The meditation images of Hinduism and Buddhism gave mandalas their name. Mandala comes from Sanskrit and means circle.
Circles appear first in nature: in the sun, the full moon, pine cones, sunflowers, ripples on water, snail shells … We humans recognize them when we come across them. The closed shape of a circle, with no beginning and no end, has a calming effect.
Circles also appear in all cultures. The rose windows of great cathedrals are one example, and so is the art of the Aboriginal peoples and Native Americans. In Japan, a circle is called “enso – everything is in it”. It takes great skill to draw a beautiful circle in a single brushstroke.
You can buy books of mandalas in every bookshop. That’s how mandalas have found their way into our everyday lives. They decorate T-shirts and yoga mats. The “Flower of Life” turns up on notebooks and wall stickers.
Mandalas are no longer reserved for monks, who spend weeks in ceremony creating a mandala out of sand, only to destroy it at the end.
Anyone can experience the calming effect and color in a template. Why not just give it a try!
