maṇḍala

maṇḍala (Skt.). A sacred circle or circular diagram (also occasionally oblong as in Japan) having mystical significance. Maṇḍalas 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. Maṇḍalas are said to exist in several planes of reality: the intrinsically existent maṇḍala (svabhāva-maṇḍala), not accessible to ordinary beings, which is the actual configuration of the qualities of enlightenment (bodhi); the meditational maṇḍala (samādhi-maṇḍala) as visualized by a tantric practitioner, and the representational maṇḍala which is the maṇḍala as depicted with colours and so forth. Maṇḍalas are also subdivided according to whether they are Body Maṇḍalas which embody the body-form of the deities or aspects of enlightenment, Speech Maṇḍalas which represent the speech aspect with seed-syllables (bīja-mantra), or Mind Maṇḍalas which represent the mind aspect with symbols such as lotuses, vajras, or wheels.