circle, disk, wheel, ring, sphere, sphere, orbit, country, territory, region, society, the collection, assembly - these are some of the meanings of the word "mandala" (Sanskrit maṇḍala, Tib. Dkyil 'khor), occurring in ancient Indian literature. In Buddhism, this word has a number of additional values: a dish for offerings in the ritual practice, a mystical figure, a symbolic image of the Buddhist universe, the universe. The basic meaning of the term "mandala" in esoteric Buddhism - this measurement, peace.
Читать дальше...
The mandala is a symbolic representation of pure land of Buddhas, in other words, this image of the world salvation.
Mandala as a symbolic image of the Buddhist universe is a circle, inscribed in a square, which in turn is inscribed in a circle. The outer circle - the universe, the inner circle - the measurement of deities, bodhisattvas, Buddhas. Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and gods are kept in the hands of the ritual attributes. These items, as well as forms and postures of deities symbolically express the enlightened activity of realized beings, their ability. Place on a mandala of a Buddha or Bodhisattva is also consistent with its most pronounced ability. This ability, or enlightened activity is associated with any of the five pure wisdom, symbolically expressed by the color and location on the mandala. Five Buddhas or bodhisattvas depicted symbolize the unity of the five wisdoms as aspects of spiritual awakening. Sometimes the images of Buddhas and deities replace the image of their indigenous characters, syllables, whose sounds express the measurement of these deities.
In the mandala has a center and four directions, corresponding to the four corners of the earth. The square of the mandala, oriented to the cardinal points, has on each side of the T-shaped exits - Gateway to the Universe. Field of the square divided into four parts. The fifth part forms the center. Each of the five parts has its own color: blue corresponds to the center, white - the east, yellow - the south, red - the west, green - the north. Each color is also associated with one of the Five Dhyani Buddhas - the head of the family (genesis), which is being portrayed: blue corresponds Vairochana, white - Akshobhya, yellow - Ratnasambhava, Red - Amitabha, green - Amoghasiddhi.
In the process of meditation on the stage of generation practitioner mentally plays in his mind all that is shown on the mandala, identifying himself with the deity, depicted in its center.
Mandalas can be both two-dimensional, image on the plane, and three-dimensional, relief. They draw on the fabric, on the sand, do colored powders and are made from metal, stone, wood. They may even cut out of oil, turning it into the appropriate ritual colors. Mandalas are often depicted on the floors, walls and ceilings of churches. Some of the mandala of colored powders perform for a certain ritual practices (eg, in the Kalachakra initiation). By the end of the ritual creation destroyed.
It creates such beauty for a few days, then destroyed, it is difficult to comment, even harder to understand. I have one friend recently went on Roerich places in Tibet. She returned with the words: - Buy a house that, if and to live. Such beauty and the silence around.
