Tag: mandala

Dharmabyte: Introducing the Five Buddha Mandala

By Sadayasihi on Mon, 1 Mar, 2021 - 06:00

The Tantras (special scriptures of Vajrayana Buddhism) frequently refer to mandalas, circles of symbolic forms. Sangharakshita describes the mandala of the five Buddhas, its use as a symbol of psychological and spiritual integration, and the meaning of its sexual symbolism.

From the talk entitled The Mandala: Tantric Symbol of Integration, part of the series Aspects of Buddhist Psychology given in 1967.

***
Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-sized inspiration three times every week! (Apple Podcasts)

...

Free Buddhist Audio

FBA Podcast: Entrance Into the Heart of the Mandala

By Sadayasihi on Sat, 20 Jun, 2020 - 14:00

Visuddhimati explores how we really need to know ourselves deeply and experientially to allow us to let go into the deep mystery at the heart of the mandala. She shares her reflections on initiation, spiritual death and rebirth, inspired by a Rilke poem. Using the structure of the Rilke poem she explores how engaging with images and allowing them to unfold their meaning within us, allows us to let go into wisdom.

The mandala symbolism is...

The Community Toolkit for Uncertain Times

Meditating in the Mandala (The Dharma Toolkit, Episode 29)

By Centre Team on Sat, 6 Jun, 2020 - 21:06

To mark our latest Home Retreat, led by Tejananda, an excellent conversation and primer on meditation from a body-focussed perspective.

Tejananda’s key image is of the dynamic mandala. Dharma practice is itself dynamic and transformative. And the transformation lies in gradually discovering how both we and the world are not at all what we originally supposed! Seeing this, we can begin to uproot the causes of suffering in our own experience.

This approach to practice is centred on the living energy of...

The Community Toolkit for Uncertain Times

Song of the Brahma Viharas - Being Divine Online home retreat

By Sadayasihi on Fri, 1 May, 2020 - 09:06

Song of the Brahma Viharas - Being Divine Online home retreat

By Sadayasihi on Fri, 1 May, 2020 - 09:06

It’s always good to finish things with a song - and happily, today, here’s one! It’s Ratnavandana chanting the Brahma Viharas song that is usually learned on each ‘Living in the Mandala’ retreat that she leads.

As Ratnavandana kindly sent on some lovely nature photos she has taken, we have made this into a short video which you can enjoy, and hopefully get a feeling for the Brahma Viharas “pervading all quarters”.

The text from this song comes from...

The Community Toolkit for Uncertain Times

Reflections from Ratnavandana - Being Divine Online Home Retreat: Day 7

By Sadayasihi on Thu, 30 Apr, 2020 - 09:05

As we come towards the end of our Being Divine Online home retreat it is my great pleasure today to share with you some further reflections from Ratnavandana on this theme.

She beautifully evokes where and how she is currently spending this time of lockdown in rural Wales, UK, and shares how the Brahma Viharas have been helping her at this strange and difficult time. What she gives us is her deep confidence in these practices and a rich tapestry...

The Community Toolkit for Uncertain Times

Navigating the Brahma Viharas - Being Divine Online Home Retreat: Day 6

By Sadayasihi on Wed, 29 Apr, 2020 - 09:18

Navigating the Brahma Viharas - Being Divine Online Home Retreat: Day 6

By Sadayasihi on Wed, 29 Apr, 2020 - 09:18

Years ago I did a mountain navigation training over the course of two weekends. As part of that we had to bring an Ordnance Survey map of the area and, more excitingly, a fancy compass that included a magnifying glass, twirling dial and ruler. I was impatiently looking forward to using said compass - probably having visions of myself as a cross between a detective and a code breaker. To my surprise we seemed to spend much more of the time standing...

Free Buddhist Audio

Dharmabyte: A Perfected Universe, A Perfected Self

By Sadayasihi on Mon, 16 Mar, 2020 - 13:00

A very interesting introduction to the mandala here from Garava - the idea, the myth, the image, the symbol, the experience. His own practice as an artist affords him a respectful and generous perspective, from which we are able to simply sit back and learn.

Excerpted from the talk Entering the Mandala given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2001.

***
Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-sized inspiration three times every week! (Apple Podcasts)

...

Free Buddhist Audio

Dharmabyte: The Mandala Unifies Disintegration

By Sadayasihi on Thu, 12 Mar, 2020 - 13:00

We can find mandalas everywhere – in the East, in the West, in art, literature, even in dreams. Mandalas represent a resolution, or the beginnings of a resolution, of a conflict between the conscious and the unconscious.

Sangharakshita explores the symbolism of the mandala, circles of symbolic forms, found in the The Tantras (special scriptures of Vajrayana Buddhism) as a symbol of psychological and spiritual integration.

Excerpted from the talk entilted The Mandala – Tantric Symbol of Integration as part...

Free Buddhist Audio

Dharmabyte: An Inner Journey

By Sadayasihi on Thu, 13 Jun, 2019 - 14:00

Our FBA Dharmabyte today is An Inner Journey.

This is a fascinating introduction to the mandala from Garava - the idea, the myth, the image, the symbol, the experience. His own practice as an artist affords him a respectful and generous perspective, from which we are able to simply sit back and learn.

From the talk Entering the Mandala given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2001

***
Subscribe to...

Free Buddhist Audio

Dharmabyte: Knowing Our Patterns

By Sadayasihi on Mon, 10 Jun, 2019 - 11:56

Today’s FBA Dharmabyte is Knowing Our Patterns by Karunavapi.

We live by patterns, mostly unconsciously. Using personal reflections, poetry and imagery of the Five Buddha Mandala, Karunavapi talks of mandalas as patterns of the unenlightened and enlightened mind. ‘Personal mandalas’ as the patterning of our own, unenlightened minds and the Five Buddha Mandala as the pattern of the Buddha’s enlightened mind. To appreciate the qualities of the Buddha, we can see them like light through a prism splitting into...

Tag: mandala

Pages