The form illustrated here
The Smithsonian teaching guide describes the hands palm-up in the lap, with the right over the left. Harvard’s object record identifies the hands of a seated Buddha as Dhyana mudra. The drawing here follows the Smithsonian arrangement; a dotted lap line makes the location visible without requiring a lotus seat.
An image is not the whole practice
In the museum context, the gesture helps a viewer recognize meditation. It is one part of a larger image, alongside the seated body and the surrounding figures or attributes. A hand shape alone neither tells the full story of the object nor proves what an individual is experiencing inwardly.
Read without flattening the traditions
This page uses a specific Buddhist-art context for Dhyana mudra. It does not assume that every yoga school uses the name for exactly these hands; ICYER, for example, uses Dhyana for a thumb-and-index arrangement in its posture instructions. Naming the witness keeps that difference visible. When reading a sculpture or following a teacher, attend to the actual form and its context. No clinical benefit or required sitting duration is attached to this gesture.
Sources and scope
Main edition
Passage for this reading
- The Art of Buddhism
The Art of Buddhism, “Mudras,” printed p. 10 (PDF p. 9).
Smithsonian, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, “Mudras,” printed p. 10 (PDF p. 9).
- Seated Buddha Shakyamuni in Meditation
Object 204074: Seated Buddha Shakyamuni in Meditation.
Harvard Art Museums, object 204074; the object record identifies the hands as Dhyana mudra.
- Basic Practice of Some Pranayamas
“Sitting postures for pranayama: Padma Asana,” PDF p. 1.
Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani, International Centre for Yoga Education and Research. Source page numbering refers to the PDF; hand descriptions compared independently.
What this edition covers
An original explanatory guide to this named hand form, with source comparisons and a schematic diagram.
Limits and differences
The prose above identifies material differences. Traditional explanations and promised attainments are attributed to their sources; they are not clinical evidence. Review date: September 11, 2026.