What is a Mandala?
The word Mandala comes from the ancient Indian language of sanskrit and loosely translated it means ‘circle’ which represents wholeness and is a model for the organizational structure of life itself. A great cosmic diagram that serves to remind us of our relation to the infinite, both beyond and within the boundaries of our body.
Mandala refers to an image that has been designed with sacred intention, using geometry, symmetry and colour to convey information and transmit energy, that speaks to both our conscious and unconscious minds.
Mandalas appear naturally in both the heavens and on earth, through the movement of the celestial bodies and in the concentric rings of a tree trunk or the spiral of a snails shell. The tradition of Mandala making and design is truly cross-cultural from Hildegard Von Bingen ( a Christian nun in the 12th Century) who created many beautiful mandalas to express her visions and beliefs, to Buddhist Sand Mandalas to Native American Medicine Wheels.
"The integrated view of the world represented by the mandala, while long embraced by some Eastern religions, has now begun to emerge in Western religious and secular cultures. Awareness of the mandala may have the potential of changing how we see ourselves, our planet, and perhaps even our own life purpose."
(From Mandala: Journey to the Center, by Bailey Cunningham)
In essence, any circle with a center is a mandala, from cells and atoms to the orbit of the earth round the sun. Bonnie Bell points out that “ Mandalas are graceful images that depict a sacred space. More than just beautiful art, these images are also empowering tools for positive transformation...... In this era of visual news, when images of destruction reach us within minutes of occurring, mandalas offer us a much-needed visual antidote. They are wellsprings of blessing energy that we can draw on for regeneration of body and spirit.”
Mandalas speak to the intuitive mind, and can help to access the right hemisphere of the brain, creating a bridge between the left and right hemispheres and so enabling us to draw on greater resources. In our world, although we may not always be aware of it, we are constantly shaping our future by how we perceive the present, that is to say that what one focusses on expands in ones consciousness and one’s world. ‘ As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.’ Our media would have us focus on some rather undesirable ‘facts’ or ‘reality’ ...we are literally bombarded by the visual imagery of war, terrorist threat and fear of lack... ‘the credit crunch’... when not faced with dismal projections into our future we are hypnotized with promises of sexual prowess and satisfaction or allure if we purchase this car or that designer label.... In this context any visual imagery based on the sacred or having symbolic content is in truth an antidote or an alternative reality to focus on. In reality, what we focus on is what we finance with our energy... the more people that agree with a potential outcome, the more likely it is to come into being... it seems that we live in a mass media world that would mesmerise us with glamour or terror (there’s very little in between if you actually break down the content), creating an illusion that we are victims to the world we live in, rather than reminding us of the truth, that we are in fact co-creators with the Divine, and the divine is within us and immanent within our environment, if we but knew how to see.
This is where the power of Mandalas come into their own, for they offer an alternative visual stimulus, serving as gateways or portals to other dimensions, to the subtle realms of being, where we can access spiritual sources of support, or holding. ‘Mandalas empower us by providing visual building blocks with which we can construct a new, uplifting picture of our world and thus help us revision it’ (Bonnie Bell). Utilizing the power of symbolic structure and imagery, they speak to the unconscious and semi-conscious aspects of ourselves, awakening us to latent powers and hidden treasures within both ourselves and our world.
I first realized the power of Mandalas to transform and change my state, when, exhausted one day I flopped onto the sofa in a somewhat negative mood.... I wasn’t even sitting up straight (most of the received wisdom on meditating, exhorts you to sit with your spine straight so the energy can flow freely up and down your spine, that makes sense, but what about the numerous occasions when one is too exhausted or stressed to sit up with spine aligned vertically?) however, I was gazing half consciously at the Shri Yantra I had recently made in stained glass. After about 20 mins I realized my mood had lifted and my state had changed- effortlessly- simply by gazing in an unfocussed manner (like the way you might gaze out the window if you were bored in a class). I felt renewed and refreshed. I had already experienced the power of making mandala when completing the Shri Yantra, and having the sensation of my left and right sides coming into alignment and balance, signified by a sense of oneness and exhilaration and joy that streamed forth from within inspiring involuntary smiles.
The elements within mandalas create a bridge for us to a deeper awareness and serve to connect us to greater aspects of ourselves, to our connection to the whole and each other, to inner and outer transpersonal sources of guidance. Whether you create your own mandala or meditate on others, the only way to understand how they can affect your energy field is to contemplate them with an attitude of open curiosity and awareness.
Enjoy them!
