Mandalas

[Racoon]

Anyone know anything about mandalas?

 

I saw one in a catalog a couple years ago and have one hanging on a wall. I just thought it looked cool.

 

 

Mandala - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Mandala (Sanskrit mandala "circle", "completion") is of Hindu origin and is also used in most Dharmic religions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism, to refer to various tangible objects. In Vajrayana they have been developed into sandpainting. In practice, mandala has become a generic term for any plan, chart or geometric pattern which represents the cosmos metaphysically or symbolically, a microcosm of the universe from the human perspective.

 

A mandala, especially its center, can be used during meditation as an object for focusing attention. The symmetrical geometric shapes tend to draw the attention towards their center. Psychiatrist Carl Jung saw the mandala as "a representation of the unconscious self," and believed his paintings of mandalas enabled him to identify emotional disorders and work towards wholeness in personality.

 

"Double Dorji" by Vishwa-Vajra

[Racoon]

check out some old mandalas :D

 

Early Tibetan Mandalas

 

and another good site:

 

Mandala Project

 

:shrug:

[wine]

All I know about them is what I see.

Perfect symmetry reciting the micro and macrocosmic possibilities that lie much further beyond our reach, and is within us.

Mandalas can represent anything, and always represent infinite, which also means you can find some and design some that represent finite things.

The mandala is a sutra in itself.

The sun, the flower, the eye, and the human itself

is a mandala

and mandalas

intertwine

with each other.

Our chakras are mandalas, if you believe it.

 

Drawing mandalas is a wonderful meditation that takes patience, and the more experience you have with constructing the mandala the deeper, more intriquit they become.

 

Much like the mind,

ciao

[InfiniteNow]

The creation of one puts the person making it into a very calm state. To make a mandala is a method of meditation, as is viewing one created by another.

[HydrogenBond]

The mandala is a magic circle or a symbol of unity. I use to like drawing mandala years back on the walls of places I lived. I started in the center of the wall (where 2 strings from diagonal corners meet) and then draw concentric circles and fill them in with designs. Some got 6ft in diameter. They are sort of maps of the inner psyche with the dead center the inner self and the perimeter the ego part of the personality.

 

It is actually a good exercise. Start with one central circle, fill it in with symbols, objects, squggles, patterns, etc.. Then add another circle, doing the same, but trying not to repeat the patterns and color schemes on touching circles. Just keep on going until you run out of wall, paper or steam. If you analyse it, it will tell you something about what is going on inside one at an unconscious level.

 

Many of the mandala artworks often came from artists whose psyche told others about the nature of the collective psyche in their culture.

[Racoon]

Heres a video, that shows and discusses mandalas with a Tibetan monk and his translator.

The ceremony is a little boring, but I would encourage anyone interested in skimming through it . 22 minutes in duration..

 

Sand Mandala Ceremony with the Tibetan Monks of Gaden Shartse Monastery - Google Video http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7805496669091774877&q=mandala&hl=en

 

:bouquet: