What is a "mandala," and what is it for?

Amber Larson, CC Liu, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wikipedia edit

Buddhist monks work on a mandala world map.

A mandala (Sanskrit "circle," मण्डल) is a geometric configuration of symbols.

In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed:

• to focus the attention of practitioners and adepts
• as a spiritual guidance tool
• to establish a sacred space, or
• serve as an aid to meditation and trance-absorption (jhana) induction.

Mandala in three dimensions: Borobudur Buddhist temple

Mandala made for a Dalai Lama visit, May 2008

In the Eastern philosophies and religious practices of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Shintoism a mandala can be used as a map representing deities (devas), dimensions (the threefold Immaterial, Fine Material, and Sensual Spheres and their 31 Planes of Existence), worlds, or specially in the case of Shintoism, paradises, kami (shapeshifting spirits) or actual shrines [1, 2].

Buddhist cosmology: 31 Planes of Rebirth

Mandala as an art form first appeared in Buddhist art that were produced in India during the first century B.C.E. [3]

In New Age thinking the mandala is a diagram, chart, or geometric pattern that represents the cosmos metaphysically or symbolically. It can be a time-microcosm of the universe.

But it originally meant to represent wholeness and a model for the organizational structure of life itself, a cosmic diagram that shows the relation to the infinite and the world that extends beyond and within various minds and bodies. More