Mandalas represent
the self. A mandala is a square or a circle, usually with an obvious central
point and sometimes divided into segments. It may be highly stylized, like the Hindu and
Buddhist mandalas used in meditation (in connection with which they are known as yantras).
For example, the Shri yantra (meaning 'supreme yantra') contains the plan of a temple with four
walls and four doorways together with upward-pointing and downward-pointing triangles
representing respectively the male and female - or the conscious and the unconscious -
components of the psyche, or the opposites that are believed to be united or intermingled in all
reality. Any church or temple, or indeed any room - so long as it is square or circle - may be a
mandala figure. So may a garden, especially if it is square or round and has a central point - for
example, a fountain or a bird- bath, or in a pool.
The number four is itself a kind of mandala and, therefore, a symbol of the self, since it
represents the four sides of a square or the four principle geographic directions/points of the
compass which in turn represent total reality, wholeness, completeness.
In any mandala symmetry is all important. It symbolizes the order and harmony of a self-
realized person.
1. The Number
