Understanding mandalas

     

         A mandala is a spiritual practice from India. It is a geometric design used to guide people on the path to enlightenment. They're often created using Sand painting, but can also be created digitally. There are many different forms of mandalas and they are used in many religions. Essentially, creating a mandala is an art form that can help you on your spiritual journey. A mandala is a sacred geometric shape used to depict the universe. It's essentially a secularized form of a Greek mystical wonder called a kosmos. A kosmos was a geometric design used to decorate churches in Europe during the Middle Ages. The word 'mosaic' comes from the Greek word for 'mother,' so the mother church would be decorated with her children's handiwork: her kosmos. A kosmos can be circular or square in shape and depicts inner and outer elements of creation. It is often used as a prayer or meditation tool and can be found in many religious works such as Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism. The term 'mandala' comes from Sanskrit and means 'circle.' Most mandalas use concentric circles to depict the universe. Outer circles represent the cosmic elements, inner circles represent the deities, and center circles represent the mind. Many mandalas also include triangles at the bottom to represent body, emotions and mind respectively. Mandalas can be colorful and filled with symbols depicting various ideas such as compassion, impermanence and awakening. For example, the Buddha depicted inked on an ancient Indian temple wall is probably a form of a Buddhist mandala. Many people use mandalas to focus their energy and calm their minds through meditation. They create complex designs consisting of thousands of interlinked lines to represent whole spiritual concepts such as love or creation itself. Some artists even use their skills to create digital mandalas for people to view online. Creating a mandala helps people reflect upon innermost thoughts and meditate upon them. People have used their talents - which are often augmented by years of practice - for centuries to create beautiful works of art like these on the path to enlightenment. A unique aspect of mandalas is their use in ancient Eastern religious traditions such as Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism. In these traditions, mandalas are used to guide people on the spiritual path to enlightenment. They're often made by meditating monks using sacred geometry tools such as compass, straightedge, square, fixed blade knife and thread (numerology). Many artists base their creations on Buddhist teachings; for example, one commonly followed practice when making a Buddhist mandala is called the vajrayana method (subtle energy). This practice focuses on compassion through visualization; it teaches practitioners to radiate positive energy through specific chakras while removing negative energy from specific body parts like anger or greed through finger waving motions. A mandala is a spiritual practice that uses geometry to depict the universe or enlightenment concepts to focus meditation efforts. They're often created by artistic meditators using sacred tools such as compass, straightedge, square, fixed blade knife and thread (numerology). Creating a mandala helps people focus their energy and calm their minds through meditation. Essentially- it's an artistic expression that has helped billions of people understand complex thoughts through artistry for millennia!