Mongolian Connections: Mandalas and Labyrinths

Yesterday my teacher, another student, and I went to the Zanabazar Fine Arts Museum, the main Mongolian art museum in Ulaanbaatar. There was a lot about it that was interesting, and I’ll probably write a few posts about things I saw/learned there.

But now, I want to talk about a Buddhist design called the Mandala. I can’t really describe a Mandala, but you can see it in the picture. It’s sort of like a maze, with four entrances (gates) and then a center as the destination of the maze. As R and Prof. O explained it, they are used in Buddhist meditation. The person meditating starts at one of the gates, and concentrates very hard on following the path to the center. (Technically, it is not a maze, because there is only one winding path to take, with no branches or dead ends.) While following the path, one is supposed to contemplate, and the journey is symbolic of the journey to enlightenment. Along the way, one must pass through bad things and good things, and things that are neither good nor bad but just are.

Of course, I thought, “It’s just like a labyrinth.” Although the original labyrinths were Greek and their exact function is ambiguous, labyrinths in Europe were traditionally used in forms of meditation and prayer. Some (like those in cathedrals) were big enough to walk on, and one could walk along the labyrinth’s course in prayer and contemplation until one reached the center. There is evidence that they were even meant to serve as a metaphor for the journey to the Holy City Jerusalem. Portable-sized labyrinths also existed, and one could trace the journey with one’s eyes or finger or whatever.

So the idea of some sort of labyrinth/mandala as an aid to and symbol of the journey to spiritual fulfillment is one that occurs across cultures and religions, and endures in a significant way in different societies. This makes sense to me, because it relates very much to what is true about human life in general: There is only one path of life, and the end is always the same (death). What is important is not where you end up, or even how you get there, but what you learn on the journey.

 (Another popular journey to spiritual enlightenment)