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The Tantric Spiritual Art of Nadean O'Brien
JeweledLotus.com
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Articles
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Tantric Mandala Meditation Introduction
This simple and charming ritual will take you on a journey inside yourself as deep as you care to go. You have looked at your mandala many times and read its special message, but now you will see into its depth and subtlety in a way you have never experienced before. Like my artwork, this mediation is a blending of eastern tradition and western innovation. Feel free to let your own ceremony evolve as you learn to dialogue with your inner wisdom. Mandalas have been used for meditation the world over since time began, so don't worry about a right or wrong way. Place your mandala on a small tabletop easel so it will be well
lighted and directly across from you while seated. Use a low table and floor cushion
or a regular table
and chair. If you haven't done so, you will find setting up a "personal
altar" a delightful way to create a sacred space for meditation. Since the focus
is on unifying our inner masculine and feminine energies, try to select keepsakes that
reinforce this theme. Tantric
Buddhism has a treasure of ritual objects, and one
need not be a Buddhist to employ this powerful feng shui. However, your mandala,
the easel, candles, some fresh flowers and perhaps incense are sufficient to
begin.
Mystic Union of Male and Female Polarities How you sit is important. Psychologically, mind and body are brought into a harmonious state in the classic yoga "tailor pose" which is ideal. For sitting at a low table, place a cushion or folded blanket on the floor and sit cross-legged only on the front edge for support with your spine erect, head poised upon your shoulders and hands palms down upon your knees. Relax your elbows naturally against your body. Or, you can kneel on the cushion with a pillow behind your knees, holding your back straight, head up and hands resting lightly on your lap. Sitting on the edge of a regular chair in "The Egyptian God Posture" is often seen as an alternative for meditation. Do whatever is comfortable.
Once you are seated, rest a moment in the beautiful space you have created. Close your eyes. Close your mouth and breathe through your nose. Count ten slow breaths and let your mind become still and your body relaxed. Visualize over your heart center a lotus flower opening petal by petal until you can feel love energy flowing between your heart and the center of the mandala. Remain quiet and still within yourself, experiencing what you feel, until you are ready to open your eyes. If you have a little bell, ring it now for a joyful noise and a balanced, centered state of mind.
Gaze at your mandala with slightly defocused eyes, continuing to breathe as above. Take everything in while looking deeply into the mandala. Then, let parts of it attract you with certain images, patterns and colors. As you sit in meditation, the mandala will "speak to you" in a language your logical mind does not understand. Do not try to "answer", just let any thoughts triggered by the mandala come and go as you gaze. With eyes focused normally, begin a mental journey through the mandala, starting at the edge and moving inward. Take your time, noticing as much as you can, but once you have seen something, let it go and move on to the lotus palace. Again ring your bell to wake up your own male and female energies. If polarities are allowed to behave as "undisciplined children," one's health and peace of mind suffer. At the mandala's center is a point that holds pairs of opposites in creative tension, giving the viewer quietude and the chance to heal from within. Your mandala began as a "blueprint" drawn on canvas with ruler and compass, encoding the integration of masculine and feminine principles in geometric terms. In meditation, this esoteric symbolism is combined with the sacred union depicted in human terms ("yab yum") and is a doubly effective image of wholeness.
With this in mind, focus intently on the mandala's center with the heart connection you felt at the start of the meditation. As you gaze at the deities, see the love and respect they have for one another and the ecstatic bliss of their sacred union. You have reached a safe portal to connect with your own inner masculine and feminine polarities and the natural healing potential of your higher self. Close your eyes and enter with gratitude. In this beautiful silence, your inner "male and female" will reveal what you can do for a more harmonious relationship with each of them, hence a more harmonious relationship with yourself and others in the outer world. In conclusion, with open eyes take one more journey through the mandala, remembering it in your mind's eye. Then as before, return the mandala to the lotus visualized over your heart center. Let the petals close one by one. When your eyes open, bring your hands together in a little bow of joy and gladness! Om Mani Padme Hum (After meditation is a good time to make note of any significant thoughts you received during meditation.)
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