MANDALAS

 

What is a Mandala?

A mandala is complex, geometrical design or shape which triggers subconscious memories and paranormal experiences and abilities.

They can range from a simple snowflake in nature, every one being uniquely different, to a very complex structure of colour, lines and artistry.

Many cultures have used the mandala for healing, spirit communication, prophecy and awakening latent spiritual and psychic abilities. These cultures include the Native American Indians and Tibetan Buddhist cultures.

The Native American Indians constructed elaborate sand drawings and called upon their spirit gods and guides to help them heal sick members of the tribe. Often the ill person was placed at the centre of the sand painting and the diagram constructed around him/her. The illness could be drawn off into the artwork and then later scattered to the wind. The Navajo words for the sand painting or a mandala is "place where the Gods come and go". The Navajos constructed their sand paintings after sunrise and then destroyed them before sunset. They are made of coloured sands, cornmeal, corn pollen, flower

pollen, bark and powdered roots. Only a chanter/singer can construct a sand paining for ritual and healing use.

Symbols used in other native mandalas were representative of protection and the spiritual universe, bridging the gap between the third dimensional earthly life and the higher dimensional spiritual realms. They could be interpreted as viewing the cosmos in miniature or showing the balance of powers in the universe.

The native American medicine wheel is also constructed as a mandala.

It is common to many tribes. It is made in a circle which represents the outer boundary of earth and the connecting lines through the centre of the circle as the sun and humanity’s sacred pathways. In the centre of the circle is placed a feather which represents the creators power over both the physical world and the spiritual worlds. The medicine wheel is marked with the four sacred colours red, black, white and yellow for the four cardinal directions and the four races of humanity.

The mandalas were also painted onto war shields, rock paintings and pottery and represented in woven rugs and items.

The Tibetan monks would construct elaborate and intricate sand paintings over many weeks or months. They were often used as symbols of welcome to important guests, wishing them good health and prosperity. They were also used for prophecy and healing. At the end of their use, the monks would simply erase them, indicating the impermanence of all things.

The Tibetan mandala creators described the symbolic pictures as a "sacred assembly". The circle conveys the idea of wholeness, completion and unity. Semi circles, triangles, temples and the human body are also used in their intricate and beautiful mandalas. They are believed to have been first constructed in the 8th century. Monasteries in India have been constructed using the mandala in 3D architectural form, particularly the Uddandapura monastry. The Ngor monastery is famous for it’s complex and aesthetically beautiful mandalas. The Bodhisattva the aspect of Spirit who represents enlightenment, promotes the use of mandalas in spiritual development.

It is believed that mandalas also represent within their lines and contours, hidden spiritual and psychic messages that on observation, the brain and subconscious part of the mind reacts to and explores. They are considered cosmic sign posts to greater hidden knowledge.

Scientists have discovered that while a person is constructing a mandala that certain biochemical changes occur in the brain. They believe that it is a psychological phenomena and that they also appear in dreams, in certain cases of mental illness and in certain states of conflict. The mandala represents different states of mind within the person.

 Carl Jung in his book "Mandala Symbolism" has linked complex biochemical reactions in the body to symmetric patterns similar to the mandala. These processes were he believed, based on the laws of nature.

 


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