Mandala

For other uses, see Mandala (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Mancala or Nelson Mandela.
Thangka painting of Manjuvajra mandala
The Womb Realm mandala. The center square represents the young stage of Vairocana. He is surrounded by eight Buddhas and bodhisattvas (clockwise from top: Ratnasambhava, Samantabhadra, Saṅkusumitarāja, Manjushri, Amitābha, Avalokiteśvara, Amoghasiddhi and Maitreya)

A mandala (Sanskrit: मण्डल, romanized: maṇḍala, lit. 'circle', [ˈmɐɳɖɐlɐ]) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for establishing a sacred space and as an aid to meditation and trance induction. In the Eastern religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Shinto it is used as a map representing deities, or especially in the case of Shinto, paradises, kami or actual shrines.[1][2]

  1. ^ "mandala". Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary. 2008. Archived from the original on 2018-12-26. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
  2. ^ Tanabe, Willa Jane (2001). "Japanese Mandalas: Representations of Sacred Geography". Japanese Journal of Religious Studies. 28 (1/2): 186–188. JSTOR 30233691.