JAYITA BHATTACHARJEE (M.S.) AUTHOR, NOVELIST, JOURNALIST (EDEN, OM TIMES, WATKINS MBS, KINDRED SPIRIT) FORMER INSTRUCTOR
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Mandala
Mandala is an ancient Sanskrit word meaning circle revealing some inner sanctimonius truth about you or the world encompassing you. In Sanskrit, mandala means both circle and center, implying that it is a representation of both the visible and the invisible world.
The visible world is outside of us (the circle- whole world) and the invisible one dwells deep inside our minds and bodies (the center- healing circle).It weaves the soul to a state of blissful wholeness and connects harmoniously to the universe.
"Mandala has become a generic term for any plan, chart or geometric pattern that represents the cosmos metaphysically or symbolically, a microcosm of the universe from the human perspective." A mandala is a pictorial representation of the journey that we follow.Mandalas guide us to the heart of the quest for fulfillment and contentment.In following the path through a mandala, we are trying to seek the wholeness that is embedded at the core of us, the stillness that always prevails despite the different seasons of life. Expression of the circle is universal, embodied with a sense of oneness,transcending the confinements of time, place and culture and rising from the finite to the infinity.
During the creation of a mandala, we turn to be recipients of all the possibilities that dwell inside and outside of us. Mandalas capture a moment in time, embodying it as a circular picture or object. Wholeness,oneness and eternity are represented through the circle in a universal manner.. Peace and eternal beauty resides at our center. Mandalas can guide us on the journey inwards for the exploration of our own inmost truth.Irrespective of all cultures,the mandalas represent the same cosmos as our own.
"I saw that everything, all paths I had been following, all steps
I had taken, were leading back to a single point -- namely, to the mid-point.
It became increasingly plain to me that the mandala is the centre. It is the
exponent of all paths. It is the path to the centre, to individuation.
... I knew that in finding the mandala as an expression of the self I had attained
what was for me the ultimate. "...(C.G.Jung)
In the last century, the Swiss psychologist C.G.Jung developed the use of mandalas to assist in psychological understanding. He drew a mandala on a daily basis, to express his innermost thoughts and feelings.Jung perceived the mandala as a pathway to the self and he started using
mandalas in his work as a psychiatrist to assist his patients in making deeper connections with themselves. The circle or sphere of the mandala represents the psyche that holds within it, at the center, the true self. Looking deeply into the circle of a mandala symbolizes the fact that we must be contemplative thinkers.
"SOURCE:
http://www.netreach.net/~nhojem/jung.htm
For cancer patients
"Guided imagery introduces participants to the power of visualization and imagination, which can assist with relaxation, reducing pain, and increasing self-awareness and emotional well-being."
SOURCE:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2009-rst/5156.html
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