ABSTRACT
The modern artist, after all, seeks to create art out of the unconscious. The best and most significant mandalas are found in the sphere of Tibetan Buddhism. The horrors of the burial ground are generally depicted on the outer rim. In kundalini yoga symbolism, Shakti is represented as a snake wound three and a half times round the lingam, which is Shiva in the form of a phallus. The goal of contemplating the processes depicted in the mandala is that the yogi shall become inwardly aware of the deity. Lamaic literature gives very detailed instructions as to how such a circle must be painted and how it should be used. Form and color are laid down by tradition, so the variants move within fairly narrow limits. The ritual use of the mandala is actually non-Buddhist; at any rate it is alien to the original Hinayana Buddhism and appears first in Mahayana Buddhism.
