A mandala is a spiritual and ritual symbol in many Asian cultures. It may be understood in two ways, externally as a visual representation of the Creation, and internally as a source of guidance for several practices that occur in many Asian traditions, including meditation. In Hinduism and Buddhism, the common belief is that it guides the creator of the mandala through the suffering in the world on the outside– to finding peace and happiness in the center. In traditional Tibetian Buddhist mandalas, even after weeks of work, when the mandala is completed, it is destroyed to fit the Buddhist belief that nothing is permanent. The most enormous sand mandala was created in Singapore, it was made over 10 days and nights by 20 Nepal monks. The mandala area was about 180 feet, and about 4,409 pounds of sand were used in the creation of the mandala. It was destroyed right after.
Mandalas below created by Luke R., Ari S., and Mr. Hayden
Buddhist symbols and design are an important recurring topic in The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen, recently completed by Luke R.
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