Mandala

Origin and history

The word "mandala" comes from the Sanskrit maṇḍala meaning "circle, sacred enclosure". Mandalas appear in the Hindu tradition as visual representations of the cosmos and dwellings of deities (yantras). In Tibetan and tantric Buddhism they reach their maximum development as ritual mandalas (made of coloured sand by monks for ceremonies, then ritually destroyed to remind impermanence) and meditation mandalas (figures of Buddhas and bodhisattvas in geometric architectures).

But the mandala is not exclusive to Eastern cultures: almost all human spiritual traditions have produced versions of it. Christian rose windows of cathedrals, Andean and Aztec circular labyrinths, Native American sacred circles, Aboriginal Australian patterns, Celtic Yin-Yang. Carl Jung, after dreaming and drawing his own spontaneous mandalas, concluded that the mandala is a universal archetypal symbol of the totality of the Self that the psyche produces spontaneously when it integrates.

Structure and symbolism

A mandala typically combines: a centre (the divine, the integrated Self, the still point); concentric circles around it (different levels of reality, layers of consciousness); cardinal points (the four elements, the four cardinal directions, the four phases of the cycle); repetitive geometric patterns (creating sacred order). The whole is a visual map of the cosmos in micro: each part of the mandala has reference to a part of the universe and the human experience.

The act of making a mandala (drawing it, painting it, building it) is itself a contemplative practice: it requires concentration, geometric precision, attention to detail. It produces a state of meditative immersion. The act of contemplating a mandala with relaxed eyes induces alpha states of consciousness, calms the mind, harmonises the inner. Many mandalas designed for therapy or meditation are appropriately calibrated to produce these effects.

Working with mandalas

Different uses: contemplative meditation (sit in front of an existing mandala — Tibetan, Hindu, Christian — and observe relaxedly for 10-20 minutes), painting mandalas (the famous "anti-stress mandalas" of contemporary therapy: blank mandalas filled with colours; produce calm, attention, integration), drawing your own (Jungian therapy used to use them — what is born of you spontaneously says about your inner state), sand mandala (advanced ritual practice). All forms work with the centring effect of the mandala on the psyche.