Buddhist Mandala: for Gloria

[Guest guest]

The following was posted to the See-What-Is list on .

I dedicate it to Gloria:

 

--Jerry

 

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nkgtara The Buddhist Mandala -

Sacred Geometry and Art

 

Hello, the following is another short piece put together by

me.

 

The Buddhist Mandala - Sacred Geometry and Art

 

Perhaps the most admired and discussed symbol of Buddhist

religion and art is the mandala, a word which, like guru

and yoga, has become part of the English language. Its

popularity is underscored by the use of the word mandala as

a synonym for sacred space in scholarship world over, and

by its presence in English-language dictionaries and

encyclopedias. Both broadly define mandalas as geometric

designs intended to symbolize the universe, and reference

is made to their use in Buddhist and Hindu practices.

 

The mandala idea originated long ago before the idea of

history itself. In the earliest level of India or even

Indo-European religion, in the Rig Veda and its associated

literature, mandala is the term for a chapter, a collection

of mantras or verse hymns chanted in Vedic ceremonies,

perhaps coming from the sense of round, as in a round of

songs. The universe was believed to originate from these

hymns, whose sacred sounds contained the genetic patterns

of beings and things, so there is already a clear sense of

mandala as world-model.

 

The word mandala itself is derived from the root manda,

which means essence, to which the suffix la, meaning

container, has been added. Thus, one obvious connotation of

mandala is that it is a container of essence. As an image,

a mandala may symbolize both the mind and the body of the

Buddha. In esoteric Buddhism the principle in the mandala

is the presence of the Buddha in it, but images of deities

are not necessary. They may be presented either as a wheel,

a tree, or a jewel, or in any other symbolic manifestation.

 

Illustration :

http://www.exoticindiaart.com/buddha/ze25.jpg (Size : 135

kb)

 

CREATION OF A MANDALA:

 

The origin of the mandala is the center, a dot. It is a

symbol apparently free of dimensions. It means a 'seed',

'sperm', 'drop', the salient starting point. It is the

gathering center in which the outside energies are drawn,

and in the act of drawing the forces, the devotee's own

energies unfold and are also drawn. Thus it represents the

outer and inner spaces. Its purpose is to remove the

object-subject dichotomy. In the process, the mandala is

consecrated to a deity.

 

In its creation, a line materializes out of a dot. Other

lines are drawn until they intersect, creating triangular

geometrical patterns. The circle drawn around stands for

the dynamic consciousness of the initiated. The outlying

square symbolizes the physical world bound in four

directions, represented by the four gates; and the midmost

or central area is the residence of the deity. Thus the

center is visualized as the essence and the circumference

as grasping, thus in its complete picture a mandala means

grasping the essence.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/batik/ba41.jpg

(Size : 69 kb)

 

CONSTRUCTION OF A MANDALA:

 

Before a monk is permitted to work on constructing a

mandala he must undergo a long period of technical artistic

training and memorization, learning how to draw all the

various symbols and studying related philosophical

concepts. At the Namgyal monastery (the personal monastery

of the Dalai lama), for example, this period is three

years.

 

In the early stages of painting, the monks sit on the outer

part of the unpainted mandala base, always facing the

center. For larger sized Mandalas, when the mandala is

about halfway completed, the monks then stand on the floor,

bending forward to apply the colors.

 

Traditionally, the mandala is divided into four quadrants

and one monk is assigned to each. At the point where the

monks stand to apply the colors, an assistant joins each of

the four. Working co-operatively, the assistants help by

filling in areas of color while the primary four monks

outline the other details.

 

The monks memorize each detail of the mandala as part of

their monastery's training program. It is important to note

that the mandala is explicitly based on the Scriptural

texts. At the end of each work session, the monks dedicate

any artistic or spiritual merit accumulated from this

activity to the benefit of others. This practice prevails

in the execution of all ritual arts.

 

There is good reason for the extreme degree of care and

attention that the monks put into their work: they are

actually imparting the Buddha's teachings. Since the

mandala contains instructions by the Buddha for attaining

enlightenment, the purity of their motivation and the

perfection of their work allows viewers the maximum

benefit.

 

Each detail in all four quadrants of the mandala faces the

center, so that it is facing the resident deity of the

mandala. Thus, from the perspective of both the monks and

the viewers standing around the mandala, the details in the

quadrant closest to the viewer appear upside down, while

those in the most distant quadrant appear right side up.

 

Generally, each monk keeps to his quadrant while painting

the square palace. When they are painting the concentric

circles, they work in tandem, moving all around the

mandala. They wait until an entire cyclic phase or layer is

completed before moving outward together. This ensures that

balance is maintained, and that no quadrant of the mandala

grows faster than another.

 

The preparation of a mandala is an artistic endeavor, but

at the same time it is an act of worship. In this form of

worship concepts and form are created in which the deepest

intuitions are crystallized and expressed as spiritual art.

The design, which is usually meditated upon, is a continuum

of spatial experiences, the essence of which precedes its

existence, which means that the concept precedes the form.

 

In its most common form, the mandala appears as a series of

concentric circles. Each mandala has its own resident deity

housed in the square structure situated concentrically

within these circles. Its perfect square shape indicates

that the absolute space of wisdom is without aberration.

This square structure has four elaborate gates. These four

doors symbolize the bringing together of the four boundless

thoughts namely - loving kindness, compassion, sympathy,

and equanimity. Each of these gateways is adorned with

bells, garlands and other decorative items. This square

form defines the architecture of the mandala described as a

four-sided palace or temple. A palace because it is the

residence of the presiding deity of the mandala, a temple

because it contains the essence of the Buddha.

 

Illustration :

http://www.exoticindiaart.com/buddha/ze10.jpg (Size : 148

kb)

 

The series of circles surrounding the central palace follow

an intense symbolic structure. Beginning with the outer

circles, one often finds a ring of fire, frequently

depicted as a stylized scrollwork. This symbolizes the

process of transformation which ordinary human beings have

to undergo before entering the sacred territory within.

This is followed by a ring of thunderbolt or diamond

scepters (vajra), indicating the indestructibility and

diamond like brilliance of the mandala's spiritual realms.

 

In the next concentric circle, particularly those mandalas

which feature wrathful deities, one finds eight cremation

grounds arranged in a wide band. These represent the eight

aggregates of human consciousness which tie man to the

phenomenal world and to the cycle of birth and rebirth.

 

Finally, at the center of the mandala lies the deity, with

whom the mandala is identified. It is the power of this

deity that the mandala is said to be invested with. Most

generally the central deity may be one of the following

three:

 

1) Peaceful Deities: A peaceful deity symbolizes its own

particular existential and spiritual approach. For example,

the image of Boddhisattva Avalokiteshvara symbolizes

compassion as the central focus of the spiritual

experience; that of Manjushri takes wisdom as the central

focus; and that of Vajrapani emphasizes the need for

courage and strength in the quest for sacred knowledge.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/mayuri.jpg

(Size : 51 kb)

 

2) Wrathful Deities: Wrathful deities suggest the mighty

struggle involved in overcoming one's alienation. They

embody all the inner afflictions which darken our thoughts,

our words, and our deeds and which prohibit attainment of

the Buddhist goal of full enlightenment. Traditionally,

wrathful deities are understood to be aspects of benevolent

principles, fearful only to those who perceive them as

alien forces. When recognized as aspects of one's self and

tamed by spiritual practice, they assume a purely

benevolent guise.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/mandala.jpg

(Size : 84 kb)

 

3) Sexual Imagery: Sexual imagery suggests the integrative

process which lies at the heart of the mandala. Male and

female elements are nothing but symbols of the countless

pairs of opposites (e.g. love and hate; good and evil etc.)

which one experiences in mundane existence. The initiate

seeks to curtail his or her alienation, by accepting and

enjoying all things as a seamless, interconnected field of

experience. Sexual imagery can also be understood as a

metaphor for enlightenment, with its qualities of

satisfaction, bliss, unity and completion.

 

Illustration :

http://www.exoticindiaart.com/buddha/ze56.jpg (Size : 110

kb)

 

COLOR SYMBOLISM OF THE MANDALA:

 

If form is crucial to the mandala, so too is color. The

quadrants of the mandala-palace are typically divided into

isosceles triangles of color, including four of the

following five: white, yellow, red, green and dark blue.

Each of these colors is associated with one of the five

transcendental Buddhas, further associated with the five

delusions of human nature. These delusions obscure our true

nature, but through spiritual practice they can be

transformed into the wisdom of these five respective

Buddhas. Specifically:

 

White - Vairocana: The delusion of ignorance becomes the

wisdom of reality.

 

Yellow - Ratnasambhava: The delusion of pride becomes the

wisdom of sameness.

 

Red - Amitabha: The delusion of attachment becomes the

wisdom of discernment.

 

Green - Amoghasiddhi: The delusion of jealousy becomes the

wisdom of accomplishment.

 

Blue - Akshobhya: The delusion of anger becomes the mirror

like wisdom.

 

THE MANDALA AS A SACRED OFFERING:

 

In addition to decorating and sanctifying temples and

homes, in Tibetan life the mandala is traditionally offered

to one's lama or guru when a request has been made for

teachings or an initiation - where the entire offering of

the universe (represented by the mandala) symbolizes the

most appropriate payment for the preciousness of the

teachings. Once in a desolate Indian landscape the

Mahasiddha Tilopa requested a mandala offering from his

disciple Naropa, and there being no readily available

materials with which to construct a mandala, Naropa

urinated on the sand and formed an offering of a wet-sand

mandala. On another occasion Naropa used his blood, head,

and limbs to create a mandala offering for his guru, who

was delighted with these spontaneous offerings.

 

Conclusion:

 

The visualization and concretization of the mandala concept

is one of the most significant contributions of Buddhism to

religious psychology. Mandalas are seen as sacred places

which, by their very presence in the world, remind a viewer

of the immanence of sanctity in the universe and its

potential in himself. In the context of the Buddhist path

the purpose of a mandala is to put an end to human

suffering, to attain enlightenment and to attain a correct

view of Reality. It is a means to discover divinity by the

realization that it resides within one's own self.

 

(Thus ends the newsletter for the month of September 2000)

 

Nitin G. http://www.exoticindiaart.com

 

--

We are the Nonduality Generation.

http://www.nonduality.com

[Guest guest]

-

<umbada

NDS <NondualitySalon >; HS

Sunday, October 01, 2000 7:03 AM

Buddhist Mandala: for Gloria

 

 

The following was posted to the See-What-Is list on .

I dedicate it to Gloria:

 

--Jerry

 

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Dear Jerry,

 

My, my, this is quite an honor for a "night table Buddhist."

You probably remember how awed I was by seeing the creation of a sand mandala in

progress at the Tibetan Folklife exhibits on the mall in Wash DC. Before that I

had met one of the young monks who actually worked on making the mandala for the

movie Kundun, and I asked him how it felt to work so meticulously on something

he knew was made only to be so soon destroyed. He just smiled and said

impermanence was part of the purpose of it. When you contrast that with our more

usual idea that art is something created to last, like what we put in museums,

there truly is a wonderful teaching in the sand mandala's temporariness. The art

of creating and seeing beauty within this present momentariness and letting it

all go, nonattachment. Few of us may learn the art of creating intricate

mandalas, but there is another wonderful way to practice art and meditation with

sand. A Zen sandbox can be a way to play with purposeful purposelessness, or

design a miniature landscape... it is whatever you do with it, now this, then

that. Clearly, this is optional, but people might like it, no Buddhism required.

Oh my gosh, if I am playing in the sandbox, have I made it back to kindergarten

already, Jerry? LOL

 

Jerry, did you ever see David Letterman's "brush with greatness" where people in

the audience would tell about some encounter with a celebrity? In a kind of

brush with a brush way, this monk's still very young sister used to work in the

Dalai Lama's office back in India, so I asked her to tell me something more

about him. It seems she had just returned from a year in Japan where she had

been offered some free training in fashion design, but it had felt to her more

like she was being used for free labor. The Dalai Lama was listening very

carefully to her story and kept nodding his head very sympathetically, so she

went on and on about how awful and disappointing this had been for her and how

hard it was to learn to speak the language. When she finally stopped, he nodded

even more vigorously and said, "Excellent, very good experience, very good."

Then she caught this twinkle in his eye and they both burst out laughing.

 

She was one of the volunteers working at that teaching he gave in NYC back in

'99, along with many Tibetans who have emigrated here, and HH met with all of

them for a whole afternoon afterwards. Sure, he gave a little thank you talk,

but most of the time he was asking them to tell him how it was going for them

here. He really listens to his people, such a nice guy.

 

And so are you, Jerry, so are you.

 

Love,

Gloria