Search Results: Mandala

A mandala (Sanskrit for “circle”) is an artistic representation of higher thought and deeper meaning given as a geometric symbol used in spiritual, emotional, or psychological work to focus one's attention. The image first appears in India...

Tibetan sand mandalas are works of art created to encourage healing, peace, and purification generally as well as spiritual or psychological focus specifically for those creating and viewing it. A mandala (Sanskrit for "circle") is a geometric...

"The Mandala of the Diamond World," also known as "The Diamond Realm Mandala." Japanese hanging scroll, Kamakura period, 13th-14th century CE.

Esoteric Buddhism is the mystical interpretation and practice of the belief system founded by the Buddha (known as Sakyamuni Buddha, l. c. 563 - c. 483 BCE). It is known by several names and is characterized by a personal relationship with...

Mahayana Buddhism is the largest Buddhist sect in the world, and its beliefs and practices are what most non-adherents recognize as "Buddhism" in the modern era. It developed as a school of thought sometime after 383 BCE, possibly from the...

Jeff Durham, Associate Curator of Himalayan Art at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco answers the question "What is a mandala?" at the entrance to the exhibition, "Enter the Mandala" at the Asian Art Museum. For more information: http://www.asianart.org/exhibitions_index/enter-the-mandala...

Tour the exhibition, Enter the Mandala, with Jeff Durham, Associate Curator of Himalayan Art at the Asian Art Museum. For more information: http://www.asianart.org/exhibitions_index/enter-the-mandala

Buddhist monasteries have been part of the Japanese cultural landscape ever since the 7th century CE, and they remained both powerful and socially important institutions right through the medieval period. Today, many of Japan's finest examples...

The different Buddhist schools of thought, still operating in the present day, developed after the death of the Buddha (l. c. 563 - c. 483 BCE) in an effort to perpetuate his teachings and honor his example. Each of the schools claimed to...

Tibetan Mandala painted in the Sera Monastery, about 2 km away from Lhasa, Tibet.