‘Mandala? You mean that Yin and Yang thing?’ The familiar Taoist visual representing the complementary qualities of male and female – opposition and interdependence – may shed a tiny light on oriental thinking. But  there are loads more mandalas around, writes Diane Southam.

For thousands of years cultures and faiths the world over have created their own mandalas. The word ‘mandala’ is rooted in Sanskrit and means circle, community, connection.  Although visually disparate, mandalas share certain core features: they provide spiritual focus, they heal and they connect.

Tibetan monks creating a mandala

Contemplated during meditation, a mandala in Tibetan Buddhism is an imaginary palace in which each object has significance – either some aspect of wisdom or a reminder of a guiding principle. Labyrinth mandalas have existed in a variety of cultures.  

Aztec mandala

Medicine wheel

In the Americas the Aztec calendar served as both a time-keeping device and as a religious focus. The Navajo Indians created mandalas from sand and placed stones on the ground in a pattern radiating outwards from the centre to form medicine wheels.

Yin Yang mandala

The healing properties of the mandala fascinated Swiss psychiatrist and transpersonal explorer Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) who is responsible for the modern therapeutic usage of the mandala. For Jung the mandala represented a reflection of our central psychic point – the core essence of our very being.

In the mid-twentieth century he started drawing circles, or circular shapes and designs, and noticed they somehow corresponded to his inner situation, feelings, impressions, and thoughts.

Jung and a mandala of his own creation

He encouraged his patients to do the same and concluded that these circular drawings were therapeutic – both to draw and to look at. Jung didn’t view the mandala as a static image, but as a living expression of the unconscious:

'They cast their magic into our system and put us right, provided we put ourselves into them. If you put yourself into the icon, the icon will speak to you. Take a lamaic mandala which has a Buddha in the centre, or a Shiva, and, to the extent that you can put yourself into it, it answers and comes into you.’

SGI (Soka Gakkai International) Buddhists chant to a mandala which takes the form of a scroll known as the Gohonzon. In the center column of the Gohonzon are the characters Nam-myoho-renge-kyo – an expression of the true entity of all phenomena – the Mystic Law. The 13th century Japanese priest Nichiren Daishonin, who inscribed Gohonzons for his followers, instructed them to ‘Believe in this mandala with all your heart. Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is like the roar of a lion. What sickness can therefore be an obstacle?’

Jung believed that every person has a story, and that when derangement occurs, it’s because the personal story has been denied or rejected. Healing and integration comes when the person discovers or rediscovers his or her own personal story. Mandalas, he believed, were an essential tool in this process.

In a similar vein, SGI President Daisaku Ikeda explains that when we chant to the Gohonzon ‘The good and evil capacities of our life begin to function as the exalted form of fundamental existence.  Lives that are full of the pain of Hell, lives that are in the state of Hunger, lives warped by the state of Anger — such lives, too, begin to move in the direction of creating their own personal happiness and value. Lives being pulled toward misfortune and unhappiness are redirected and pulled in the opposite direction, toward good, when they make the Mystic Law their base.'

Sanskrit mandala

The goal of life, according to Jung, is individuation, the process of coming to know, giving expression to, and harmonizing the various components of the psyche. If we realize our uniqueness, we can undertake a process of individuation and tap into our true self. Each human being, he believed, has a specific nature and calling which is uniquely his or her own – and the mandala can facilitate the discovery of this.

In the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin this ‘specific nature and calling’ is described as ‘mission’ – the unique purpose for which our unique self is alive at this point in time to manifest. By chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon we activate our  Buddhahood, and through its properties of wisdom, courage, compassion and life force, come to understand who we truly are and what we are here to achieve.

According to President Ikeda, ‘The Gohonzon is the clearest of all mirrors, which reflects the entire universe exactly as it is. When you chant to the Gohonzon you can perceive the true entity of your life and can tap the inexhaustible life force of Buddhahood. Wisdom and vitality well forth and we enter a rhythm of total and complete victory.’

Jung believed that people who have advanced towards individuation, besides being fairly mentally healthy, show indications of being harmonious, mature and responsible. As more and more individuation is achieved, such enlightened individuals, he maintained, promote freedom and justice, and develop an understanding of nature and the universe.

Through their daily practice of chanting to the Gohonzon, 12 million SGI Buddhists around the world are making a consistent and concerted effort to become more enlightened human beings able to contribute to a more peaceful, just and harmonious planet, and become happy themselves.

A butsudan in which a Gohonzon would be enshrined

While chanting to my own Gohonzon I came to realise that my mission was not only to be a writer but also to work in the healing profession.  I trained as a psychotherapist and studied Jung. My Gohonzon mandala led me to Jung’s mandalas. I sometimes encourage clients to create their own mandalas – I believe the process can indeed be a fascinating and therapeutic one.  I have experimented with creating my own mandalas – albeit with crayons and felt tip pens – although I hope one day to progress to using oil paints and to have the confidence to hang my offerings on the wall.

Just in case you feel like making one of your own and feel daunted by some of the beautiful mandalas above, here's one of my own meagre efforts to encourage you

Diane's mandala

But my inner life is in constant flux – and so no mandala I create can ultimately connect me with my essential core self, my eternal self. My own Gohonzon, however, does precisely that because it enables me to manifest Buddhahood – in the shape of my true self, eternity, purity and happiness. And so, for me, the Gohonzon represents the mandala of all mandalas.