‘Chin’ means ‘consciousness’ and ‘mudra’ means ‘seal’. Without Chin Mudra, yog and meditation remain incomplete. Yog means ‘to join’ our lower self with the higher Self, which is the ultimate goal of human existence. The lower self comprises of the physical body, mind, intellect and the ego ‘I’. Physical body refers to sense organs of perception and action; the mind to our emotions; intellect to our unique ability to think, reflect and discriminate right from the wrong, based on logic and rationale; and ‘I’ refers to the ego, ever present in our waking and dreaming state of consciousness.
The Chin Mudra mudra is performed by holding thumb and index finger together to form a circle, while keeping the remaining three fingers straight and hands on the thighs. The little finger is symbolic of physical body; the ring finger of mind and emotions, highlighting its importance during ring exchange ceremony; the middle finger of intellect; the index finger of ego; and the thumb of Supreme Consciousness.
Joining the index finger and thumb signifies merging of ego with the Supreme that is the goal of yog and meditation, as mentioned in the Bhagwad Gita and Kaivalya Upanishad.