Unlocking Inner Wealth: Dive Into Lakshmi's Abundance Mudras

In this transformative workshop, we'll dive into the divine energy of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and abundance. Experience a unique blend of a short talk and a sacred mudra sequence, carefully curated to instill a profound sense of inner wealth and self-worth through Lakshmi's archetype of beauty.

Transcript

Welcome to Unlocking Inner Wealth,

A deep dive into Lakshmi's Abundance Mudras.

So,

Mudras are gestures.

They're very,

Very ancient.

They've been around for thousands upon thousands of years.

Nobody knows how long.

And working with hands and gesture is actually pre-verbal.

So,

Before we spoke,

We gesticulated.

And then as language developed through evolution,

Then gesticulation became like a vestige of that.

So,

It's like it's still there and it's still going.

And you can see I'm talking with my hands right now.

So,

We do mudras naturally all the time.

We're doing it when we talk.

We're doing it when we're at rest.

If you've ever looked at your children when they're sleeping in their car seats,

You might see that they even bring little fingers together like this and you see them resting and their eyes are moving.

So,

Mudras and gestures all around brain development and especially the part of our brain that's responsible for movement,

Which is also the part of the brain that's responsible for emotion.

Something comes towards us,

We have that fight or flight response if it's something negative.

And if something comes towards us that's positive,

Then we have that rest and digest response.

When we move,

Our emotions are also active.

So,

Putting the hands into very specific positions is a way to calm the nervous system,

Calm the mind and focus the mind.

Now,

They say that different elements reside in the hands.

The thumb is fire,

The index finger is air,

The middle finger is space,

The ring finger is earth,

The little finger is water.

And so,

When we put our hands in different positions like this,

We're activating the elements.

But it's different in different systems.

So,

The Chinese medicine system is different to the system of Ayurveda.

So,

I don't like to focus too much on that because it can get really specific and really confusing.

What I love to do with mudras is to place different mudras into a sequence which has a theme.

So,

The theme for the workshop and the talk today is Lakshmi.

And maybe you've heard about Lakshmi.

Lakshmi is the goddess of abundance,

Prosperity,

Creativity.

I wanted to start with a little story about Lakshmi because the theme of the workshop was how to tap into your inner worth and beauty and that natural abundance that you are.

I don't say abundance that you have.

I say you are that abundance because we are all infinitely and inseparably part of creation.

There's nothing we can do.

We can't separate ourselves out of creation,

Right?

We are that creation itself.

And Lakshmi is creation.

She is creativity.

And there's a beautiful text which says that Lakshmi is the origin of everything.

That she was the pure egg and that out of her egg came all the other deities.

I love that because I like to think of her as the pure creativity.

The thing that brings every seed into fruition.

So,

The seeds that are sitting inside of you,

The ideas that you have,

The passion that you have,

The creativity that you have,

Even the simple things that are living inside of you.

All of that is Lakshmi just bursting to come out,

Bursting to come forth.

Lakshmi just appeared one day standing on the back of a turtle in the ocean of milk.

And the ocean of milk is often like the symbol of that creative soup.

And it's also related to immunity and our essence.

We have this immunity that runs through our body that coats all our nerves,

That gives us energy and stabilizes us and grounds us.

So,

That symbolically is represented in the ocean of milk.

So,

She arises one day standing on the back of the turtle and she looks around and all the gods and all the demons fall in love with her.

And she's like,

Hmm,

Who will I choose?

So,

There was a great battle to win her hand.

And one of the people that won the battle was the demon Bali.

And Lakshmi was impressed by his strength.

And so,

She said,

Okay,

I'll marry you.

So,

She marries Bali,

Even though he's a demon.

And everything's going really well for a while.

But then eventually,

He kind of gets out of control.

All the power goes to his head because he's got all of creation at his disposal when he's married to Lakshmi.

And so,

She realizes that she's not with a great guy.

And it's absolutely time to split up with him.

And so,

She just jumps back into the ocean of milk and she disappears.

And of course,

As soon as Lakshmi disappears,

All of the abundance of nature disappears.

And so,

The gods and demons are freaking out because all of a sudden,

There's no longer blossoming flowers and fruits and trees and all these wonderful things.

There's a big drought and the earth is threatening to implode.

So,

They join forces and start churning the ocean of milk.

And eventually,

She comes back up.

And she rises on this beautiful lotus.

And she looks around and she sees Vishnu.

And Vishnu is that which sustains.

He keeps everything in balance on the earth.

And she decides,

You know what,

I think this is a better match for me because I'm creative and nature and creation.

And here's this guy who keeps creation going no matter what.

I think I'll take him.

So then,

Lakshmi becomes Vishnu's consort.

And this goes on ad infinitum.

And anytime you see the name of say Radha or Sita,

These are all incarnations of Lakshmi.

She incarnates everywhere.

And for some of us who know a lot about Tantra,

Tantra comes from two words,

Tannoti and Trayati.

And it means expansion and liberation.

And it also means that which we fall upon,

We use to lift ourselves back up again.

So,

When we are going through something,

We can use that challenge to bring us back to ourselves.

So,

One of the Tantric goddesses and versions of Lakshmi is Kamala.

And Kamala is the lotus itself,

The purity of the lotus.

So,

Whether you're working with Kamala or working with Lakshmi,

You're working with this essence of purity.

So,

We see her arise on a lotus and then she's got the elephants kind of pouring water on her,

Symbolizing that purity but also symbolizing strength.

She has flowers in her hands and she's seated on a lotus.

We think about the lotus as being untainted.

It's rooted in the mud.

It's pure.

It's got that beautiful perfume.

And things rest inside the lotus as well.

Like the lotus closes and it holds its heat.

It holds its quality.

Lakshmi is the sweetness,

The harmony and the beauty in each one of us.

It's not external beauty.

It's inner radiance.

It's the things that we just naturally have without having to think about it.

Sometimes we push for that external beauty but really the beauty is internal.

It's like I said,

It's our dreams.

It's our ideas.

It's how we express ourselves.

It can be the simplest thing that represents that beauty to you.

And it's beautiful to reflect and think about things in your life that inspire beauty.

So,

It might be something that you see externally.

It might be a conversation that you have.

It really could be anything.

But that beauty is always there regardless of whether it's acknowledged externally or not.

And that really is the pure expression of Lakshmi.

She's grace personified.

And it's that mysterious quality that overcomes us when we're just naturally in the flow.

And as I said,

She is that spark that pushes that seed to come out of the soil and to blossom.

She symbolizes patience,

Wisdom,

Intelligence.

And she rides an owl.

So,

What is the owl,

Right?

An owl can see at night.

It can see through the dark.

And when we think about owls,

Owl actually represents that patience,

That wisdom,

And that intelligence.

They say that owls are prophets,

That they can foretell events.

And so,

She gets on the owl.

And as she rides the owl,

It's like blessings of wealth and prosperity.

The owl is also a warning,

Like not to get trapped by the external,

The external wealth,

The external beauty,

Things like that.

So,

Working with Lakshmi is really about working with the essence of your personal relationship with creativity.

It's your personal relationship with beauty.

And as we move into the mudra sequence,

Which we're going to do in a moment,

We're also going to work with a mantra.

So,

All the tools of tantra,

As I said earlier,

Tantra is all about that which we fall on or that which draws us to the earth,

We push off of to free ourselves from that.

So,

We use the limitations of the body to free ourselves of the limitations of the body.

We use the limitations of the breath to free ourselves from the limitations of the breath.

And we use our limitations in our mind to free ourselves from the limitations of the mind.

So,

When we work with sound,

When we work with mantra,

Mantra has two aspects,

Mananat,

Mind,

And chayati.

Chayati means liberation.

So,

We use the mind and we use the meaning of the mantra,

Contemplating the meaning of the mantra to free ourselves.

So,

Working with any Lakshmi mantra,

We're working with the meaning of the mantra.

Ultimately,

You are the meaning in every mantra because,

As I said earlier,

You can't separate yourself from anything that you see.

You are inseparably part of creation,

Which includes the thoughts that are coming from the mind.

The thoughts are part of creation.

They seem to appear in consciousness,

But they're not separate to anything else.

So,

When we take a specific sound and a specific gesture and we put them together,

It focuses the mind.

And that is like falling in and lifting up.

Yeah?

And what does it lift us away from?

It lifts us away from our tendency to get lost in our thoughts,

In the stress,

In the things that challenge us in our lives.

So,

If we can have a little bit of space through these beautiful tantric practices,

It can just open a window,

Give you a glimpse of the potential that we are.

I mean,

Just by existing,

We are beautiful.

Each one of us is as unique and as important as every other one of us.

In fact,

If a grain of sand was missing from the creation,

It would be incomplete.

So,

Your existence completes creation and Lakshmi is completely the representation of that.

All right.

So,

The mantra that we're going to practice is Om Shri Maha Lakshmiye Namaha.

So,

Om is the sound of creation,

That universal sound.

Shri comes from the word Shru,

Which means to listen.

But Shri also is the seed sound.

It's like a short sound for Lakshmi.

And Maha means great or profound.

And Lakshmi is obviously the name for Lakshmi.

Lakshmiye Namaha.

Namaha is like I bow to or I pay my respects to.

So,

I'm just going to chant it and you can chant it along with me if that feels comfortable.

Om Shri Maha Lakshmiye Namaha.

Om Shri Maha Lakshmiye Namaha.

Om Shri Maha Lakshmiye Namaha.

Om Shri Maha Lakshmiye Namaha.

Om Shri Maha Lakshmiye Namaha.

Om Shri Maha Lakshmiye Namaha.

Om Shri Maha Lakshmiye Namaha.

Om Shri Maha Lakshmiye Namaha.

All right.

So,

Let's start.

We're going to start with a mudra called Kubera Mudra,

Which is a wish-fulfilling mudra.

So,

We bring together the thumb,

The index finger and the middle finger and we fold in the ring finger and the little finger.

And then we rest the hands upwards on the thighs.

And this is the masculine form of Lakshmi.

This is a wish-fulfilling mudra.

And it's nice to hold this mudra for a little while and think about all the wishes that you have in your life.

And as you're doing that,

I'll chant the mantra.

Om Shri Maha Lakshmiye Namaha.

Om Shri Maha Lakshmiye Namaha.

Om Shri Maha Lakshmiye Namaha.

Om Shri Maha Lakshmiye Namaha.

Om Shri Maha Lakshmiye Namaha.

Just take a few more moments just to notice how this mudra feels with the mantra,

With that intention of thinking about all the things that you have wishes for.

And then gently opening your eyes.

Now,

The next mudra is dedicated to Lakshmi's vehicle,

The owl,

Called Uluka.

You're going to take your thumb in between your little finger and your ring finger on both hands.

And then you're going to extend the other fingers.

So,

The two fingers are extended.

And then you've got your thumb between your ring finger and your little finger.

And then you cross the arms.

So,

This is like the wings of the owl.

This is that ability to see through the darkness.

It's like the light that lights up the darkness.

And distinguishing between inner and surface beauty.

You are that beauty itself.

Recognizing in your own life when you get caught up in thinking that beauty has to look a certain way or be a certain way.

Just be that beauty.

Just in the simplicity of being yourself.

There's nothing more profound than your existence.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

All right.

And then gently releasing.

And we'll come into Vyapkanakanjali Mudra.

This is the mudra of offering.

You bring both hands into a cup.

Like you're offering up your hands.

So,

The little fingers are touching.

The sides of the hands are touching.

The heels of the hands are touching.

And both of the hands are.

.

.

It's like you're scooping water.

So,

It's like you're holding water in your hands.

Now,

You might like to imagine that you've got a flower in your hand or something beautiful.

And this is not just the mudra of offering,

But it's the mudra of receiving.

So,

Allowing in.

So,

What is it that you long to receive?

Maybe you'd like to imagine your hand full of money or gold.

Or maybe it's something more personal.

Just receiving your own beauty,

Your own worth,

Your own abundance.

Or perhaps you're so full that you just want to give.

And this becomes the mudra of offering.

Offering your gifts,

Your creativity,

Your beauty to the world.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

All right.

So,

Our next mudra is creating the lotus.

So,

You're going to extend your little finger and place that little finger right at the base of your other little finger.

Your little left finger is the stem as it hits the bottom of your hand.

And your right hand is open.

All the fingers are open like a lotus.

And then you're going to close that right hand and bring the fingers towards the center of your heart.

And then you're going to open that right hand like you're opening a lotus and just extending the fingers out.

And you bring that lotus into your heart.

And you extend that lotus out.

And we'll just do this a few times.

Bringing in that inner beauty and offering that inner beauty.

Feeling the depth of your own worth and from that worthy place expressing it in the world.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

And then from here we'll come into lotus mudra.

So we talked about the lotus and about how the lotus represents that purity,

That light,

That enlightenment.

And imagine that on each fingertip is an emotion.

Maybe something you're challenged by or something that you just feel deeply.

And hold all those emotions in your hands.

And just let them rest there without judgment.

And let Lakshmi bring her touch of wisdom,

Patience,

Surrender,

Softness and strength to these different emotions.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

And then gently cross at the wrists and just bringing all the fingers together.

This is nirvala mudra,

The closed lotus bud.

So there's nothing more profound than the jewel that you are,

The gem.

When we think about some of the different aspects of Lakshmi,

It's like she holds every seed in her heart and in her womb.

And each seed becomes a flower in creation,

A tree,

A bird,

A bee,

A human being.

And there's nothing different about any of these things.

They're all her children.

We see the difference.

But Lakshmi doesn't differentiate.

It's all beautiful.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

And then gently bring your hands into Anjali mudra,

Feeling the connection between your palms.

And we'll finish the practice with three oms and shanti,

Shanti,

Shanti.

Om Om shanti,

Shanti,

Shanti.

Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namaha.

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