The word Mandala means “circle”.
A Mandala represents entirety, a cosmic diagram reminding us of our relation to infinity, extending beyond and within our bodies and minds. The mandala’s purpose is to help transform ordinary minds into enlightened ones. In sum, mandalas represent the connection between our inner worlds and outer reality. Designing your own mandalas can be both inspirational and therapeutic. Read on to know more…
What are Mandalas?
A mandala is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the universe.
*Mandala means circle in Sanskrit. So, a Mandala is basically an integrated structure organized around a unified centre mostly in the form of a circle representing the universe and functions as a sacred area open to deities and forces.
It represents wholeness, and can be seen as a model for the organizational structure of life itself–a cosmic diagram that reminds us of our relation to the infinite, the world that extends both beyond and within our bodies and minds.
Mandalas have been long been used to facilitate meditation in the Indian and Tibetan religions but are now also used in active painting meditations as art, in adult drawing books for de-stress and relaxation purpose and even in the Fashion and design world.
What do the circles and geometric patterns represent?
The circles represent all aspects of life. Universality, community, family, friendship, and the circle of life. We experience circles in our everyday lives from being present in our food to our environment.
Geometry is everywhere in the Universe. In the Macro cosmos and in the Micro cosmos. Every single detail in this universe is the result of a well-planned mathematical equation manifested in a geometrical pattern.
Patterns in nature are visible regularities of form found in the natural world and even in our DNA. These patterns recur in different contexts!
Natural patterns include symmetries, trees, spirals, meanders, waves, foams, tessellations, cracks and stripes and circles are one of the patterns.
Circles are a powerful symbol found in every culture. We see them in halos, prayer wheels, and other religious symbols, architecture, and nature.
Commonly Circles represent unity, wholeness, infinity, being complete, inclusive, united and centred. Without beginning or end, without sides or corners simply like the universe includes everything.
What do the four quadrants in a traditional Buddhist mandala represent?
The process of constructing a mandala is a sacred ritual. It is a meditative, tough, and long process that can take days or even weeks or months to complete.
Traditionally, four monks work together on one single mandala. So, it’s really a meditative teamwork. The mandala is divided into quadrants, one monk assigned to each quadrant. The four quadrants are said to represent loving kindness, compassion, sympathy, and equanimity.
Throughout the process of creating the mandala, each monk receives an assistant who helps fill in the colours while the monk in charge continues to work on the finer details of the quadrant.
These Mandalas are created from the centre outward, beginning with one specific dot in the centre. Normally the mandala is consecrated to a special deity. This deity will usually feature in a place of honour in an image over the centre dot.
The monks work all together at the same time at the same pace, moving all around the mandala. As if it’s a dance around the same fire. They wait until each section is entirely completed before moving outward together.
This ensures that balance is always maintained.
The traditional Tibetan coloured sand mandala, when completed, is destroyed. The sand is poured into a nearby stream or river to spread the positive energies and intentions and vibes it contains and represent.
The main lesson of creating such a mandala for many weeks and then simply destroy, is to remind those who created the mandala the teaching that everything is temporary in life and nothing lasts forever.
What is the significance of the colours red, blue, green, and yellow?
God did not create the Universe in a black and white version but in colours. Some we can see and experience with our human eyes and some not yet!
Every colour has a different frequency; a different and unique wavelength which creates our reality with an abundance of colours and reflections of light waves.
Due to the scientific fact that every colour has a different frequency therefore every colour has a special qualification and a unique energy that impacts us on different emotional levels.
Some of the main colours we observe and experience are red; blue, green, and yellow called the primary colours.
The colour red is the colour of energy, passion, and action, also represents powerful masculine energy like leadership qualities, determination, and ambition. Red excites emotions of motivation and helps us to take actions and it activates the Adrenaline Grand by energizing the Root Chakra.
Blue is the colour of self-esteem and confidence, responsibility, honesty, and loyalty. This colour also helps us to express our deepest emotions and feelings and desires freely. Blue symbolizes peace and tranquillity above everything else, promoting both physical and mental relaxation.
The colour green relates to balance and harmony. It’s the colour of the heart! Our feelings of compassion and love and empathy. Giving us the ability to love and nurture ourselves and others unconditionally. A natural peacemaker! Green is also the colour of growth, the colour of spring, of renewal and rebirth.
The colour yellow relates to acquired knowledge, power, and the feeling of being in control. It is the colour which resonates with the left or logical side of the brain. It’s also the colour of happiness and joy uplifting and illuminating, offering hope, happiness, cheerfulness, and fun.
The colours are said to heal the delusions (ego) that obscure the soul while painting a Mandala.
Red: heals attachments and fear and turns it into confidence, freedom, and power
Blue: heals anger and turns it into self-reflection, self-expression, and intuitive perception
Green: heals jealousy and turns it into unconditional love, understanding and accomplishment
Yellow: heals pride and turns it into oneness, compassion, and abundance
What are the different ways to use Mandalas for healing? Meditation? Creating a mandala? Or colouring a mandala?
Creating Mandalas as a group helps to bring people together while they create individual parts to a mandala that contributes to a large communal piece. Drawing mandalas has been used a form of art therapy to bring people closer to their environment and is quite meditative and helps to release pent-up tension, release emotions, increase creativity, and gives you a chance to connect further with nature and your environment.
Mandala’s are sacred pieces of artwork which are used to evoke healing, spiritual development, and meditation.
There are many ways to benefit from using mandalas for healing purposes. The most common ones are using Mandalas during meditation or actually creating and painting a mandala with an abundance of colours, shapes, and patterns.
Meditating upon the centre of the Mandala is believed to help you enter into the rich symbolism of the artwork and decode the messages that you need to take away from the Mandala and helps to essentially centre the body and mind going into a deep level of awareness and consciousness.
People colouring and painting mandalas often experience a deep sense of calm and well-being releasing a huge amount of happiness hormones like serotonin. It’s one of the simplest methods of active meditation like dancing or listening to music.
Painting or colouring a Mandala is an amazing tool to silently program the mind to take on the essence of oneness or completion.
Carl Jung, the famous and well recognized Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst used Mandala’s with his patients and even instructed them to create their own. He discovered that the symbols from the Mandala’s could be subconsciously absorbed into the individuals mind, bringing about healing and self-reflection and therefore the Mandalas became an important modality in Art Therapy.
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Viki Shah in conversation with Sarah Abdelal and Narmeen Naser
About Sarah Abdelal
Sarah was born and raised in Germany. The multicultural home she came from, her Father is Syrian and mother is French, was a blessing that gave her exposure from a young age to many cultures, traditions, religions, and languages. This was complemented by her curious sense of exploration with many demanding questions about life and death, the soul with all the unknown universe that shields it, the true essence of love and peace within. Sarah is a Clinical Hypnotherapist, Aura abd Chakra Reader, NLP Practitioner, Reiki and Pranic Healing Practitioner and Mind-Body-Spirit Wellness coach. Most of her workshops on Vision board are conducted at the Soul Art Center, Downtown, Dubai.
See more on www.hypnotransition.com
Narmeen Naser
Co-Founder, The AJALA Project
The Ajala Project is a Dubai based online art platform that aims to use art to raise awareness about social causes and brings together a global community of artists to illustrate the initiative of grassroot changemakers, people making a positive impact for marginal communities. Co-founder of Ajala project, Narmeen Naser tells us about the Mandala workshops:
– What do you do at your mandala workshops?
Most of our attendees have no background in art and we try and create an environment where they aren’t intimidated by the prospect of creating an intricate piece. Starting out with simple shapes and lines, we ask participants to start creating patterns. Once they feel more comfortable with the shapes they have created, we then start arranging these shapes and patterns in a circular formation. Then, at a later stage, we try and incorporate colours into the mandalas. Our mandala workshop has been very beneficial and we’ve had adult participants, students, and children with special needs attend them. Each one of our workshops attempt to incorporate art therapy, physical wellbeing, and community building exercises.
What does the AJALA Project do?
We are an art and social impact platform. We connect social impact/ community driven initiatives around the world with Artists. Artists create artworks that highlights these inspiring individuals and initiatives. We sell this art on our website, through our exhibitions and promote these causes through our community events. We also help support artists through various workshops that we hold across Dubai. We are currently holding workshops in Dubai Mall for free Arabic calligraphy lessons throughout Ramadan.
Acharya Dawa Sherpa (Nepal)
What is the a mandala?
The word Mandala originates in Sanskrit and means “circle”. Even though it may be dominated by squares or triangles, a mandala has a concentric structure. Mandalas offer balancing visual elements, symbolizing unity and harmony. The meaning of individual mandalas is usually different and unique to each mandala. The goal of the mandala is to serve as a tool on our spiritual journey as it symbolizes cosmic and psyohic order.