "The Power of Now," a fine, new age oriented view of mindfulness
-- Traleg Kyabgon's "Mind at Ease," a terrific easy-to-read explanation of MM
-- Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche & Alexander Berzin's several translations/commentaries on volumes of the 9th Karmapa's wonderful MM trilogy
-- Takpo Tashi Namgyal's amazing "Mahamudra: The Quintessence of Mind and Meditation" (an English version of "Moonbeams of MM"), the "bible" of MM, if there is one

In addition to Tilopa's Song, Johnson quotes (p. 143) Niguma's wonderful MM stanza (with more MM than his book!)--Don't do anything whatsoever with the mind, Just abide in an authentic, natural state.
One's own mind, unwavering, is reality. The key is to meditate like this without wavering.

What a wonderful way to approach both meditation and living. So many writers, readers, and meditators fail to- shall I say?- glorify the miracle that is the human body's experience. It is our foundation, our temple, and our doorway to the phenomenally real and stupefyingly ordinary enlightenment that is the moment. This book is both food for thought and practice, and is a wonderful inspiration to truly and happily immersing oneself into the literally life-long experience of the body.