Mandala Shawl

As previously mentioned, I will be participating in a mystery shawl knit along next month. I'm very excited about this upcoming project. The inspiration for this project comes from the sand mandala's that are created by Buddhist Monks. I actually had the opportunity to watch Tibetan Monks create a sand mandala a few years ago in college. So I did have a little prior knowledge of what a mandala was before hand. It was very interesting to sit and watch the monks work. The mandala was absolutely beautiful.

This is a very interesting concept to fit into a shawl. The shawl will be circular. Each Saturday, beginning June 14th, a clue (or a portion of a chart) will be posted for us to knit. Here's the neat twist, there will be a couple, possibly 3, chart sections to choose from each Saturday thus making it possible for each person to make a unique mandala shawl. I was very intrigued when I read about this knit along and decided that I had to be a part of it. I also decided to do a bit of research into the back ground of the mandala. I knew what it was, but I didn't know the philosophy or history of it. Here is what I found.

The dictionary definition of mandala is any various ritualistic geometric designs symbolic of the universe, used in Hinduism and Buddhism as an aid to meditation. In the spirit of the mandala I plan on knitting in a quiet room where I can reflect.

The Britannica Concise Encyclopedia gives this information:

"In Tantric Hinduism and Buddhism, a diagram representing the universe, used in sacred rites and as an instrument of meditation. The mandala serves as a collection point for universal forces. By mentally 'entering' the mandala and moving towards its centre, one is guided through the cosmic processes of disintegration and reintegration. Mandalas may be painted on paper or cloth, drawn on the ground, or fashioned of bronze or stone. Two types of mandalas represent different aspects of the universe: the garbha-dhatu (womb world), in which the movement is from one to the many, and the vajra-dhatu diamond world), from the many into one."

One last definition from the Buddhism Dictionary:

"A sacred circle or circular diagram having mystical significance. Mandalas are most commonly found in tantric Buddhism, where they are believed to represent the body, speech, and mind of a Buddha, and are used for initiatory, meditational, and other purposes. Mandalas are said to exist in several planes of reality: the intrinsically existent mandala, not accessible to ordinary beings, with is the actual configuration fo the qualities of enlightenment; the meditational mandala as visualized by a tantric practitioner, and the representational mandala which is the mandala as depicted with colours and so forth. Mandalas are also subdivided according to whether they are Body Mandalas which embody the body-form of the deities or aspects of enlightenment, Speech Mandalas which represent the speech aspect with seed-syllables, or Mind Mandalas wich represent the mind aspect with symbols such as lotuses, vajras, or wheels."

Here are a couple pictures I found of monks actually working on a sand mandala.



It is very interesting to watch the creation of a mandala. It can take several days to create on mandala. I read that sometimes there will be four monks working on the same mandala. They use these long metal rods to distribute the colored sand into just the right place. I cannot begin to imagine the amount of concentration it takes to create on of these. If you ever get the opportunity to watch one being created, do not pass it up. It is such as amazing thing, really captivating to watch. I would almost go so far as to say it could be a once in a life time experience. One of the more interesting things I learned when reading about mandalas, once the sand mandala is complete, the monks peform a ceremony and sweep up the sand to release the blessing contained in the mandala.

And here is a picture of a mandala I found on the internet.

I am really looking forward to creating my own mandala in June. I will give progress updates periodically, however once the mandala is complete I plan on posting one big post detailing the journey, complete with pictures of course.

~Happy Knitting~