| Mandala - Timeless Sacred Art |
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"Colour and sound (music) are direct expressions of psychic experiences which cannot be grasped, defined or expressed by the intellect…Thus, colour reveals something that has to do with the inner nature or emotional value of form, and this is all the more so to the extent that we keep away from a mere imitation of externally visible objects and create exclusively from our inner vision or our meditative experience." - Lama Anagarika Govinda, Creative Meditation & Multi-Dimensional Consciousness. Since sharing the Mandala seminars with people over the last 16 years we have observed the profound, powerful and transformational effects that participants – artists and non-artists alike - experience when creating their own personal mandalas. These unique manifestations of light and beauty always leave us with a sense of awe and deep respect for helping us to see once again that we are indeed the co-creators of our reality. The word 'mandala' comes from the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit and means circle, or sacred circle. We can observe through our collective history how the mandala has played its part in our consciousness, from the traditional sand paintings of Tibetan Buddhism and the Navajo Indians of North America, to the circular stained glass windows of Christian Cathedrals and the powerful symbols in stone, wood and metal of the Celts, to the more modern therapeutic art expression utilised by Swiss Psychiatrist Carl Jung. Through the creation of a mandala we engage both sides of our brains. This ‘wholebrain’ experience allows us to become a conduit for intuitive insight and strengthen our inner connection to source energy/divine/ universal consciousness purely by the experience of creating the mandala. This sacred circle contains all within itself, the beginning and the end all rolled up in to the present moment in time. It forms a perfect container for the invocation of energies by it’s creator, a place to experience safety, find resolve and even illuminating revelation. "Scientific research has shown that electrical activity between the left and right sides of the brain becomes co-ordinated during certain kinds of meditation or prayer…through these processes, the mind definitely becomes more capable of being altered and having its capacities maximized… Changed actions and a changed life will follow. The implications are exciting and even staggering…” – Herbert Benson, MD, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School |