Tuesday, 29 September 2015

What is a mandala and what is its meaning?

Mandalas show up in many places. You may see mandala design or a mandala to color in or one in everyday objects which you will see later on. Asking for a mandala definition is often a near impossible question to answer. The best way to kick off is by talking through the origin of the term and its original uses by human beings.

 

The term ‘Mandala’ is a Sanskrit term which basically means circle. If you look further into the true meaning a more detailed definition is ‘an integrated structure organized around a unifying centre’. This is a interpretation more similar to the mandala you may see in mandala designs or that would be more akin to what you could think of a mandala tattoo meaning.

 

most of the first known occurrences known of us humans creating mandalas is Tibetan Buddhists mandalas. The word they used for the Buddhist mandala is ‘kyil-khor’. The Buddhist art of creating a mandala was frequently used to prepare for meditation. The mandala designs created would be the reason for the meditation for that day. New points of focus within each topic of meditation lended itself to a new mandala so that the new mandala could be used in meditation as a gateway to that way of thinking. The Buddhist mandala was also seen through the sand mandala. The monks would spend huge amounts of time to draw a lovingly made mandala design in the sand and add colour. After the sand mandala was complete they soon would have to remove the sand into a place with water to destroy the piece of mandala art as acknowledgement of how life is only temporary while also blessing the water and continuing the cycle of the mandala.

No comments:

Post a Comment