Many spiritual schools of thought believe that the physical world, which appears to be so real, is actually an illusion concealing a deeper and more profound reality. Although the term “meditation” is broad and can be interpreted in a variety of ways, most people agree that the goal of meditation is to remove oneself from mundane distractions in order to recognize the holiness in all things. Meditation art can help people achieve this deep state of peace. Meditation art, on the other hand, can be inspired by what is realized during meditation and serve to remind the seeker of truths.
Tibetan Buddhist monks working in silent groups for weeks at a time created one of the more well-known forms of meditation art. The message is the essential oneness of all things, and the medium is colored sand. Mandalas are extremely difficult to make; each grain must be carefully laid out with a funnel or other delicate hand tool. The traditional mandala shape is a square with four entrances, or gates, leading to a circle with a stable, unmoving center and a ring around which everything revolves. Mandalas, like most forms of meditation art, are highly abstract and symbolically charged.
The journey is the goal in mandala creation, and art creation, like every other aspect of earthly life, should be continuous and ever changing rather than objectified and left to stagnate once completed. As a result, when the monks reach a point of completion, the mandala continues to represent the circle of life as it is ritualistically destroyed, reminding us all that the world in which we live is just the first layer of increasingly sacred states of being. This serves as a reminder to onlookers that pride or egotistical satisfaction in one’s creations divides rather than unites everything.
Carl Jung, a twentieth-century psychologist and psychiatrist, infused the study of the human psyche with a spiritual essence through his theories of the collective unconscious and work with what became known as Jungian archetypes. He was a mandala artist who specialized in meditation. He has said that mandalas represent the hidden, unknown self on numerous occasions. His mandalas, which were paintings rather than sand sculptures, allowed him to access what he didn’t know about himself and integrate it into a larger whole.
Many Hindus, Christians, and people of other faiths engage in forms of mediation art, which involves creating a sacred space while drawing, painting, or sculpting. The use of a pencil, brush, or chisel on a regular basis can help focus the mind and push distractions to the background. The doorway between the inner self and the external, eternal, and unifying cosmos becomes the only true reality when the creation of creation becomes meaningful.