Week 4: Make a mandala
This week in my musing, I encourage you to do one of the exercises from the book, Artists Rule by Christine Valters Painter: "... take your camera with you on a contemplative walk. Go to a park or to the somewhere you can experience the gifts of trees and rocks and water....As you walk, gather stones, twigs, leaves, shells - any object you encounter that catches your eye and invites you to spend time with it." Taken from the Artist's Rule, page 126
Then make a mandala of your objects. “A mandala is loosely translated to mean “circle,” But a Mandala is far more than a simple shape. It represents wholeness, and appears in all aspects of life: the celestial circles we call earth, sun, and moon, as well as conceptual circles of friends, family, and community." They are common in Hinduism, Christianity and Buddhism to represent the Universe and used as a symbol for meditation. (Google)
Being in the desert, I didn’t have a lot of trees or water to choose from so I made my mandala out of sand and patterns from seasonings. Another person in the group, made hers from items found in her yard and from trips to Lake Superior.
Where most of you live, I realize it is snowy and wintery. Perhaps your mandala is made from twigs or branches or snow. Snow angels anyone?
The important point of this exercise is to contemplate the circle of life and use your mandala as a meditation tool.
Take a picture of your mandala and send it to me. What does it signify to you? How did you use it? I will share pictures in next week's post.
Peace
Cheryl