Editing Lotus position (section)

== Etymology and history==
[[File:Sacred lotus Nelumbo nucifera.jpg|thumb|The flower of the sacred lotus, ''[[Nelumbo nucifera]]'', grows out of mud, thus symbolising [[Enlightenment in Buddhism|enlightenment]].<!--{{sfn|Temple|2007|loc=Chapter 1, The Symbolism of the Lotus Flower}}--><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Baillie |first1=Allan |last2=Ostro |first2=Suzanne |title=The Lotus |journal=Tricycle, the Buddhist Review |date=1999 |volume=8 |issue=3, Spring 1999 |url=https://tricycle.org/magazine/the-lotus/ |access-date=11 April 2020}}</ref>]]

The name Padmasana is from the [[Sanskrit]] {{Lang|sa|पद्म}} {{Lang|sa-Latn|Padma}}, "lotus" and {{Lang|sa|आसन}} {{Lang|sa-Latn|Āsana}}, "posture" or "seat".{{sfn|Iyengar|1991|pages=129-133}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Zimmer |first=Heinrich Robert |author-link=Heinrich Zimmer |title=Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5IYVBgAAQBAJ |year=2015 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-6684-7 |pages=100, 220 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906092006/https://books.google.com/books?id=5IYVBgAAQBAJ |archive-date=6 September 2017 |url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In Asian cultures,<ref name=DTD>{{cite journal |last= Devendra |first=D. T. |title=Lotus without Symbolism |journal=The Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland |date=1969 |volume=13|pages=83–92 |jstor=43483467}}</ref> the [[Nelumbo nucifera|sacred lotus]] is used as a symbol of growth towards perfection and [[Enlightenment in Buddhism|enlightenment]] as it is rooted in the mud at the bottom of the pond, but rises and blooms above the water.{{sfn|Temple|2007|p=Chapter 1, The Symbolism of the Lotus Flower}} In [[Chinese Buddhism|Chinese]] and [[Tibetan Buddhism]], the pose is also called the "[[vajra]] position" (Skt. {{Lang|sa-Latn|vajrāsana}}, Ch. {{Lang|zh|金剛座}} {{Lang|zh-Latn|jīngāngzuò}}).<ref>{{cite book | last=Hua | first=Hsuan | title=The Chan handbook: talks about meditation | url=http://www.longbeachmonastery.org/the_chan_handbook.pdf | year=2004 | publisher=Buddhist Text Translation Society| isbn=0-88139-951-5 | page=36 | access-date=17 December 2018| url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328134240/http://www.longbeachmonastery.org/the_chan_handbook.pdf | archive-date=28 March 2012 | df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Rinpoche |first=Patrul |title=Words of My Perfect Teacher: A Complete Translation of a Classic Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism |edition=Revised |author2=Padmakara Translation Group (trans.) |publisher=AltaMira Press |year=1998 |page=440}}</ref>

The pose is ancient and is described, along with other [[asana]]s (sitting postures), in the 8th century book ''Patanjalayogashastravivarana''.{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|p=97}} A figure seated in lotus position on a lotus flower is shown on dinar coins of [[Chandragupta II]], who reigned {{Circa|380|415 CE}}.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Los Angeles County Museum of Art |last2=Pal |first2=Pratapaditya |title=Indian Sculpture: Circa 500 B.C.-A.D. 700 |url=https://archive.org/details/indiansculpturec00losa |url-access=registration |year=1986 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-05991-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/indiansculpturec00losa/page/110 110] |quote=Reverse: Goddess, nimbate, sitting en face on lotus with legs folded in lotus position. Diadem or noose in right hand, lotus flower turned towards her in left. .. Legend: ''Śrī-vikramaḥ'' (the courageous one).}}</ref> The first [[tantra|tantric]] text to discuss posture (asana), the 6th–10th century ''Nisvasattvasamhita Nayasutra'' (4.11-17, 4.104-106), directs the meditator and "user of mantras" to sit in lotus or a similar posture.{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|pp=99-100}} The 15th century ''[[Hatha Yoga Pradipika]]'' states that the pose destroys all diseases, and that a yogin in the pose who retains the air breathed in through the [[Nadi (yoga)|nadi]] channels attains [[moksha|liberation]].{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|p=111}}

Sukhasana is from Sanskrit {{Lang|sa|सुख}} {{Lang|sa-Latn|sukha}}, meaning "pleasure" or "ease".<ref>{{cite book |last=Joshi |first=K. S. |title=Yogic Pranayama: Breathing for Long and Good Health |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NagKQNRaLtAC&pg=PA45 |year=1991 |publisher=Orient Paperbacks |isbn=978-81-222-0089-8| page=45}}</ref> The 19th century ''[[Sritattvanidhi]]'' describes and illustrates the pose.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sjoman |first1=Norman E. |author-link=Norman Sjoman |title=The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace |title-link=The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace |publisher=Abhinav Publications |year=1999 |edition=2nd |orig-year=1996 |isbn=81-7017-389-2 |pages=80, 89, 96}}</ref> The name, and the more general name Yogasana ("Yoga pose") which may denote a variety of sitting poses, is found in much older documents as a [[meditation]] seat, such as in the 4th century ''[[Darshana Upanishad]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Larson |first1=Gerald James |last2=Bhattacharya |first2=Ram Shankar |title=Yoga : India's Philosophy of Meditation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p6pURGdBBmIC&pg=PA599 |year=2008 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-3349-4 |pages=479, 599}}</ref>