Mandala

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, romanizedmaṇḍala, 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.