Yoga of the Mahamudra: The Mystical Way of Balance

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.

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.