Mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning disc. It is a symbol, or symbolic form, whose basic form is a circle with a centre, or a circle divided into four quarters. It is found throughout the world and across recorded history. In North America, the Pawnee lived in mandala shaped Earth Lodges, which reflect their desire to live in harmony with the world, and the Navaho make elaborate mandalas of coloured sand to promote healing. The lotus and the wheel in Hinduism are mandalas, as is the host in the monstrance in the Christian rite of Benediction. Some of the most beautiful mandalas are the rose windows of the great medieval gothic cathedrals of Western Europe, such as Chartres, which also has the famous labyrinth, which is also in the form of a mandala. The most intricate and highly developed mandalas can be found in the religious art of Tibetan Buddhists.
Because it is a symbolic form, it is not possible to define its meaning. What re some of the overlapping and interweaving things mandalas might say to us?
The unbroken circle speaks of wholeness - the whole world, healing, reconciliation, the perfection of God, the totality of everything, God and the world together.
The centre point speaks of balance, the hub of a wheel, the source of power, the point from which all creation is born, God within the circle of God without.
The circle divided into four speaks of things divided and things reunited, the outward movement of growing and exploring, and the inward movement of discovering and coming home.
The circle and its centre speak of God at the centre of all,of the individual centred on God, the mystery at he heart of creation.
Before I became a Christian the mandala spoke to me of the way through to what was important, what creates and sustains - what Joseph Campbell called the "sun door."
As a Christian it continues to speak to me. Many of my mandalas are interpretations of Bible passages and popular Christian symbols including the cross and the Saced Heart. The mandala is not a shape I have imposed upon these, but come from a feeling deep within me that this shape is inherent in their meaning.
