Mandala

Mandala is Sanskrit and means circle or sacred space. In Tibetan Buddhism, a mandala is a cosmological map, a guide to meditation and an expression of complete enlightenment in geometric form. At the centre there is usually a palace with four gates facing the four cardinal directions, in which a deity is enthroned. A ring of fire stands for the burning away of ignorance, a circle of diamond for the indestructible nature of enlightenment.

In meditation, the mandala serves as an object of visualisation: practitioners imagine standing at its centre and cultivating the qualities of the deity within themselves. The mandala is thus not an external image but an inner space. Monks in Tibetan monasteries lay sand mandalas grain by grain over days or weeks. At the end, the mandala is dissolved and the sand is given to flowing water, as a sign of impermanence and, in the tradition, as a blessing for all beings.

In our shop you will find the mandala on small brocade shoulder bags, on a wall cloth for the meditation room, on a singing bowl rest, on a greeting card and in a gift set. The shoulder bags, the greeting card and the singing bowl rest are handcrafted by Tibetan artisans in the Himalayas, so no two are exactly alike.