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Tibetan Mandalas
English
270 (1 Color & Throughout B/W Illustrations)
Introduction
"A mandala delineates a consecrated superficies and protects it from invasion by disintegrating forces symbolized in demoniacal cycles. But a mandala is much more than just a consecrated area that must be kept pure for ritual and liturgical ends. It is, above all, a map of the cosmos. It is the whole universe in its essential plan, in its process of emanation and of reabsorption. The universe not only in its inert spatial expanse, but as temporal revolution and both as a vital process which develops from an essential Principle and rotates round a central axis, Mount Sumeru, the axis of the world on which the sky rests and which sinks its roots into the mysterious substratum.
"In a general way, it may be said that a mandala contains an outer enclosure and one or more concentric circles which, in their turn, enclose the figure of a square cut by transversal lines. These start from the centre and reach to the four corners so that the surface is divided up into four triangles. In the centre and in the middle of each triangle five circles contain emblems or figures of divinities.
"A mandala, then, is surrounded and circumscribed by a circle on which is displayed an uninterrupted line of scroll-work. This is the Mountain of Fire (me ri), a flaming barrier which, it would seem, forbids access, but which, in fact, according to the symbology of Tantric gnosis, represents consciousness that must burn ignorance, dispelling the darkness of error and leading us to that cognition which we are seeking.
"Immediately after this circle a girdle of diamond (rdo rje ra ba) is drawn. The diamond symbolizes Supreme Cognition, bodhi, illumination, Absolute Essence, Cosmic Consciousness, which, once it has been
270 (1 Color & Throughout B/W Illustrations)
Introduction
"A mandala delineates a consecrated superficies and protects it from invasion by disintegrating forces symbolized in demoniacal cycles. But a mandala is much more than just a consecrated area that must be kept pure for ritual and liturgical ends. It is, above all, a map of the cosmos. It is the whole universe in its essential plan, in its process of emanation and of reabsorption. The universe not only in its inert spatial expanse, but as temporal revolution and both as a vital process which develops from an essential Principle and rotates round a central axis, Mount Sumeru, the axis of the world on which the sky rests and which sinks its roots into the mysterious substratum.
"In a general way, it may be said that a mandala contains an outer enclosure and one or more concentric circles which, in their turn, enclose the figure of a square cut by transversal lines. These start from the centre and reach to the four corners so that the surface is divided up into four triangles. In the centre and in the middle of each triangle five circles contain emblems or figures of divinities.
"A mandala, then, is surrounded and circumscribed by a circle on which is displayed an uninterrupted line of scroll-work. This is the Mountain of Fire (me ri), a flaming barrier which, it would seem, forbids access, but which, in fact, according to the symbology of Tantric gnosis, represents consciousness that must burn ignorance, dispelling the darkness of error and leading us to that cognition which we are seeking.
"Immediately after this circle a girdle of diamond (rdo rje ra ba) is drawn. The diamond symbolizes Supreme Cognition, bodhi, illumination, Absolute Essence, Cosmic Consciousness, which, once it has been
270 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 1995
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