Wheel of Life

Wheel of Life, originally uploaded by Shirley Two Feathers.

A mandala for your coloring pleasure.
The image can be downloaded from flickr - just click on the link.

Have fun!

We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results.

~Herman Melville

Sun Yantra Wallpaper

This beautiful desktop wallpaper is from the sanatansociety.com

Wheel of Life Mandalas

Beautiful Wheel of Life Thanka paintings from Sari Magic.

Wheel Of Life

Paintings like this are usually found in the vestibule of Lamaist temples. It is said that the Buddha himself drew this diagram in the sand in order to explain to his disciples the Buddhist conception of life, death and rebirth.

The Wheel itself is held in the clutches of a demon, who symbolizes impermanence. In the hub of the wheel are a cock, a snake, and a pig, symbols of lust, anger and ignorance respectively, the three cardinal sins in Buddhism.

In the rim around this hub is a narrow band, one half showing the upward path leading to the superior worlds of rebirth, and the other showing the downward path leading to the inferior worlds of rebirth. Beyond this narrow band this Wheel is divided into five segments. These segments depict the different worlds of rebirth.

At the top left is the Region of the Gods and Asuras, and to the right, the Region of man. These are the superior worlds of rebirth. In the center below is the hell region, wherein Yama, the King of the dead, presides over the judgement. At the left is the Region of animals, and at the right, the Region of the tortured spirits. The last three regions are inferior worlds of rebirth.

In the outer rim are twelve scenes, which the Buddha called the usual nexus, the chain of cause and effect, or the reasons for transmigration. These symbolize the various stages through which man passes from birth, namely:

1. Ignorance
2. Conformations
3. Consciousness
4. Self-consciousness
5. Senses
6. Contact
7. Desire
8. Indulgence
9. Married life
10. Maturity
11. The birth of an heir
12. Decay and death

And then rebirth through countless existences. At each death man is reborn according to his Karma, into one or another of these six worlds, until he, like Buddha, through enlightenment reaches perfection and, no longer "bound to the wheel," passes on to Nirvana to become one with the Universal spirit.

The painting of the Wheel is very complex; the profound symbology must be carried out perfectly. The joys and punishments in the six regions of rebirth are vividly portrayed in miniature. In the outer rim the various incidents of the casual nexus are also represented in minute detail.

Divine Mandala

DIVINE, originally uploaded by Shirley Two Feathers.

Mandala art by Shirley Gibson

Chanting and Water in Ancient practices

Like other traditional cultures, ancient Indian scriptures considered water a sacred element and it formed the most essential part of all rituals. It was a strict practice to keep water in a vessel at the place where the rituals were being performed, especially when chanting holy scriptures. It is considered a sin to do any rituals without water even if one does not offer flowers, fruit or any other food to God. After the rituals, the water is usually given as 'prasad' in temples and homes.

In Indian temples after the priest does the chanting he distributes water which carries the sound vibrations of the chanting. There is a great secret behind this practice. The sounds produced during chanting of holy scriptures have great influence on the health of the people listening to it. The healing effect of sounds is scientifically proven and need not be described here. Water has a remarkable property of absorbing subtle sound vibrations. Drinking this water after chanting will be doubly beneficial because the sound vibrations will reach each and every part of the cells in the body through water.

The sacred syllable "AUM" was written on a glass of water and the crystal structure that was observed is shown here:

Messages from Water

Research From Dr. Masaru Emoto, says that human thoughts are directed at water before it is frozen, images of the resulting water crystals will be beautiful or ugly depending upon whether the thoughts were positive or negative. Emoto claims this can be achieved through prayer, music or by attaching written words to a container of water. Since 1999 Emoto has published several volumes of a work titled Messages from Water, which contains photographs of water crystals next to essays and "words of intent".

When you are saying that you are happy and you are not, there will be a disturbance in your breathing. Your breathing cannot be natural. It is impossible."

~Osho

StarWheel Mandalas by Aya

#085
Stella Fortuna - Harmony


#090
Room of Ra - Beauty


#091
Ter-Ne-Ter Emanation


#092
Illa-LaHu- Majesty


#093
Phi Vajra - Illumination

What would make us both stop mid-step, he in his world and me in mine,
when once we saw one another?
It’s simple.
He is my world, and I am his,
and when we first know it, time stops and never starts up again...

~Grace Gibson
~From the Diary of a Lady Beloved

Tibetan Mandala for Coloring

Tibetan Mandala for Coloring, originally uploaded by Shirley Two Feathers.

Here is a nifty Tibetan style mandala to color. You can download the image at Flickr and then print it out and color it. If you have any problems with the download, let me know and I'll do what I can to help.

Have fun!

Be Yourself

Be Yourself, originally uploaded by Shirley Two Feathers.

Here is a cool desktop wallpaper to encourage you to be yourself as you move through your work day. The image can be downloaded at Flickr, if you have any problems, let me know and I'll do what I can to help.

Blessings!

There is nothing in this universe

There is nothing in this universe apart from God. ... God is present at every point of the universe and can be approached and experienced at every such point. ... and, though the Deity is no doubt infinitely greater than the universe which is His creation, every part and particle of that universe, from the tiniest atom to the mightiest planet, is essentially, entirely and thoroughly divine.

~J. J. Van der Leeuw

Sacred Geometry

Sacred Geometry is the eternal visual language wrapped around the root concepts of the manifest universe. The archetypes and icons of geometry are absolutely perfect, unchanging, and timeless realities springing directly from God Mind.

The Universe is Vibration, and the principles of Sacred Geometry are directly correspondent to ALL wave form phenomena . . . ALL vibration. Science agrees, the Universe Is Vibration, and geometry IS vibration manifest on the visual, time/space planes.

Sacred Geometry defines the nature of Space and Time, it is the architecture of the universe.





Mandalas by Charles Gilchrist

I said to the wanting-creature inside me:
What is this river you want to cross?
There are no travelers on the river-road, and no road.
Do you see anyone moving about on that bank, or

nesting?
There is no river at all, and no boat, and no boatman.
There is no tow rope either, and no one to pull it.
There is no ground, no sky, no time, no bank, no

ford!
And there is no body, and no mind!
Do you believe there is some place that will make the

soul less thirsty?
In that great absence you will find nothing.
Be strong then, and enter into your own body;
there you have a solid place for your feet.
Think about it carefully!
Don't go off somewhere else!
Kabir says this: just throw away all thoughts of

imaginary things,
and stand firm in that which you are.

~Kabir

Celtic Mandala To Color

Here is a Celtic Mandala Design for your coloring pleasure!

Have fun!

Fractal Mandalas

These are from Seattle Fractals Digital Art. Aren't they awesome?

I wanted a perfect ending.
Now I've learned, the hard way,
that some poems don't rhyme,
and some stories don't have
a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Life is about not knowing,
having to change,
taking the moment and making the best of it,
without knowing what's going to happen next.

~Gilda Radner

The Mystery

The Mystery, originally uploaded by Shirley Two Feathers.

Free desktop wallpaper created by me! Feel free to grab this image and use it to create mystery and beauty in your workspace.

Everything the Power of the world does is done in a circle... birds make their nests in circles, for their's is the same religion as ours.

~Black Elk

Mandala to Color

Nature Mandala, originally uploaded by Shirley Two Feathers.

-oOo-

Here's a cool mandala to color. It features elves, leaves, and with a rose in the center and lots of rose buds. You can get the large image at flickr by clicking on the link, and if you have any problems downloading it, just let me know and I'll see what I can do to help.

Blessings!

The Secret

This is the secret of your failure - you are moving upstream. You are worried, tense, in anguish, in anxiety, almost going mad - anybody will go mad if they are constantly going upstream because the fight is so hard and so meaningless.

One day you will feel tired and then it will look like a frustration, a failure. The wise man leaves this upstream nonsense; he simply allows the river to take him wherever it is going. If it is going anywhere, good; if it is not going anywhere, good.

Suddenly you are still, silent. Only then, never before, does real meditation happen and all effort is dropped. But you have to make the effort first, otherwise you will never understand that it has to be dropped.

~Osho

Tibetan Doorway with Mandala

mandala door, originally uploaded by Shirley Two Feathers.

I thought this was really cool. I looked and looked but couldn't find any more pictures of mandalas painted on doors to go with it. So here it is.

You are the joy of all joyous things,
You are the light of the beam of the sun,
You are the surpassing star of guidance,
You are the step of the deer on the hill,
You are the step of the horse in the river valley,
You are the shape of the swan of swimming,
You are the grace of all lovely graces.

~Old Gaelic Blessing