Mandala Art

   Steps to Drawing a Mandala - A Beginner's Guide  Mandalas are trending all over the Internet. You have seen them, you have marveled at them, but wondered how they were drawn, right? Gorgeous circle-filled drawings that look impossible to the eye. Your eyes pop at the details and the designs the various artists come up with, and then you think, can I do something like that? Well, that’s what I am here to tell you about; mandalas are actually pretty easy to draw. No hard and fast rule on how it should be, how simple or detailed, what patterns you use… absolutely none. It is really quite easy, and in a few easy steps, you can easily get around to drawing your very own Mandala. So, What is Mandala? The word, “Mandala” originates from Sanskrit, and loosely translated is a “circle”.  When you look at the circle, it feels complete, isn’t it ?  Well, that’s what it is all about. Visually, the circle represents completeness. A typical mandala includes intricate design...

  A Brief History of Mandalas Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, was born in the region now known as Nepal. Though there is no confirmed date of his birth, historians believe it to be around 560 B.C. It is understood that Gautama left his kingdom after becoming aware of human suffering, where he sought to attain enlightenment through meditation and thoughtful action. He began to preach his philosophy across parts of India, where he gained devout followers and eventually established the first  sangha , Buddhist community of monks. As these Buddhist monks travelled the Silk Road, an ancient network of trade routes that connected the East and West, they brought Buddhism to other lands. They carried mandalas with them and brought the practice of painting these spiritual compositions to other parts of Asia, appearing in regions such as Tibet, China, and Japan by the 4th century. Though rooted in Buddhism, mandalas soon became present in Hinduism and other religious practi...

Introduction to Mandala Art   Monks, listen to the parable of the raft. A man going on a journey sees ahead of him a vast stretch of water. There is no boat within the sight, and no bridge. To escape from the dangers of this side of the bank, he builds a raft for himself out of grass, sticks and branches. When he crosses over, he realizes how useful the raft has been to him and wonders if he should not lift it on his shoulders and take it away with him. If he did this, would he be doing what he should do? No. Or, when he has crossed over to safety, should he keep it back for someone else to use, and leave it, therefore, on dry and high ground? This is the way I have taught Dhamma (the dharma), for crossing, not for keeping. Cast aside even right states of mind, monks, let alone wrong ones, and remember to leave the raft behind.1 Since the Buddha offered this advice nearly three millenia ago, there have been many crossings, and many rafts left behind. In viewing these rafts to...