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This is a pre-Vedic religious device that was already in use in Tantric rituals. It was adopted by followers of the Vajrayana discipline.
In its configuration it is a circle. A circle has a universal mystical protective significance. In the Ramoyana epic, Lakshman, the brother of Rama made a circle around Sita, his sister-in-law before leaving her alone, for protection in the jungle.
In Mahayana Buddhism, ‘Monda’ means ‘what is contained, defended or held’ and ‘Ia’ means that ‘which contains, defends or holds’. Thus it is a circle which holds and defends what it contains. In the Buddhist mystical doctrine it is the deity consecrated in the mandala.
It is generally a symbolic graphic design, a visual aid in Tantric meditation, for the purpose of attaining insight and activating supernatural forces latent in the human body.
The best or special mandala is prepared by an enlightened teacher for his disciple and is not sold or bartered but is given. In its preparation, before work con start, the guru must undergo fasting and meditate on its design and the particular mantra appropriate to it. He must remain in isolation for a period of time for purification, for it is a sacred act.
The design can be prepared on the ground, a rock, metal or crystal, but generally on wood or paper. The best material is crystal rock, for it is clean, colorless, and transparent, which can be shaped so as to focus light at the apex. It is a substance that has all other substances for its elements.
It begins simply as a dot. A line is drown; other lines are made extending in specified directions until they intersect and create geometrical triangular patterns. A circle is drawn around them, which then becomes unclosed in a square.
The upright triangles stand for the masculine principle; the inverted triangles for the feminine principle. The circle represents the dynamic consciousness of the creator; the outlying squares the physical world bound iii four directions; and the lotus petals around the circle represent the regenerative power and principle. The center is the residence of the deity.
The creative process is a gathering of external surrounding forces, in the act of drawing, the creator’s own energy unfolds and is gathered simultaneously. The purpose is to remove the subject-object dichotomy. When this is completed, it is then consecrated to a particular deity by chanting the appropriate mantra and inscribing the appropriate Sanskrit syllables in the mandola to transform it into energy-power house representing the deity.
The diagrammatic design becomes a yantra, a symbol of worship.
The center piece of a mandala could bean icon, aniconic objects or symbolic artefacts like the lingam, the trident of Shiva, or the discus of Vishnu, hut they have to be consecrated in the ritual diagrammatic design for the mandala to become a yantra.
In Tantric Buddhism the mandala represents the ‘Palace of Purity,’ where all obstacles and impurities are removed. The square stands for the ‘Sacred Palace’, which is surrounded by a circle of flames, four thunderbolts, eight cemeteries, and a lotus. The inner square is the center where the deity is propitiated.
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