Blue flower Mandala
Acryl on paper
Acryl on paper
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Anahata Chakra
The fourth chakra
"The fourth centre is called as the Anahath Chakra, meaning the heart centre. It has twelve petals and is placed behind the sternum in the spinal cord. This centre produces the anti-bodies till the age of twelve years and then these anti-bodies are circulated in the whole body to be ready to fight any kind of attack on the body or on the mind. If there is any attack on the person these anti-bodies are informed through the sternum, which has a remote control of information. Heart centre caters for the cardiac plexus."
Shri Anahatabja-nilaya Devi
I am the pure form of Joy — clean; pure; immaculate. I am the Cosmic Dancer and the Master of rhythm in music. Out of My Compassion I devour the poisons of the Universe, and at the End of all things, My Dance destroys all that is not pure Spirit. I am the Destination of your spiritual seeking, Lord God of All. When My presence is awakened in you by Kundalini, you experience Me as Silence, Absolute Joy and Peace. There is no duality between My Shakti and Myself. We are inseparable, like the moon and the moonlight. OM, I am neither the mind, the intelligence, the ego, the chitta nor attention; neither the ears nor the tongue, nor the senses of smell and sigh; neither ether nor air, nor fire, nor water, nor Earth. I am eternal bliss and awareness. I am Shiva. I am Shiva.
When a child is born, the first thing that it responds to is the Spirit of its mother. At the moment of his birth he is not aware of his body, but he is aware of the Spirit. The moment he comes out of the womb he suffers a shock, and his first reaction is to get back to the womb. At this stage his mind, conditionings and ego aspects are non-existent. He is pure spirit, and it is this pure spirit that finds comfort in the spirit of his mother and through that comfort, sustenance in the new alien environment. This response is true or unconditional love. It is not a conditioned response, but the sheer joy of the fusion of two spirits.
QUALITY
The Heart Chakra is the home of the Self, the Spirit or Atma — all mean the same thing. Time and again Shri Mataji has stressed that, "You are nothing but your eternal Spirit." In this way She is telling us that we have to realize and become our Spirit, and leave behind the futility of the illusion we live in. We start the process of becoming our Spirit after Self-Realization, as we start to lose our false identifications with our body, mind and feelings. Only after this enlightenment can we take our Attention to our heart and cleanse it. The Spirit can only manifest when our heart is open and clean, at which point we feel the eternal Joy of Creation and the meaning and purpose of our place in it. If functioning properly, it enables us to feel our Self-Transcendence, generate and radiate love. The state of vibrations maintains and revitalizes our own human systems as well as those of others.
Pure love, which enlightens all, is the real quality of the Heart Chakra. In the unrealized state we rarely love for love’s sake. Because of our conditioning we confuse feelings of love with those of possession, sex and selfishness. Pure love is detached and gives without motive. True love is the quality that emanates from the Spirit and not from the body or mind. Bodily attraction is physical and the mind does not love — it merely wants. When the want of the mind is attained, then the novelty wears off. For instance a child is excited and attached to a new toy, but after a few days, as the novelty wears off, the excitement dies. The same occurs with relationships which are based simply on physical attraction. That which is illusory cannot love or be loved.
Love is often mistakenly taken as restricted to male and female. In fact Love is the flow of life is all limbs, between children/parents, brothers/sisters, friends, senior citizens etc. Where many people share and care, then the whole society opens up its Heart centre. It becomes a collective society and changes the world. This is the power of Love. Love is the principle behind all Creation. We say that God is Love and love is God because in its depths we cease to be. In true Love there is no "I" and no "You" — there is simply the merging of the Spirit. In this state we experience true human unity, the true oneness of life. Physically we can appear as different colors, shapes, characteristics, but as we become the Spirit the drop becomes the Ocean.
TRADITION
The seat of the Heart Chakra is located in the Brahmarandhra at the crown of the head (in the Sahasrara). This is where Shri Gauri (Kundalini) in Her form of Shri Parvati is united with Shri Shiva. Shri Shiva presides as the Witness in the left Heart Chakra, controlling our very existence. This centre, therefore, has to be treated with the greatest respect and understanding. In the centre Heart Chakra resides Shri Jagdamba, the Mother of the Universe. Here, in our faith in the Mother aspect, rests our sense of security and protection. Lord Rama inhabits the right Heart Chakra. He exhibited the ideals of behavior as a husband, son, brother and ruler. He re-established the status of women in the household, and clarified the principles of Dharma. He also exemplified the boundaries of conduct within which we should operate in order to deepen our spiritual growth. These guidelines show us the power of discrimination and help us protect the protocol of the Spirit.
GROSS PHYSICAL ASPECT
Using the body as an instrument of athletic display fatigues the Heart centre. Excessive athletic competition simply develops into an ego-oriented thing, with no real gain at the end of it. In a similar way modern Hatha yoga is a form of athleticism which has no correlation with the Spirit, and this too can harm the centre. Unfortunately today Hatha yoga is mistaken for spirituality and people spend hours doing all kinds of asanas (positions). By standing on our heads (or wearing white/saffron robes or being vegetarian or whatever) we are not going to know the Almighty Creator.
Causes of catch or obstruction on left little finger
A "catch" is an imbalance. If we feel heat or tingling, or maybe even numbness in our fingertips, it means that our kundalini is alerting us to an imbalance in a particular chakra.
'Your left little finger will speak' when there is extreme physical or mental activity, heartfelt bad relations (especially mother’s), no confidence in God, anti-God activities, outside attention, no seeking, no interest in self.
A "catch" is an imbalance. If we feel heat or tingling, or maybe even numbness in our fingertips, it means that our kundalini is alerting us to an imbalance in a particular chakra.
'Your left little finger will speak' when there is extreme physical or mental activity, heartfelt bad relations (especially mother’s), no confidence in God, anti-God activities, outside attention, no seeking, no interest in self.
GENERAL ADVICE FROM SHRI MATAJI
The most effective way to clear or heal chakra problems ('catch" or obstruction) is to put attention on the affected chakra during meditation and allow the Mother Kundalini to heal. Remain in the thoughtless state while you work on the affected chakra. Always remember this quote of Shri Mataji:
"Kundalini will rise and She will cleanse you completely. Kundalini will rise and always cleanse the chakras."
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
Sydney, Australia, March 31, 1991
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
Sydney, Australia, March 31, 1991
Once this is power is established no external rituals are required as catches will be healed instantly and constantly by the Mother Kundalini within. Until and unless external cleansing rituals are discarded this power will never be established. On the contrary, all these rituals only make matters worse according to Shri Mataji:
"The people who think that they can control their ego will eat less or use all types of methods to control ego. For example, someone is standing on one leg or other one on his head, all types of efforts they are doing to reduce their ego.
But with all these techniques, ego doesn't vanish. On the contrary, ego increases. Fasting, reciting the names, increases your ego. With Havans also ego increases because Agni, fire, is the right side element. Anything which is rituals increases your ego.
Human being thinks that they are alright, since they are doing these rituals since thousand years. All the wrong teachings they are still following. For this reason Sahaja Yoga is against Karma Kanda, that is rituals. No need to do any kind of Karma Kanda.
And to go to the extreme point is also dangerous. I had asked them to shoe-beat to destroy their ego and what I see that every morning all the Sahaja Yogis go in the line with their shoes for shoe-beatings. But I had asked to do this if you have ego in you.
All these rituals have entered into Sahaja Yoga. I got somebody in France with the list of the treatments of Vashi hospital. But that was for sick peoples. This is the nature of human being to follow the rituals because he thinks that he can do it."
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
25 December 1997, Christmas Puja
Ganapatipule, Maharashtra, India
"The people who think that they can control their ego will eat less or use all types of methods to control ego. For example, someone is standing on one leg or other one on his head, all types of efforts they are doing to reduce their ego.
But with all these techniques, ego doesn't vanish. On the contrary, ego increases. Fasting, reciting the names, increases your ego. With Havans also ego increases because Agni, fire, is the right side element. Anything which is rituals increases your ego.
Human being thinks that they are alright, since they are doing these rituals since thousand years. All the wrong teachings they are still following. For this reason Sahaja Yoga is against Karma Kanda, that is rituals. No need to do any kind of Karma Kanda.
And to go to the extreme point is also dangerous. I had asked them to shoe-beat to destroy their ego and what I see that every morning all the Sahaja Yogis go in the line with their shoes for shoe-beatings. But I had asked to do this if you have ego in you.
All these rituals have entered into Sahaja Yoga. I got somebody in France with the list of the treatments of Vashi hospital. But that was for sick peoples. This is the nature of human being to follow the rituals because he thinks that he can do it."
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
25 December 1997, Christmas Puja
Ganapatipule, Maharashtra, India
ADDITIONAL QUOTES
"The Heart Chakra or Anahat Chakra
The fourth chakra, the chakra of the heart, is the place where resides our Spirit, our true Self, which is eternally pure and unaffected by anything, like a shining diamond hidden within us which witnesses all our actions. After Self-Realization, our attention becomes for the first time connected to our Spirit and we gradually become aware of it. Our misidentifications with our ego or conditionings drop and we start becoming identified with our Spirit, which is our true nature.
On the physical level, this chakra looks after our heart and lungs — if affected it can cause asthma or various heart conditions.
It is from our heart that the compassion and love manifests, and also the heart chakra is the one that gives us the sense of responsibility and pure behaviour towards others. The heart chakra manifests in the center (at the level of the sternum bone) as complete security and confidence. All our worries, doubts and fears are destroyed when the heart chakra is fully enlightened by the Kundalini."
"Sahaja means spontaneity, and the basis of Sahaja Yoga is spontaneous union with the divine. This is accomplished through kundalini yoga, which is claimed to awaken a powerful spiritual energy located at the base of the spine. With Mataji's help, kundalini can be awakened in anyone. When it happens, practitioners are said to feel a cool breeze on the palms of their hands and above their heads. The experience also produces deep peace and happiness, and leads to enlightenment when it reaches the top cakra. As they develop 'vibratory awareness', devotees can tell from feelings of coolness and heat and from discomfort in their own cakras (energy centres on the central nervous system) where their own people's cakras are blocked and learn to heal themselves and others. They believe in deities who personify the qualities of the cakras. The ultimate aim, as with most yoga-based teachings, is self-realization."
The Color Indigo
The color indigo is the color of intuition and perception and is helpful in opening the third eye. It promotes deep concentration during times of introspection and meditation, helping you achieve deeper levels of consciousness. It is a color which relates to the "New Age" - the ability to use the Higher Mind to see beyond the normal senses with great powers of perception. It relies on intuition rather than gut feeling.
Indigo is a deep midnight blue. It is a combination of deep blue and violet and holds the attributes of both these colors.
Service to humanity is one of the strengths of the color indigo. Powerful and dignified, indigo conveys integrity and deep sincerity.
The color meaning of indigo reflects great devotion, wisdom and justice along with fairness and impartiality. It is a defender of people's rights to the end.
Structure creates identity and meaning for indigo. In fact an indigo person cannot function without structure - it throws them right off balance. Organization is very important to them and they can be quite inflexible when it comes to order in their lives.
Indigo loves rituals and traditions, religion and the institutional system, conforming to things that have worked in the past while planning for the future.
Indigo stimulates right brain or creative activity and helps with spatial skills. It is a dramatic color relating to the world of the theater, which, during times of stress becomes the drama queen, making a mountain out of a molehill!
The negative color meaning of indigo relates to fanaticism and addiction. Its addiction encompasses everything from a need for recognized qualifications to a need for illegal drugs, from the workaholic to the religious fanatic.
Indigo can be narrow-minded, intolerant and prejudiced.
Positive and Negative Traits of Indigo
Positive keywords include integrity and sincerity, structure and regulations, highly responsible, idealism, obedience, highly intuitive, practical visionary, faithful, devotion to the truth and selflessness.
Negative keywords include being fanatical, judgmental, impractical, intolerant and inconsiderate, depressed, fearful, self-righteous, a conformist, addictive, bigoted and avoiding conflict.
The Color Indigo Represents:
Intuition - use it to assist in accessing intuitive abilities - it is the first step to higher spiritual knowledge
Integrity - and deep sincerity are qualities of indigo
Structure and Order-a good colour to use in restructuring aspects of your life or business
Wisdom - an inner knowingness and awareness - spiritual wisdom rather than the wisdom of the intellect
Effects of The Color Indigo:
Introspection - promotes deep concentration during times of introspection and meditation - can lead to feelings of being spaced out.
Idealistic - an ability to plan for the future.
Addiction - can support an addictive personality into maintaining their addictions - don't use it if you are trying to overcome an addiction - it is associated with the religious fanatic - the colour of the workaholic who thinks they are indispensable - can also be related to those who are addicted to getting qualifications.
The Dramatist - relates to the acting profession - can cause people to 'make a mountain out of a molehill'.
Conformity - a love of ritual - conformity to the things that have worked in the past, not just for the sake of conforming.
Symbolism of lion and leaf
Lion
The lion is a very diverse symbol. Its most common traits are: majesty, strength, courage, justice, and military might. It can be both solar and lunar. Commonly reffered to as "the king of the beasts," it is a symbol of Kingly power and might, but as the lioness it is commonly related to the Great Mother and protection. In a Christian context, the lion can be the power and might of Christ, or the open maw of Satan. Greek myth links this beast to Heracles and his epic wrestling match with a supernatural lion, which no earthly weapon could harm. In this context the lion is death, beaten by the solar hero. After killing the lion with his bare hands, Heracles wore its skin as a sort of armor.
As the opposite of the eagle, the lion can represent earth, as the presider over many floods he can represent fertility, and as a hellish beast he can represent the underworld. Relates to almost any proud, courageous characteristic. In psychology, the wild lion is the type of the latent passions, the dangers of the Unconscious. The parts of the lion carry different symbolism as well: carcase - connected with honey; head - care and vigilance; tooth - eternal and indestructable, Yeats; winged - fire.
Leaf
While green leaves depict hope, renewal, and revival, dead leaves represent decay and sadness. In general, leaves are symbolic of fertility and growth, and in the Chinese tradition the leaves of the Cosmic Tree represent all of the beings in the universe. Leaves also connote people by way of their vast number, and relate back to dress in context with Adam, who covered himself with a leaf after first learning the shame of human nakedness. They often give a scary feeling, as the rustling of nearby leaves can mean evil is lurking near. The term 'turning over a new leaf' is a Western idiom offering people a chance to start anew and amend their past mistakes. However, this term does not exist in cultures that do not isolate time and space, such as the Hopi Indians; to these people, the self is the culmination of a person's past, and therefore the two cannot be disconnected.
Monday, July 2, 2012
The Color Green
The color green is the color of balance and harmony. From a color psychology perspective, it is the great balancer of the heart and the emotions, creating equilibrium between the head and the heart.
From a meaning of colors perspective, green is also the color of growth, the color of spring, of renewal and rebirth. It renews and restores depleted energy. It is the sanctuary away from the stresses of modern living, restoring us back to a sense of well being. This is why there is so much of this relaxing color on the earth, and why we need to keep it that way.
The color green is an emotionally positive color, giving us the ability to love and nurture ourselves and others unconditionally. A natural peacemaker, green must avoid the tendency to become a martyr.
Green loves to observe. It relates to the counselor, the good listener, the social worker. Itloves to contribute to society. It is the charity worker, the good parent and the helpful neighbor.
Being a combination of yellow and blue, the color green encompasses the mental clarity and optimism of yellow with the emotional calm and insight of blue, inspiring hope and a generosity of spirit not available from other colors.
Green has a strong sense of right or wrong, inviting good judgment. It sees both sides of the equation, weighs them up, and then usually takes the moral stand in making appropriate decisions. On the negative side, green can be judgmental and over-cautious.
Green promotes a love of nature, and a love of family, friends, pets and the home. It is the color of the garden lover, the home lover and the good host.
Green is generous and loves to share, but it also looks for recognition. It is friendly and can keep confidences.
Green relates to stability and endurance, giving us persistence and the strength to cope with adversity.
Green is the color of prosperity and abundance, of finance and material wealth. It relates to the business world, to real estate and property. Prosperity gives a feeling of safety to green.
On the negative, the color green can be possessive and materialistic, with a need to own people and things.
Positive and Negative Traits of Green
Positive keywords include: growth and vitality, renewal and restoration, self-reliance, reliability and dependability, being tactful, emotionally balanced and calm, nature lover and family oriented, practical and down to earth, sympathetic, compassionate and nurturing, generous, kind and loyal with a high moral sense, adaptable, encourages 'social joining' of clubs and other groups, a need to belong.
Negative keywords include: being possessive and materialistic, indifferent and over-cautious, envious, selfish, greedy and miserly, devious with money, inconsiderate, a hypochondriac and a do-gooder.
Green Represents:
Harmony and balance: Green is the great balancer of our mental, emotional and physical energies which is why there is so much green on our planet. Green is the heart centre of the body.
Growth: As in nature, green leaves are an indication the plant is still growing.
Hope: Green is the anticipation of things to come.
Effects of Green:
Effects of Green:
Rejuvenating: The color green revitalizes us when we are physically, mentally or emotionally exhausted.
Nurturing: Because of its link with the heart, green urges us to nurture others. Green is also nurturing to us - another reason why it is the most predominant colour on earth.
Dependable, agreeable and diplomatic: The color green helps us to see situations clearly from all sides.
Possessiveness: Green is a color that encourages us to want to own things and people, to collect and possess. Green encourages materialism.
Envy: 'Green with envy' is a common phrase and a negative reaction to the color green.
Variations of the Color Green
Variations of the Color Green
Pale green: As the color of new growth on plants, it indicates immaturity, youthfulness and inexperience. It allows us to see things from a new perspective, to make a fresh start.
Emerald green: This is an inspiring and uplifting color suggesting abundance and wealth in all its forms, from material wellbeing, to emotional wellbeing to creative ideas.
Jade green: The color of trust and confidentiality, tact and diplomacy, jade green indicates a generosity of spirit, giving without expecting anything in return. It increases worldly wisdom and understanding, assisting in the search for enlightenment.
Lime green: Lime green inspires youthfulness, naivety and playfulness; it is liked the most by younger people. It creates a feeling of anticipation, and helps to clear the mind of negativity.
Dark green: There is a degree of resentment in dark green. Often used by wealthy businessmen, ambitious and always striving for more wealth, dark green signifies greed and selfish desire.
Aqua: Aqua calms the spirit, offering protection and healing for the emotions.
Olive green: Although the traditional color for peace, 'offering an olive branch', the color olive suggests deceit and treachery, blaming others for its problems. However there is also a strength of character with it that can overcome adversity to develop an understanding and caring of the feelings of others.
Yellow green: This color green suggests cowardice, conflict and fear.
Grass green: Grass green is the color of money. It is self-confident and secure, natural and healthy, occurring in abundance in nature.
Mandala of Indic Traditions
The above mandala diagram shows four gates of entry to the study of Indic traditions. While there may be considerable overlap between the subjects and disciplines distributed among each of these four gates, nevertheless these four represent approaches or orientations toward Indic studies which are typically (if artificially) kept distinct.
Most individuals are usually drawn toward or exposed to Indic traditions from a perspective represented by only one of these gates. While a great deal may be learned from any one of these perspectives alone, such a one-sided approach invariably yields a distorted understanding of India and of Indic traditions as a whole. Thus, by presenting this mandala in its entirety we intend that audiences initially drawn to (or even expert in) one gate will be inspired to travel around the mandala to encounter and learn the perspectives of the other gates. In this way, once one is better educated about each of these four perspectives, one will have a more informed, nuanced, and holistic understanding of Indic traditions and may then be said to be truly "inside the mandala" of Indic studies. Once "inside" in this sense, one will have a different understanding than one did from the "outside" when one thought that India and her traditions were adequately understood via the one gate through which one was accustomed to viewing. This mandala construct is thus a device designed to encourage persons with these different perspectives to develop, enrich, and transform their understanding of India. We believe that when sufficiently implemented on a large enough scale this has great potential to trigger multiple paradigm shifts in both Indic studies as well as in popular portrayals and understandings of India and Indic traditions.
The vertical axis of this mandala is more synchronic and spatial (inner-outer) in nature, emphasizing the domains of inner and outer arts and sciences, while the horizontal axis is more diachronic or temporal (past-present) in nature, covering portrayals of India's past history and present society. Again, any of these four can be seen to be interrelated, but they tend to represent typically separate orientations toward Indic studies. Our goal is to support not only improved scholarship at the entry point represented by each gate, but to develop a more holistic view of this mandala through promoting and supporting greater interdisciplinary engagement among scholars. Thus, for example, in addition to studying kings and wars, historians should consider the history of India's inner sciences and its traditional knowledge systems (TKS). Study of the latter reveals the enormous economic activity that made Indian society so materially rich that it attracted military incursions in the first place. Without appreciating such TKS', historical portrayals of India too often present invaders as bringing "civilization" to an economically primitive and socially feudalistic India.
Likewise models for understanding of "Society Today" will be far better informed through an appreciation of the disciplines of the other mandala gates. Without going around the mandala to develop a more "well-rounded" understanding of India, social and cultural phenomena in India today will too often be seen as exotica. A narrow approach which assumes that the source of India's social and economic problems today must be found only within the Indic traditions themselves (as opposed to being in large part the legacy of the history of colonialism, for example) has often lead scholars of anthropology, social science, and religion to grossly misread Hinduism and Buddhism as "world-negating." Ancient Sanskrit texts as well as contemporary beliefs and practices are then interpreted through that extremely distorting lens.
The Medicine Wheel
The Medicine Wheel
In Native American spirituality, the Medicine Wheel represents harmony and connections and is considered a major symbol of peaceful interaction among all living beings on Earth. A number of stone Medicine Wheels are scattered across the plains of Alberta and northern United States. Some are extremely large with a diameter greater then 12 meters across.
The term "medicine wheel" was first applied to the Big Horn Medicine Wheel in Wyoming, the most southern and one of the largest in existence. That site consists of a central circle of piled rock surrounded by a circle of stone; "Rays" of stones travel out from the central core of rock and its surrounding circle. The structure looks like the wheel of a bicycle. Alberta and British Columbia, have two-thirds of all known Medicine wheels (47) which suggests that Southern Alberta was a central meeting place for many Plains First Nations tribes who followed Medicine Wheel ceremonies.
Despite their physical existence, there is a lot of mystery that surrounds the Medicine Wheel as no written record to their purpose has been found. Of the many theories to their purpose, the two learning theories are: the wheels contain significant stellar and cosmological alignments, and/or, the performance of specific rituals and ceremonies that have been long forgotten.
Medicine Wheels are still used today in the Native American spirituality, however most of the meaning behind them is not shared among Non-Native peoples.
History
Erecting massive stone structures is a well-documented activity of ancient man, from the Egyptian pyramids to Stonehenge, and the natives of Northern America are no different in this regard. What does separate them from the rest is how non-intrusive their structures were. Unlike the usual towering stone monoliths, the natives simply laid down lots of stones on the earth in certain arrangements. One of the more obtuse arrangements is the medicine wheel. Medicine wheels appear all over northern United States and southern Canada, specifically South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Most of the wheels have been found in Alberta. In all over 70 medicine wheels have been found. One of the prototypical medicine wheels is in Big Horn County, Wyoming. This 75 foot diameter wheel has 28 spokes, and is part of a vast set of old Native American sites that document 7,000 years of their history in that area.
How are they made?
Medicine wheels were constructed by laying stones in a particular pattern on the ground. Most medicine wheels follow the basic pattern of having a center cairn of stones, and surrounding that would be an outer ring of stones, then there would be "spokes", or lines of rocks, coming out the cairn. Almost all medicine wheels would have at least two of the three elements mentioned above (the center cairn, the outer ring, and the spokes), but beyond that there were many variations on this basic design, and every wheel found has been unique and has had its own style and eccentricities. The most common deviation between different wheels are the spokes. There is no set number of spokes for a medicine wheel to have. The spokes within each wheel are rarely evenly spaced out, or even all the same length. Some medicine wheels will have one particular spoke that's significantly longer than the rest, suggesting something important about the direction it points (see Meaning below). Another variation is whether the spokes start from the center cairn and go out only to the outer ring, or whether they go past the outer ring, or whether they start at the outer ring and go out from there. An odd variation sometimes found in medicine wheels is the presence of a passageway, or a doorway, in the circles. The outer ring of stones will be broken, and there will be a stone path leading up to the center of the wheel. Also many medicine wheels have various other circles around the outside of the wheel, sometimes attached to spokes or the outer ring, and sometimes just seemingly floating free of the main structure.
What do they mean?
Medicine wheels have been built and used for so long, and each one has enough unique characteristics, that archeologists have found it nearly impossible to tell exactly what each one was for, and haven't had much success at making broad generalizations about their function and meaning. One of the older wheels has been dated to over 4,500 years old; it had been built up by successive generations who would add new features to the circle. Due to the long existence of such a basic structure, archeologists suspect that the function and meaning of the medicine wheel changed over time, and it is doubtful that we will ever know what the original purpose was. It is not hard to imagine that medicine wheels, like most large stone structures, would probably have served a ceremonial or ritual purpose. There is evidence of dancing within some of the wheels. Other wheels were probably used as part of a ritual vision quest. Astronomer John Eddy put forth the theory that some of the wheels had astronomical significance, where the longest spoke on a wheel could be pointing to a certain star at a certain time of the year, suggesting that the wheels were a way to mark certain days of the year. Other scientists have shown that some of the wheels mark the longest day of the year. (Note that an astronomical/calendar theory has been suggested for just about every unnatural stone structure on Earth.)
Monday, June 4, 2012
Native butterfly Mandala
Native butterfly Mandala
Native butterfly Mandala is an acrylic painting with crystals. I have painted this Mandala recently and I have used some new details and new patterns.
The butterfly is a symbol of transformation because of its impressive process of metamorphosis.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Violet wheel Mandala
Violet wheel Mandala
Violet wheel Mandala is an original acrylic painting with crystals. Size is 29 x 29 cm. It represents inner change.
The wheel's motion is a metaphor for the rapid spiritual change engendered by the teachings of the Buddha: the Buddha's first discourse at the Deer Park in Sarnath is known as the "first turning of the wheel of dharma." His subsequent discourses at Rajgir and Shravasti are known as the "second and third turnings of the wheel of dharma." The eight spokes of the wheel symbolize the Noble Eightfold Path set out by the Buddha in his teachings.
Monday, April 16, 2012
How to Paint a Personal Mandala and How to Meditate on a Mandala
How to Paint a Personal Mandala
Mandalas are an ancient symbol that every culture has used. There is deep meaning surrounding them that goes beyond words. They are sacred and found within nature, as well as consciously developed by people.
Many find themselves inexplicably drawn to mandalas. Delving into the process of mental exploration and creating personal mandalas is quite an uplifting experience.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
What is a Mandala?
What is a Mandala? You may ask is it some kind of magic circle, or maybe a ritual geometric symbol or is it a mystical symbol only for the lucky initiate? In some areas we find them described as ;symbols of the cosmic elements, used as aids for meditation,' as models for certain visualizations', or alternatively as 'aids to self discovery or to meditation on the transcendental.' In essence a Mandala is a powerfully symmetrical diagram, concentrated about a centre and generally divided into four quadrants of equal size; it is built up of concentric circles and squares possessing the same centre. It is also true that a great many Mandalas are considered as aids to meditation, visualization and initiation. Carl Gustav Jung in his analysis of the Mandala the 'protective circle' found it to be "the traditional antidote for chaotic states of mind."
In India life is still lived close to nature, and it appears unorganized and therefore chaotic; but in its chaos there seems to be an undercurrent of order. It is the religious culture the spiritual heritage that makes up the keystone of the whole super structure of the Indian civilization. It has a highly philosophical culture. It is here over the ages that the concept of the Mandala has developed no doubt to bring some order into the seemingly apparent chaotic situation. The ancient tribal creed has never relinquished its hold on its past, which reflects its continuous existence through the ages, from evolution to the present.
The concept of the Mandala was developed and conceived in the remotest ages and most ancient recesses of Indian history before the advent of Hinduism or Buddhism. The Concept as a whole encompassed all facets of the Indian life, a life style and religious heritage, which has made India a mysterious land, incomprehensible and unintelligible. It was found to have been equally important in socio-political realms as well as the religio-spiritual. The influence of the Mandala concept spread all over South-East Asia, Nepal and Tibet wherever Indian culture spread. It is even suspected that its influence spread to West Asia and China also. This influence was apparent in all walks of life especially in the field of administration and religion.
In the tribal primitive agrarian community the Goddess of Fertility evolved. They worshipped her in the form of a triangle, which is regarded as an element of Neolithic art. As in any form of worship it is the mind that links up with the Absolute but on a Mandala, for the worshipper's consciousness to tread the spiritual path to the ultimate, requires knowledge and precision. It is an aspect of Tantrism and fundamentally connotes maithuna (coitus), which terminates in bliss yoga. The Mandala's main component, the triangle, is a basic figure in geometry, and hence, seems so modern, yet in quintessence it is really very old.
There are in existence many varieties of symbols in India's religious tradition. The dominant symbols occupy an important position, even in the sacio-religious system, for their meaning has remained largely unchanged from age to age and may be said to represent the crystallization of the flowing pattern of rituals over which it presides. Man lives in a symbolic universe of which language, myth, art and religion are parts. They are the varied threads, which weave the symbolic net, the tangled web of human experience. All human progress in thought and experience refines upon and strengthens this net. Among the representations of this symbolic universe, the Mandala is a highly manifested form is space and transpersonal ecology (sacred ecology) and is better understood in practical terms of bounded space, for example, pilgrimage and its related sacred time and sacred performances.
A prime example of this relationship of the Mandala concept to the cultural and social activities of the Hindu populace is Varanasi, which is the holiest city of Hinduism. According to Rana P B Singh a renowned cartographer of Benaras Hindu University, 'The complexity distinction and hierarchical ordering of the pilgrim age mandala are developed in its full form and still existent and used in practice by the pilgrims. In fact, it can be seen that Varanasi is one of the ideal cities of celestial archetype where material expression to that of parallelism among macro-cos-mos, meso-cosmos and micro-cosmos are still visible.' This is in fact an almost geopolitical as well as socio-religious relationship, which is formed in the concept of the Mandala when it is related to a city or country and its cultural activities.
It is a known fact that before the advent of the Aryan era there was in existence a vibrant and flourishing agrarian society in the subcontinent. However primitive it may have been in our eyes still it had managed to achieve levels of spiritual understanding well in advance of other societies, which surrounded it. This era was responsible for the advent of Tantrism, which found its place secured in the even later Aryan Vedic religion, mention of it to be found in both the Rig Veda and Atharva Veda. Many of its concepts and traditions found their way into the daily practices of the Hindus.
In Tantrism, which as we have seen existed much before the Vedic concept of religion, Yantra (represents the spirit), Mantra (the soul) and Tantra (the psychic centres). Tantrism even extended its field of influence to the much later Buddhism. According to the Dalai Lama: 'Mandalas are an aspect of Tantric Buddhism that due to their colourful complexity, have attracted a great deal of interest. Taking a variety of forms, from simple diagrams and more elaborate paintings on cloth to complicated patterns of coloured sand and large three-dimensional carved structures, mandalas have a profoundly symbolic value. Tibetans regard them as sacred. To impart the most profound religious truths, Tantric Buddhism employs pictorial representations with an intensity found in no other form of Buddhism and scarcely in any other religion.
The use of the Mandala as a tool to aid in the elimination of chaos has proven itself over centuries of use. It has provided humankind with a device easily used if not comprehended to achieve a relationship with and thus with oneself. This particular presentation of the concept of the Mandala as an instrument of concentration and inspiration for meditation provides the reader with an insight into the mystical worlds of the ancients. It allows us once more to try and achieve the unity our forefathers once enjoyed with their environs. Each Mandala described takes us on a progressive journey towards our ultimate goal, the discovery of the power within.
For many this life is but one of many along the road to discovery and enlightenment, but this does not suggest that we should not even bother to try and expect the results to come in their own time. Any attempt we make to gain experience of the unknown can only but enhance the life we lead. It helps us to become aware of the cosmos within which we exist and will ultimately aid us in achieving a unity within the self, making us better human beings in the process.
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