Mandalas and lotuses

It is not only Buddha-figures that are used in the Buddhist tradition to symbolise spiritual aspirations. Clearly there is something about a representation of another human being that has a powerful effect on other human beings, but more abstract representations are also used to represent spiritual aspirations. I think very similar questions can be asked about these to those I have asked about Buddhas. There are three types of symbols I will consider here: mandalas, stupas and lotuses.

Mandalas

Mandalas are circular diagrammatic representations of enlightenment, which allow the different elements of enlightenment to be shown in a spatial relationship to one another. The centre of the mandala represents the ultimate union of spiritual qualities, whilst each section of the circle can represent different constituent elements of that union. The distance from the centre can also represent the relative importance of the elements to the final union, with less important things towards the outside and more important things closer in.

The basic idea of the mandala is hugely flexible, and it also has the great virtue of showing incremental relationships through the spatial relationships of the diagram. The unifying point is traditionally taken to represent enlightenment, but it can also be taken to represent a psychic integration in which conflicting elements of the conscious and unconscious mind are unified. For this reason it was much admired and used by Jung, in a way which was not specific to the Buddhist tradition[1]. Jung even thought of mandalas as universal symbols found in all unconscious minds, and distinguished them in dreams. In one of Jung’s own recorded dreams, a city is laid out like a mandala, but the centre of his energies is experienced as an illuminated island in the centre of the city[2].

Mandalas are therefore one symbol of the Buddhist tradition that seem to clearly relate to universal experience, and offer little possibility of being turned into mere metaphysics. The mere fact that they show relationships places them within the realm of experience. It might be a good idea for Buddhists to follow Jung’s lead by making fuller use of mandalas, which are only encountered occasionally at present. However, the limitation of mandalas is obviously that they are relatively abstract, and thus lack the emotional power that might be experienced in a Buddha figure. The combining of mandalas with figures, as in the Five-Buddha mandala, might be one way of addressing this limitation[3]. Again the fact that the different Buddhas in the five-Buddha mandala are placed in a symbolic relationship to each other makes them harder to interpret in a purely metaphysical sense, for metaphysics is about absolutes rather than relationships.

Stupas

Stupas are encountered throughout the Buddhist world in many different architectural styles, but they are basically pointy monuments in which the point represents enlightenment. In some ways they are like mandalas in three dimensions, and some great Buddhist monuments (like Borobodur in Indonesia for example) combine stupas with a mandala arrangement. However, the different dimensions outward from the point of a stupa are rarely differentiated: instead the monument is hierarchical, with the different levels of the monument being used to symbolically represent the path upwards to enlightenment.

A meditation practice called the stupa visualisation illustrates this structure by getting the meditator to build up a visual image of a stupa in the mind’s eye. The stupa is built up of different shapes which are also different colours, and represent a hierarchy of elements, working up from the most basic (earth) to the most refined (consciousness). The visualised stupa can also be used to reflect on the relationships of each of these elements to one’s own being, as one ascends from the lowliest elements to the most refined[4].

This hierarchisation of elements does seem to show a particular set of relationships in experience, but imposes a rather rigid structure on those relationships. There are hierarchies in our lives: for example a hierarchy of needs, or a hierarchy of states of consciousness in meditation. In such hierarchies, the higher levels are built on the lower ones and depend on them for their continued sustenance. However, the idea that spiritual progress is arranged in vertical layers is a metaphor which can easily be imposed too rigidly on our experience. To think of the “more subtle” mind as higher than the gross body, is a rather misleading idea found in some Buddhist scriptures (such as the Agañña Sutta[5] in the Pali Canon), which could distract us from the ways in which the conditions of both body and mind need to be addressed. When we get to the top of the stupa, we still need to carry on maintaining the bottom layer.

The stupa originated as a funereal monument for the Buddha’s mortal remains, and stupas continue to be used in this way, as grave monuments, particularly for great Buddhist teachers. For this reason there are many customs adhering to stupas, such as the idea that you should only walk around them clockwise. Seen in this kind of way, stupas seem to be much more merely monuments to the exceptional metaphysical status of the enlightened or the spiritually advanced, and the customs surrounding them often become a matter of group conformity, of little real spiritual significance.

The usefulness of stupas as symbols of spiritual inspiration thus seems to be limited, but again this will vary between individuals and different cultural settings. They can certainly be used to symbolise one aspect of our experience of spiritual progress, but the cultural rules surrounding the circumambulation of stupas, and the exaggerated respect often accorded to them by Buddhists often also smell of metaphysics.

Lotuses

Finally, the lotus is another frequently used symbol for spiritual awakening. Unlike the mandala and stupa, it is not at all diagrammatic, but is rather an organic image that evokes the idea of the unfolding of potential in the spiritual life. The significance of the lotus, which is a type of water-lily, is also based on the idea that, like enlightenment, the lotus is pure, even though it grows out of the mud of unenlightened existence.

The idea of the purity represented by the lotus strikes me as not at all helpful as a symbol of the spiritual life. If the lotus grows out of the mud it has a close relationship to the mud, and its “purity” is just a metaphysical abstraction which has been associated with the aesthetic feelings evoked by the beauty of the lotus. One can admire this beauty without needing to feel that it is “pure”.

On the other hand, the ways in which the lotus can be used to symbolise the experience of unfolding potential seems very positive. In this respect, however, the lotus is not different from any other flower, or indeed any other growing organism. Lotuses have been hugely over-used in Buddhist scripture and symbology, and are also very specifically Indian, and do not grow in more temperate climates. It might be better to make full use of the symbolic power of other unfolding flowers, as celebrated by many poets, if it is unfoldment that we wish to celebrate. In doing this we could also move beyond the metaphysical connotations and the cultural limitations of the lotus.