The whole process of mahamudra [an advanced vajrayana practice and realization] is seeing the situation of life as a pattern. That’s why the word mudra is used, which means “symbolism.” It doesn’t mean ordinary symbolism; it isn’t a question of signifying anything, but it is the actual fact of things as they are. The pattern of life is a pattern. It is a definite pattern, a definite path, and you learn how to walk on it.

From Transcending Madness: The Experience of the Six Bardos, page45.