Mudra

Skt., mudra
Tib., phyag rgya

Based on the Sanskrit roots mud (joy) and ra (to give), the term mudra has a great variety of meanings:

General name for a number of ritual gestures of the hands that are employed in yogic practice. The mudra is a focus of energy and, simultaneously, transmits meaning to those who have learned to read these gestures.
In many statues showing the Buddha or Hindu/Buddhist deities, the position of their hands show such mudras. In most books dealing with mudras, one sees gestures signifying compassion, teaching, listening and such, but the specifically Tantric mudras are often forgotten.
Use the left navigation bar or the NEXT button above to view five such mudras.
As "seal", mudra is the technical term for a variety of yogic techniques to control certain organs and physical processes in order to manipulate both the flow of subtle energy and the resulting psychic responses. Examples of such exercises are the Khechari Mudra (controlling fluids in the brain) or Vajroli Mudra (drawing up orgasmic fluids through the lingam)
As one of the five makara, the term mudra refers to a cereal wafer or a similar preparation made from grain. Sometimes, these are made with the addition of ganja (*cannabis) or other *aphrodisiac substances; including - in some schools - the addition of menstrual fluid. The following *mantra, taken from the *Parananda Sutra, is recited before consumption: "I take it as an offering to the Lord; it destroys the torments of heart, and causes joy, and is enriched with other food stuff."
In Buddhist Tantra, the term is also used for the female partner in Tantric ritual, similar to prajna or dakini. One thus knows a Karma Mudra (action consort; real partner in the flesh) and a Jnana Mudra (wisdom consort; mentally visualized).
A radically different interpretation of mudra, as the stage preceding maithuna in a panchamakara ritual, is given by the Indian author Chandra Chakraberti, who describes it as an "excitation of the clitoris by the raised forefinger" (Chakraberti, p. 302).