Mandala art Guide to meditation and concentration

Modern Mandala Examples  Often used in commercial endeavours; like cards and calandars.

What does this remind you of? What symbol do you connect it to?

Sanskrit Origins  Mandala can be translated into ‘circle’ or ‘completion’.  Mandalas are connected to the ‘dharma wheel’.  Mandalas are to be meditated on to move closer to enlightenment.

Dharma Wheel  The eight spokes of the wheel represent the Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism. The sharp edges are to cut through ignorance, in the pursuit of truth. Noble Eightfold PathNoble Eightfold Path

Tibetan Mandalas  Tibetan monks create rare sand mandalas symbolizing the power of an ancient spiritual vision.

Thangkas  Wall hangings found in Tibetan Buddhist temples which depict / display the Mandala concept.  Brightly coloured painted cloth, also created as a form of meditation and contemplation.

Thangka

Mandala art in its purist form reminds us of our relation to the infinite, the world that extends both beyond and within our bodies and minds.

Why?  A mandala is thought to bring peace and harmony to the area where it is being constructed.

Celebrations of the Natural World

Celebration of Feeling

What would you create?  Tibetan Buddhists say that a mandala consists of five "excellencies“.  The teacher The message The audience The site The time

 An audience or "viewer" is necessary for the creation of a mandala; what you perceive / see will determine its effect.

Check it out!  Labyrinths are a type of mandala found in many cultures and are used as a tool for centering and meditation. Labyrinths

Celebration of Prayer and Meditation  Monks making a sand mandala.

The Making of a Mandala  Here are the four circles, symbolising the enlightenment, which the meditating person must gain, before she can enter the illuminated palace: fire of wisdom: the outermost circle consists of the purifying fire vajra circle: the diamond circle expresses strength and fearlessness tombs: there are eight tombs, which symbolises the eight states of consciousness*, which the person must go beyond lotus circle: expresses the open state of devotion, that is necessary to enter the palace

Buddhist Schools  The original Buddhism very early divided into to schools: Theravada and Mahayana Theravada means "the tradition of the elderly", but is also ironically called Hinayana "the little vessel" by the followers of Mahayana. According to the Theravada Buddhism, the individual can itself work its way forward to freedom from the suffering in the world. The followers of the Theravada Buddhism live in Burma, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Theravada is therefore also called the Southern Buddhism.

 Mahayana means "the big vessel". According to the Mahayana Buddhism a universal love leads to freedom from the sufferings of the world. The Buddhist begins to arouse the wish in herself to release all beings from suffering. The supporters of the Mahayana Buddhism live in Tibet, China, Korea and Japan. Mahayana is therefore also called the Northern Buddhism.

Tibetan Buddhism  Tibetan Buddhism or Vajrayana Buddhism is a branch of the Mahayana Buddhism. According to the legend, the founder Padmasambhava was born in a lake in a lotus blossom. The Padmasambhava Lake is considered to have the clearest blue colour of all the lakes in the world and to hold strong healing power. One of the means of the Tibetan Buddhists to gain freedom is meditation on sublime thoughts and pictures. Such a picture is the mandala.  {

Making Your Own  Contemplate things in the world that are important to you or that weigh on you.  Contemplate the colour(s) that you associate with these things and why.  Draw and colour a Mandala that represents an important subject or topic.  Write a brief explanation, on the back of the mandala, for the choices you’ve made.  ENJOY!!!!