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Sitting positions, often cross-legged, provide a stable base for meditation, and have been used for the purpose in Buddhism and Hinduism for many centuries. These include Padmasana (full lotus), Ardha Padmasana (half lotus), Siddhasana or Muktasana (also called Burmese posture, sitting with the knees on the ground and the feet tucked in close ...
Variations include easy pose (Sukhasana), half lotus, bound lotus, and psychic union pose. Advanced variations of several other asanas including yoga headstand have the legs in lotus or half lotus. The pose can be uncomfortable for people not used to sitting on the floor, and attempts to force the legs into position can injure the knees. [2]
A single asana is listed for each main pose, whether or not there are variations. Thus for Sirsasana (Yoga headstand), only one pose is illustrated, although the pose can be varied by moving the legs apart sideways or front-and-back, by lowering one leg to the floor, by folding the legs into lotus posture, by turning the hips to one side, by placing the hands differently on the ground, and so on.
In Theravada Buddhism this was much less the case, and figures of the historical Buddha remain the most common main images in temples and shrines to the present. Early images were most often of Buddha standing, but seated meditating postures, essentially the lotus position of yoga , came to predominate.
The Buddha is always represented with certain physical attributes, and in specified dress and specified poses. Each pose, and particularly the position and gestures of the Buddha's hands, has a defined meaning which is familiar to Buddhists. In other Buddhist countries, different but related iconography is used, for example the mudras in Indian ...
The Abhayamudra "gesture of fearlessness" [5] represents protection, peace, benevolence and the dispelling of fear. In Theravada Buddhism it is usually made while standing with the right arm bent and raised to shoulder height, the palm facing forward, the fingers closed, pointing upright and the left hand resting by the side.
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Mostly these show scenes from the life or earlier lives of the Buddha, but there are other secular scenes. [ 13 ] The pose is found for religious figures from Kushan art (1st to 4th century CE) from Gandhara and Mathura , [ 14 ] although at this period it is rare, with a larger number of seated Buddha images, many with crossed legs, a pose that ...