The mandala has always fascinated me. It is not because of its symmetric and complex design, but the concept that lies behind it. The mandala has its origins in Hindu and Buddhist cultures. Mandala in Sanskrit translates to “circle” and this circle is seen to represent the universe or aspects of the universe. However, as interesting a cultural history it has, it also serves as an interesting concept in psychology. So how did a cultural and religious symbol become integrated into psychology?
The Mandala and Its Origin
The Mandala has its origin in Hinduism and was later incorporated into Buddhism. In Hinduism it is often seen in Yantras as part of ritualistic practices. It is seen to represent the universe and is also seen as a receptacle point for gods and universal forces.
Buddhism, on the other hand, views the mandala as an instrument to emit positive energy to those who view it when drawn in sand. Even Tibetan Buddhist culture use these mandalas as instrument for meditation. It serves as a palace for the mind and allows individuals to move towards enlightenment.
So how did this symbol with deep cultural and spiritual meaning be integrated into concepts of psychology? For that we must look towards the man responsible for introducing the mandala to the western world.
Carl Jung
Carl Jung was a Swiss Psychoanalyst who is famous in the world of psychology for his theory of collective unconscious and archetypes. His concepts often revolved around the idea of self and Individuation- the process by which individuals are able to transform and bring the personal and collective unconscious into the conscious.
Carl Jung’s contributions didn’t just end with his theories of personality and psychological concepts. They extended to psychiatry, anthropology, philosophy, literature and religious studies.
Jung’s perspective of personality, and psychology in general, incorporated the history and importance of faith. Jung was of the belief that our history as a race and the practices we participated in the past, let it be ritualistic or religion, hold some significance in the present and the development of the ‘self’.
An important concept put forth by Jung was the concept of self. The self in Jungian psychology is the unification of the consciousness and unconsciousness, representing the psyche as a whole. The self has always been an important concept in psychology because of its extreme complexity. It is here where the mandala played an important role- the representation of the ‘self’.
The Mandala and Self
Jung discovered the mandala when he studied eastern religion. On discovering the concept and its significance in religion he sought to explore the ‘psychological effects’ of the mandala. He viewed the mandala as a symbol of inner processes and an individual’s ability to achieve wholeness. Wholeness in terms of achieving individuation.
Jung used the mandala as a process of psychotherapy where he instructed the individual to draw their own mandala, without having any previous knowledge of it. He observed that the drawing of the mandala in itself was a therapeutic process and served as an insight into the individual’s inner problems and emotional disorders.
An important part of the process, according to Jung, was the individual was in no way prompted or guided when drawing the mandala. He believed it was something that must come entirely from within them. The similarities in the mandalas of different individuals lead him to believe that there is a connection among individuals. This strengthened his concept of collective unconscious which suggested that all human beings are connected by our ancestral history and our history plays an influential role in our development of ‘self’.
The Mandala Today
It is no secret that the mandala today is used as an aesthetically pleasing design that has become a symbol of bohemian design than the symbol of Jungian individuation. It is because of its symmetry that gives it this aesthetically pleasing appeal.
Despite the new image as bohemian design it still serves as a religious symbol for many who practice Hinduism and Buddhism. It is represented in the colourful rangoli we draw in front of our houses and in the yantras used for ritualistic practices. It is drizzled everywhere in Hindu and Buddhist cultures.
However, Jung might not have been completely wrong in terms of introducing the mandala to the western world. Today we do see the mandala being used as a form of releasing stress. We have colouring books based around the design, for adults, to allow them to colour their stress away. There is no doubt that the mandala’s symmetry and beauty when filled with colours gives it the appeal it has. It has probably not gotten the attention that Jung intended but it has become a common symbol that we often see around us.
The Hidden Powers of the Mandala
I have always been fascinated with Jungian psychology because it was so complex and interesting. It was reading about his perspective on psychology that brought me to discovering the relevance of the mandala in psychology and the self.
If for a minute we were to put the design and religious significance of the mandala aside and only look at it from the perspective of self, the mandala serves as a symbol. It doesn’t necessarily define us but, serves to stand for a much greater meaning. It stands for the concept that we draw the self; we define ourselves. We determine how big we are or how small we are. We determine how colourful or monochromatic our self is.
Humans have always have been dynamic beings. It is due to this ability of ours to change for the better and our individual uniqueness that makes us so special. We have the innate creativity to draw the mandala in multiple different ways, just like our ability to change ourselves for the better in multiple different ways. But, as long as the center remains our essence never changes. So maybe like Jung suggests, draw a mandala of yourself.
I am going to end with, not something Jung said but, the concept of creative self that elaborated on importance of creativity that was put forth by Alfred Adler.
“There is a creative power in the psychic life that is identical with the life force itself. This creative power has the capacity to anticipate, which is what it must do, just as looking ahead appears necessary because human beings move.”
-Alfred Adler
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