Exploring Your Mandala

"The mandala is usually a symbolic representation which depicts the qualities of the Enlightened Mind in harmonious relationship with one another. A mandala may also be used to represent the path of spiritual development. On another level a mandala can be a symbolic representation of the universe, as in one of the four foundation practices of the Vajrayana, in which a mandala representing the universe is offered to the Buddha." -- Answers.com

In Vajrayana Buddhism the ideal of the mandala is to represent the Buddha realm, but I find the symbology to be versatile. However we construct the rules we accept for our lives, we each are constructing our own private universes, our own mandalas. How is your personal universe constructed?

Is yours characterized by balance and harmony? What colors do you use most frequently? Is it concentric, with all points leading towards the one, or is it a more haphazard pattern? What spatial orientations hold meaning for you? Is your mandala drawn to depict east, west, north and south or do you gravitate towards ideas like sun, moon, planets and constellations? What concepts do you use to limit what is allowed in? What vocabulary is used in your language of order and meaning?

This may all seem quite abstract to you. I am asking you about the metaphors you live by and they are probably invisible to you. But whether you see them or not, you are in fact drawing the lines that make up your world according to some set of hidden rules. Wouldn't it be great to actually see a visual depiction of what it is you are creating? Only with knowledge is there conscious choice.

The process of creating your own mandala will undoubtedly be illuminating and therapeutic, but another blessing is that the final product can be used in meditation practice. Just focus on the drawing and let yourself merge into it. Let the mind disappear and the symbology fully absorb you. Then see what insight emerges. Even if you don't exactly like the feeling your first mandala produces in meditation, that is still useful information. What is it you do or don't like about the experience? Does that relate in any way to how you feel about your life in general? Watching our mandalas change over time is a beautiful and colorful way to chart our spiritual paths.

Follow these links for guidance in the creation of your own visual mandala:

http://www.jyh.dk/indengl.htm
http://www.exoticindiaart.com/article/mandala/

May you be a joyful and conscious creator.

Sacred Space in Motion

Dancing last night at Soul Motion with Vinn Marti, I prayed to the all-pervading light, "Can you use this moment? Can you use it to show me your ancient face? Let me use the body to lose the body. Show me that I am not a body."

At first I would see an image of myself moving a certain way, then decide to enact that vision. Gradually that gave way to discovering the movements as they occurred, watching myself dance. Finally I began to consciously note the movements only after they had occurred, as I stood in stillness waiting for the next motion to come. While in the midst of each movement there was no mind to observe with. There was only the motion itself.

At the spiritual singing circles with Wind Cloud there is a song we often sing, and usually I wind up being the dancer for the group. It goes something like this:

Loving is a beautiful feeling, dance 'til you rise in love.
Dancing is a beautiful feeling, dance 'til you rise above.
Disappear in the song, 'til the dancer is gone,
until only the dance remains.

And this I sing to you now, for you are sacred space. This is my prayer. May you use the body to lose the body. May you lose the dancer and become the dance. May you see your ancient face and recognize your true nature, in this very moment.