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'circle', [ˈmɐɳɖɐlɐ]) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for establishing a sacred space and as an aid to meditation and trance induction.
Hasta mudras (hand mudras) may be conducive for meditation, and help in internalization. Many hand mudrās evolved for use in rituals, especially within tantra. Others developed as iconographical symbols for depictions of deities in statues and paintings. Others were developed for non-verbal story telling in traditional dance.
As an aid to meditation (meditative painting), yantras represent the deity that is the object of meditation. These yantras emanate from the central point, the bindu. A yantra typically has several geometric shapes radiating concentrically from the center, including triangles, circles, hexagons, octagons, and symbolic lotus petals.
Learn the spiritual meaning behind seeing a ladybug and why the bugs represent good luck and symbolize love.
The earliest Buddhist art is from the Mauryan era (322 BCE – 184 BCE), there is little archeological evidence for pre-Mauryan period symbolism. [6] Early Buddhist art (circa 2nd century BCE to 2nd century CE) is commonly (but not exclusively) aniconic (i.e. lacking an anthropomorphic image), and instead used various symbols to depict the Buddha.
The cultivation of benevolence (mettā bhāvanā) is a popular form of Buddhist meditation. [6]: 318–319 It is a part of the four immeasurables in Brahmavihara (divine abidings) meditation. [6]: 278–279 Metta as "compassion meditation" is often practiced in Asia by broadcast chanting, wherein monks chant for the laity. [6]: 318–319
A mantra (Pali: mantra) or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) [1] is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) believed by practitioners to have religious, magical or spiritual powers.
In Tibetan Sky-Gazing Meditation and the Pre-History of Great Perfection Buddhism, Flavio Geisshuesler notes that many of the key motifs pervading this religious tradition are actually invoking a pre-Buddhist heritage rather than Mahāyoga teachings of Indian Buddhist origins.