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'''mandala''' [Skt. | '''mandala''' [Skt. maṇḍala; Tib. ''kyilkhor''; [[Wyl.]] ''dkyil ‘khor''). Mandala can be translated literally as ‘centre and circumference‘. A mandala is generally depicted as a circle which revolves around a centre. On the simplest level, a mandala can be understood to be us, the student or practitioner, and the phenomenal world around us. The word ‘mandala’ also describes an integrated structure that is organized around a central unifying principle. | ||
It also means: | It also means: | ||
Revision as of 10:22, 12 June 2008
mandala [Skt. maṇḍala; Tib. kyilkhor; Wyl. dkyil ‘khor). Mandala can be translated literally as ‘centre and circumference‘. A mandala is generally depicted as a circle which revolves around a centre. On the simplest level, a mandala can be understood to be us, the student or practitioner, and the phenomenal world around us. The word ‘mandala’ also describes an integrated structure that is organized around a central unifying principle.
It also means:
- the sacred environment and dwelling place of a buddha, bodhisattva or deity, together with the deities, which is visualized by the practitioner in tantric practice,
- the two dimensional representation of this environment on cloth or paper, or made of heaps of coloured sand, or three dimensional traditionally made of wood.
- an offering of the entire universe visualized as a Pure Land with all the inhabitants as pure beings.
See also mandala offering.
Further Reading
Brauen, Martin, The Mandala, Sacred Circle in Tibetan Buddhism (London: Serindia Publications, 1997). First Publishded as Das Mandala: Der Heilige Kreis im tantrischen Buddhismus (Köln: DuMont, 1992)