Mudra - E. Dale Saunders

Appearing for the first time in paperback and illustrated with line drawings, diagrams, and 26 half-tone plates, this study of the iconographic aspect of Japanese Buddhist sculpture surveys the significance of eight principal and six secondary hand gestures (mudra), in addition to the postures (asana), such as the "lotus," and the symbolic attributes. A pictorial index helps the reader in identifying the gestures.

"Mudra is filled with a wealth of information about the basic symbols of Buddhist sculpture, their possible origins, and their manifold meanings."
The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

"A good reference volume for the study of Buddhist art, symbolism and theory of symbols. Despite the fact that the subject is rooted in Indian art, the reference to Japanese sources opens the field to little known works which are hidden behind a language barrier."---Alfred Bloom, Harvard Divinity School Bulletin

"In this work we have scholarship at its best by a master of the subject."---J. Deotis Roberts, Journal of Religious Thought