Mandala: Mandala as Symbol of the Universe

By K R K MOORTHY

Mandala, which literally means circle, largely associated with religions and cults of India and Tibet, was also used as a potent symbol by the American Indians, the original inhabitants of Central America, and by the aborigines of Australia.

Across cultures, the universe is represented as a series of concentric circles, maybe as a model of the solar system. In Tantra, the central point represents Mount Meru around which the earth is situated, and the concentric circles represent the cosmic aspects of the universe, like energy fields and atmospheric zones. In Hindu and Buddhist interpretations, the centre of the Mandala is the ultimate divine principle uniting the object and the subject as they spin out of the centre. This may refer to the cosmos or to the human body.

Mandala is the essential plan of the universe, balancing the centrifugal and centripetal forces, combining the beginning and end, a symbol of wholeness or poornata. Its centre is unity, equidistant from every point on the circumference of the outer circles, signifying the unity that exists between all phenomena and experience. The centre point represents the divine, surrounded by potent concentric circles. It is a compact mystical diagram, concentrating spiritual energy at the centre, and usually depicts either a Buddha, Om symbol or a cross at the centre.

The Sri Yantra or Sri Chakra is a complex arrangement of triangles, lotus leaves, and circles, expressing the whole motive energy of the universe and the delicate balance between the male and female principles. This has nine inter-woven isosceles triangles, with four pointing their apex upwards representing shakti, the primordial female essence of dynamic or creative energy and the other five pointing downwards representing Shiva.

The triangles are arranged to produce a number of subsidiary triangles. At the centre of the smallest tri- angle is a dot called Bindu. The smaller triangles form the abode of gods. The common yantras have outer rings consisting of eight-petalled roses enclosed by 16 petalled lotuses, girdled in turn by three circles, all enclosed within a square with four doors jutting outwards on each of the four sides.

In Tantra, the Mandala serves as an external support for meditation. It helps to provide the right feelings and visions by which one can arrive at a sense of unity within oneself and the universe outside. The most concentrated point of the universe, and the goal of the individual, is the Bindu, the irreducible point from which everything moves outwards, and towards which everything is directed. The Bindu has no beginning or end, is neither positive nor negative. It also suggests the waves of vibration emanating from the centre. In its totality the Mandala represents simultaneous evolution and dissolution, intention and repose, and perpetual motion and rest.

While meditating, the Sadaka moves from the outer circles of the Mandala towards the centre getting closer each time to the centre point, the final spiritual fulfillment. The Sadaka will intone a sacred mantra, or sound syllable, based on sound vibrations that parallel the stages of under- standing of the cosmos and the awakening of the seven chakras (centre of consciousness in the body). At the final stage, he attains enlightenment.

Timeless and all-pervading, the Mandala is one of the greatest symbols of human discovery and experience. Its concentric form represents the passage from state to state, from the material to the spiritual. Its centre is eternity, its periphery, perfection. It represents the universe, the image of God and serves as an aid to meditation, leading to inner peace.