Color Wheel Project

*Mandalas

*What is it?

*The Sanskrit word mandala can be roughly translated as ‘circle,’ and most mandalas feature geometric patterns of circles and squares radiating out from a central point. Buddhist mandalas incorporate many layers of symbolism, and can be found in paintings, sculptures, textiles, and even architecture. The structure of a mandala can be thought of as a map or a blueprint; it is essentially a bird’s‐eye view of a palace.

*What is it?

*Mandalas are made to be religious tools for visualization. Practitioners practice constructing each mandala palace in their mind, and visualize themselves moving from outside to the center, joining the deity in their place of power.

*Mandalas in Buddhism

*The Tibetan Sand Mandala is a Tibetan Buddhist tradition involving the creation and destruction of mandalas made from colored sand. A sand mandala is ritualistically destroyed once Mandala has been completed and its accompanying ceremonies and viewing are finished to symbolize the Buddhist doctrinal belief in the transitory nature of material life. All the sand is collected in a jar and then dispersed in a water stream or thrown in the wind from a mountain or sometimes the sand is distributed to everybody present.

*Buddhism

*Buddhism is a path of practice and spiritual development leading to Insight into the true nature of reality.

*Buddhist practices, like meditation, are means of changing yourself in order to develop the qualities of awareness, kindness, and wisdom.

* The Buddhist is on a path which ultimately culminates in Enlightenment or Buddhahood.

*An enlightened being sees the nature of reality absolutely clearly, just as it is, and lives fully and naturally in accordance with that vision. This is the goal of the Buddhist spiritual life, representing the end of suffering for anyone who attains it.

*Because Buddhism does not include the idea of worshipping a creator god, some people do not see it as a religion in the normal, Western sense.

* The basic tenets of Buddhist teaching are straightforward and practical: nothing is fixed or permanent; actions have consequences; change is possible. So Buddhism addresses itself to all people irrespective of race, nationality, caste, sexuality, or gender. It teaches practical methods which enable people to realize and use its teachings in order to transform their experience, to be fully responsible for their lives.

*Videos:

How Tibetan Sand Mandala is Made and Ritualistically Destroyed http://youtu.be/XL5hZ5QmQSk

http://youtu.be/IK026myZArU