A Mandala is an “image” that symbolizes a sacred space, in which are rapresented Cosmic Forces, Gods, Goddesses that gave birth to All That Is. In the Hindu and Buddhist culture mandalas are used as tools of prayer, meditation and contemplation.
A Mandala is an “image” tthat symbolizes a sacred space that represent Cosmic Forces, Gods and Goddesses that gave birth to All That Is. In the Hindu and Buddhist culture mandalas are used as tools of prayer, meditation and contemplation.
In the Hindu culture the mandala becomes a Yantra. Yantra is an “image” that represents one of the qualities of God/ Goddess, in its symbolic and geometric aspect. The power of the mandala or yantra is concentrated in the center of the picture and extending the outer levels. The center of the mandala is the center of the universe or our inner center, the Divine Self, living in Oneness.
The mandala is a “door” that leads one to discover the inner spiritual powers.
The mandala as a therapeutic tool introduced by Carl Gustav Jung, who defines it: “.. an experience of the center of the personality, or the Self”.
What is a Yantra?
In its most basic form, without the mystic iconography, the mandala appears as yantra.
The term yantra comes from Sanskrit and means “tool“. Yantra is an “image” that depicts and expresses an aspect of divinity. The yantra defines the characteristics of one of the forces that gave birth to the Creation. While the mandala gives an overview of the Creation process, the yantra is used to express the different qualities of the Divinity in the Creation’s process.
There is no yantra without mantra (prayer or invocation): there is no image of the deity without the sound of the divinity, the holy frequency which can define the energetic signature. When a yantra is an object of worship and the divine will of energy manifests, it becomes the symbol of divinity itself. The yantra can be made by using geometric shapes or iconography images of the deities.
The yantra, is the image, is the body of divinity; the mantra, the sound, is the divinity itself.
Yantra and mantra act simultaneously to balance the functions of the two hemispheres: the yantra influence the right side, using the intuitive vision. The mantra acts on the left side using the logic and rational reasoning. Yantra and mantra used in the practice of meditation deeply relax the mind, because they bring a new balance between intuition-creativity and logic-rationality. The repeated sound of the mantra has the ability to stop the mind from chatting, that constantly wanders in the world of desires. The yantra instead, stimulates psycho-visual and creative faculties related to the right hemisphere of the brain.
There are many types of mantra: architectural yantra used to build temples; astrological yantra representing the relationships between the 9 major planets and lunar nodes; yantra to purify the energy of the environment; for personal protection or for the protection of your own home; to draw abundance to yourself etc.
Yantra in Tantra Sakhtas
In Tantra Shakta, there are Shakta Yantras which are used in the worship of the Great Mother, and are used to represent the 10 Wisdom Goddesses of the Mahavidiya, which are ten different female energies expression of the Great Mother (for example, the figure beside is representing the energy of Kali, one of the 10 wisdom Goddess the great Mother of our time, Kali yuga).
