Editing Mandala (section)

====Visualisation of Vajrayana teachings====

The man mandala can be shown to represent in visual form the core essence of the [[Vajrayana]] teachings. The mandala represents the nature of the Pure Land, Enlightened mind.

An example of this type of mandala is [https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/37614 ''Vajrabhairava mandala''] a silk tapestry woven with gilded paper depicting lavish elements like crowns and jewelry, which gives a three-dimensional effect to the piece.<ref>{{cite web|title=Vajrabhairava Mandala|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/37614|website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art|access-date=19 November 2017|archive-date=2 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202135526/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/37614|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Watt|first1=James C.Y.|title=When Silk was Gold: Central Asian and Chinese Textiles|date=1997|publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art|location=New York|page=95|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/When_Silk_Was_Gold_Central_Asian_and_Chinese_Textiles|access-date=2017-11-19|archive-date=2017-12-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171219161111/https://metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/when_silk_was_gold_central_asian_and_chinese_textiles|url-status=live}}</ref>

=====Mount Meru=====

A mandala can also represent the entire universe, which is traditionally depicted with [[Mount Meru]] as the [[axis mundi]] in the center, surrounded by the continents.<ref>Mipham (2000) pp. 65,80</ref> One example is the [https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/39738 ''Cosmological Mandala with Mount Meru''], a [[silk]] [[tapestry]] from the [[Yuan dynasty]] that serves as a diagram of the Tibetan cosmology, which was given to China from Nepal and Tibet.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cosmological Mandala with Mount Meru|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/39738|website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art|access-date=19 November 2017|archive-date=5 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205084020/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/39738|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Watt|first1=James C.Y.|title=The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty|date=2010|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New York|page=247|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/The_World_of_Khubilai_Khan_Chinese_Art_in_the_Yuan_Dynasty#|access-date=19 November 2017|archive-date=7 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207130947/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/The_World_of_Khubilai_Khan_Chinese_Art_in_the_Yuan_Dynasty|url-status=live}}</ref>

=====Wisdom and impermanence=====

In the mandala, the outer circle of fire usually symbolises wisdom. The ring of eight [[charnel ground]]s<ref>{{Cite web |last1=O'Donnell |first1=Julie |last2=White |first2=Pennie |last3=Oellien |first3=Rilla |last4=Halls |first4=Evelin |date=13 August 2003 |others=Consultant: John D. Hughes |title=A Monograph on a Vajrayogini Thanka Painting |url=http://www.bdcu.org.au/scw/thanka.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030813002533/http://www.bdcu.org.au/scw/thanka.html |archive-date=13 August 2003}}</ref> represents the [[Buddhist]] exhortation to be always mindful of death, and the impermanence with which ''[[samsara]]'' is suffused: "such locations were utilized in order to confront and to realize the transient nature of life".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yoniversum.nl/dakini/charnel_g.html|title=Charnel- and Cremation Grounds|first=Rufus C.|last=Camphausen|access-date=10 October 2016|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304124918/http://yoniversum.nl/dakini/charnel_g.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Described elsewhere: "within a flaming rainbow nimbus and encircled by a black ring of [[dorje]]s, the major outer ring depicts the eight great charnel grounds, to emphasize the dangerous nature of human life".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sootze.com/tibet/mandala.htm |title=Tibet and the Himalayas |website=Sootze Oriental Antiques |access-date=2006-11-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060303134523/http://www.sootze.com/tibet/mandala.htm |archive-date=2006-03-03 }}</ref> Inside these rings lie the walls of the mandala palace itself, specifically a place populated by deities and [[Buddha (general)|Buddhas]].

=====Five Buddhas=====
{{main|Five Tathāgatas}}

One well-known type of mandala is the mandala of the "Five Buddhas", archetypal Buddha forms embodying various aspects of enlightenment. Such Buddhas are depicted depending on the school of [[Buddhism]], and even the specific purpose of the mandala. A common mandala of this type is that of the [[Five Wisdom Buddhas]] (a.k.a. Five ''[[Jinas]]''), the Buddhas [[Vairocana]], [[Aksobhya]], [[Ratnasambhava]], [[Amitabha]] and [[Amoghasiddhi]]. When paired with another mandala depicting the [[Five Wisdom Kings]], this forms the [[Mandala of the Two Realms]].