The Meaning and Significance of The Mandala
The boundaries needed to create a sense of unity and wholeness
The mandala is an ancient and widespread religious and spiritual symbol. It is recognizable either through encounters in a spiritual context or its resurgence in popularity in uses such as tattoos. Yet often little is known of its use and meaning, or our intention in using it.
A mandala is a circular design arranged around a centre, containing a variety of patterns or iconography, and often but not always having a kind of radial symmetry. It is a circle within a square.
While mandalas are widespread and ubiquitous in both design and meaning, they have in part been brought into a western interest in the modern period due to the work of psychologist Carl Jung, who saw them as an important symbol of the self in relation to his concepts of the process of individuation.
There are 3 elements of the mandala that can help us put together an understanding of the importance of this symbol spiritually and psychologically and its relationship to our desire for wholeness.
1. Boundary
The mandala as a symbol is the bringing together of a fragmented or amorphous set of pieces into a whole, a unity. A circle. This unity may represent the self, the…
