Ritual

touching the heart centre with the palm while reciting:
aim hridayaya namah
touching the forehead with four fingers:
om klim sirasi svaha
touching the top of the head with the tip of thumb while the
fingers are closed into a fist:
om sahuh sikhayai va sat
clasping the upper part of the arms just beneath the shoulders with
hands crossed on the chest:
om sahuh kavacaya hum
touching the closed eyes with fore- and middle-fingers:
om bhuvah netratroyaiya vausat
placing those two fingers on the left palm:
om bhur bhuvah phat.
Mudra
Another non-verbal mode of communication and self-expression
consists of repetitive gestures and finger postures known as mudras
which are connected with nyasa in tantric ritual. Ritual postures of
the hand provoke a subjective reaction in the mind of the adept.
Mudras are symbolic archetypal signs, based on gestural finger
patterns, taking the place, but retaining the efficacy, of the spoken
word. They are used to evoke in the mind ideas symbolizing divine
powers or deities themselves in order to intensify the adept's
concentration. The composition of the mudras is based on certain
movements of the fingers which are highly stylized forms of
gestural communication. The yoni mudra, for example, representing
Sakti's yantra, is performed with the sole object of invoking
the divinity to bestow her energy and infuse it into the sadhaka. A
vivid description of the composition of the yoni mudra is given by
the goddess herself in the Laksmi Tantra:
Learn how the yoni-mudra of myself who occupies the place of the gross.
Stretching out the hands firmly [and] well pressed together in front [of
the body], one should reverse each ring-fmger over the back of the other.
From their middle and base the [two] index fingers, [each] touching its
base, should be nestled in front of them [the ring-fingers]. The two little
fingers are first placed in front of the remaining two middle [fingers],
touching each other's surface, while the palms are concaved in the
middle. The two thumbs should be placed in the direction of the first part
of the middle fingers. 32
Tattva mudra.
Matsya mudra.
Sankha mudra.
Padma mudra.
Yoni mudra.
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