Mandala

The first song idea that came to me for this album was The Mandala ~ A perfect first song for this project as the Mandala represent the journey of the soul through the circle of life. When the idea came to me I nearly fell over myself to begin it... and yet since Buddhist practice has been one of my greatest teachers, I felt overwhelmed and truly humbled by the responsibility of turning this most sacred practice into song. Where would I begin?

So I set to work. It begins with the drums and a low drone signifying the solid focus of intent as the practitioners being their work. They start at the center with a single dot (much like the single point from which all life emerged) and then work outward creating layers of sacred geometry that represent the circle of the universe and its wisdom. Likewise in the song, I layer sounds building in intensity and dynamic until the climax at the end. Just as the Mandala is traditionally destroyed after completion to symbolize the impermanence of life, the end of my song peels away all the layers of sound until all that is left is the four wisdoms - Sympathy, equanimity, loving kindness and compassion.

More about the Mandala : (Sanskrit: “circle”) in Hindu and Buddhist Tantrism, a symbolic diagram used in the performance of sacred rites and as an instrument of meditation. The mandala is basically a representation of the universe, a consecrated area that serves as a receptacle for the gods and as a collection point of universal forces. A human being (the microcosm), by mentally “entering” the mandala and “proceeding” toward its centre, is by analogy guided through the cosmic processes of disintegration and reintegration.

The mandala of a Tibetan tanka characteristically consists of an outer enclosure around one or more concentric circles, which in turn surround a square transversed by lines from the centre to the four corners. In the center and the middle of each triangle are five circles containing symbols or images of divinities, most commonly the five “self-born” buddhas. Of the borders surrounding the mandala, the first is a ring of fire, which both bars entry to the uninitiated and symbolizes the burning of ignorance; next comes a girdle of diamonds, which stands for illumination; then a circle of eight graveyards, symbolizing the eight aspects of individuating cognition; next a girdle of lotus leaves, signifying spiritual rebirth; and, finally, at the centre, the mandala itself, where the images are set.