MANDALAS EVERYWHERE by Jill Rawlston
On my desk is a simple coloured drawing of three concentric rings: yellow at the centre, orange radiating around it and both contained by a soft red. It glows. It has action and stillness bound together. Presence! Mandala.
This modern mandala image though drawn quickly is made with intent. Each of the three zones is a space to place awareness. Like most of creation the law of three applies to a mandala and so here the centre symbolises the source, the next sphere is the emanating region and the third is the boundary. By contemplating these three regions initially as a bland template, colours arise as awareness is projected, which is how the drawing was made.
The colours resonate with us and lead us in . . .
Often the colourful beauty of a mandala is the easy way in. Even though we sense the colours are very symbolic, and perhaps unnatural to us, we allow the ordering and the geometry that often underpins the image to resonate within. We open to the original intent which is taken on trust to be divine and leading us into our true selfhood and harmony. The intent of the original impulse, with its structures, repetitions and the use of numbers and geometry all resonate with similar configurations within the human. The trinity in action, mentioned at the beginning regarding the drawing on my desk, is one example of this principle. In the simple drawing the three were obviously stated. In many mandalas they figure softly as the image works out in series of threes from the central source.
‘Mandala’ is Sanskrit for circle/centre. It implies the central source and simultaneously the totality of creation within the circle. Here is the All. Here is the play of time, space and creation weaving love and wisdom into matter – and hopefully the tapestry is harmonious. Chaos exists yet it is held in a supernatural or divine ordering.
The main role of all sacred art is to enable this creative, earthly process to express in more godly ways and for the human to become one with God. The Buddhist mandala tradition, the focus of this article, is an inspiring place to start. The mandala, by showing the circular form, elicits an immediate (though often subconscious) awareness of God. Jung called the circle a symbol of the Self. This symbol is universal, as Jungian thought explains and demonstrates. Indeed the circle is part of us just as we are held within Creation’s circle. Witness the Celtic cross, the Egyptian sun disk, the yin/yang symbol and the Native American medicine wheel. And just what was Arthur’s round table?
Mandalas are made of intent. Behind every stroke of colour, every form
and flow is mindfulness . . .
The key to appreciating Buddhist mandala images is intent. They are
made of intent. Behind every stroke of colour, behind every form and
flow is mindfulness. First consider the poised mind of the artist bringing
intent to capture the essence of the image, the hear-full mind entering
into ancient truths and doctrines. Each time a traditional image is
copied (or a new image created for healing or as an offering) there
is the energy of the artist’s intent. This is small (but not insignificant)
compared to the intent of the image that is being brought into being.
The wisdom, truth and beauty of the teachings that are embodied in traditional
mandalas carry great intent.
Contemplating a yantra mandala enables inner peace and can plunge you into deep meditation . . .
There are two main forms of mandala: abstract/linear and symbolic/figurative. The first are called yantras and are mainly for meditation practice. The most famous of yantras is the Shri Yantra where many triangles interweave. Contemplating a yantra enables inner peace to consolidate, perhaps plunging you into deep meditation.
The symbolic/figurative style has been particularly developed in Tibet producing a wealth of images relating to deities of every kind and for every human condition. These form mythologies - cosmic and human dramas which instruct and heal and dispel ignorance and illusion. These too are meditation aids, but with the added weight of what today we would call psychology or spiritual disciplining.
Different eras and locations and different strands of Buddhism will adapt the presentation of these wisdoms to meet the particular need. The format of the circle, often with a relationship to a square plus various divisions and extensions, remains constant. Most likely the basic mandala concepts and psycho-spiritual narratives are very ancient. Buddhism did not appear in written form until perhaps a thousand years after Gautama Buddha’s death. It is probable that the oral tradition went hand in hand with imagery, each reinforcing the other.
They reach into our being and beckon us into timelessness . . .
We can appreciate that the Buddhist mandala is a high energy object. It carries the resonance of thousands of years of spiritual wisdom and intent. It is not surprising that to Western eyes, some mandalas are almost threatening. Superficially, and especially with the ones depicting wrathful deities, we have no ready memory banks to help us approach the painted forms let alone penetrate into the concepts and doctrines which they contain. But on an energy level they reach into our being and can disturb the status quo as we are exposed to that which is beyond normal thought and beckoned into timelessness.
Mandalas hold a framework whose theme is unity, integration and harmony, though not always readily apparent. Because the viewer often faces opposites which seem to clash round the still centre producing uneasy tensions, mandala appreciation can be demanding work. Nonetheless these shapes, colours and figures are arranged to literally meet supernaturally in the middle and be re-solved. Many mandalas have four sections – the dance floor for these colourful figures. Also the four corners of the image often hold special power and contain requisite images of symbolic energies or deities.
The main four sections are the earthly separations into the four directions: North, East, South and West, or the four Continents as they are called with symbols of crescent moon, circle, triangle and square. These four symbolic regions play across each other powering movement and attraction, rhythm, space and connection. At centre they become the fifth - the ether - the going beyond the normal elements of earth, air, fire and water. The higher or finer is implicit in the circle dance of the parts.
To view a mandala is to take a trip into the temple within oneself . .
That brings us to the ‘temple.’ In many mandalas, and all the ones with the four region format, we are in fact looking at the ground plan of the temple. The four regions usually have ‘gates’ which are depicted as four central ‘bars’ of various elaborations. Imagine the lintel over a door or perhaps the entrance porch. The gates are sacred entrances to the temple, doorways of initiation from a part to wholeness. The ‘paths’ lead to the Oneness who holds the centre and to whom the mandala is dedicated. The circles and squares within the mandala plan become cupolas, stories or levels of the sacred building, courtyards and gardens. To view a mandala is to take a trip into a super-real temple space. The original intent pulls us in. And not just into this super-real temple, but into the temple within oneself. It may be a strange mirror but it is oneself. A mandala holds time and space together as a symbolic image; likewise the human. Each is assembling the building blocks of a temple. And to whom is ours dedicated? The mandala helps to keep our minds and hearts in the lighted centre.
The number five finds important mandala expression as the five Buddhas or the five enlightened families of Buddha. Each represents a purified aspect of consciousness, or the five components of the human personality. These five are usually coded as a colour or sometimes shown as a symbol or a person. The number three often represents the third part of itself as a ring of protection, often white. This correlates to the boundary aspect mentioned earlier. A clear space to show not only the limit of its interior but a brief void of transition to allow another level or space to exist. Just as in science there is a periodic table of discrete elements, so in a mandala the same principle of diversity in unity can be shown.
A final note on symbolism: The lotus flower is a wonderful and important symbol of Buddhist art. Because it has become so stylised in presentation the Western viewer can easily miss it. Often it is represented by a single petal or chain of petals or with a mirror image forming a double row of petals – none of which resemble any flower we know. But the flowering of the sacred lotus blossom it is - petals of divine truth emerging from the mud of the earth and holding the Buddha’s throne.
The specific colour wavelengths react with us and it’s as though a mandala has ‘sound’ . . .
The Buddhist religion with its mandalas of codified ‘dharma’ or doctrines now resonate around the world. The West is inspired by these ancient Eastern traditions that predate Christianity by half a century. Many western artists use the mandala form, sometimes in close copying, sometimes as the start of an image journey. A good example is Jane Blonder from Cornwall. Taking coloured fabric she makes mandala wall hangings which are usually traditional forms with adapted colours. She is certain the inherent geometry interacts with the geometric and crystalline structures that inform not only human but all manifested forms. Also the specific colour wavelengths she chooses react with us and she speaks of a mandala as having ‘sound’.
It is easy to limit the mandala form to Buddhist art but in the Orthodox
Christian icon tradition we are presented with many a mandala. Icons
often incorporate geometry and the circle is the mother of all forms
in the mathematical sense and, as we have been contemplating, in the
Godhead sense too. Halos are obvious mandala symbols and The Mandylion,
an early 19th Century Russian icon of Christ, coincidently has almost
the same name. Perhaps we are closer to mandala than we thought, closer
to the temple, the meeting place of heaven earth.