Mandala sacred circle in Tibetan buddhism ; [publ. in conjunction with the exhibition Mandala - the perfect circle org. and presented by the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, August 14, 2009 - January 11, 2010

Numerous digital models of the mandala describe it structurally and elucidate this complex form of Tantric practice in understandable terms.**The search for order in this chaotic universe of ours has occupied my thoughts more and more as time passes (although I must admit I have been known to cause my fair share of chaos). I am drawn to the Buddhist mándala for its intricate and inspiring representation of an orderly cosmos.The mandala, as so finely explained in the chapters of this catalog, is in its most basic form a palace of a buddha, a diagram of the god in the center of his buddhafield, with all associated deities and beings around him. It is a ritual object, an image for contemplation, and, more to my heart, the subject of often breathtaking art.The Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung famously adopted the mandala to illustrate his theories of the human mind. For Jung the circle and the quaternity - as in the Christian Cross - are symbols deeply rooted in the human soul, symbols that apparently emerged independently in several different times and places. This view allowed him to appropriate the mandala without concerning himself too much with its Indian and Tibetan traditions. He gave us a universal mandala, a map that at once revealed the human mind and the infinite.Yet we still have much to learn from the Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu concepts and use of the mandala, and with this in mind I am extremely grateful to Martin Brauen for this catalog. I encourage all readers to pay as close attention to the images as to Martin’s excellent scholarship - there is great reward in the calm contemplation of the art. (Donald Rubin, Founder, New York)The Mandala book of Martin Brauen first was published in German (Das Mandala. Der Heilige Kreis im tantrischen Buddhismus. Mit Photographien von Peter Nebel und Doro Röthlisberger. DuMont Buchverlag, Köln 1992.) then the 1st English edition in the title of The Maṇdala. Sacred Circle in Tibetan Buddhism. (Translated by Martin Wilson. With photographies by Peter Nebel and Doro Rothlis Berger: Serinda 1997.) This one is the 2nd English edition. All editions are a catalogue for the exhibitions with the same title. The official online version of this book: https://issuu.com/rmanyc/docs/2._mandala "Buddhists view the mandala as an allegory and symbol of the totality of man and of the cosmos, and practitioners use it in meditation that is to lead to enlightenment. Numerous illustrations of mandalas, drawings, and figures describe it structurally and elucidate this complex form of Tantric practice in understandable terms." "This book by Martin Brauen is the updated and extensively expanded edition of his 1992 publication, which has long been out of print and is regarded as one of the most comprehensive works on the mandala. The present publication contains texts, illustrations, and tables that provide manifold approaches to and interpretations of this sacred symbol." --Book Jacket Tantric Buddhism views the mandala as an allegory and symbol of man's relationship with the cosmos and uses it in meditation that is to lead to enlightenment. This book focuses on the mandala. It contains texts, illustrations and tables that provide manifold approaches to and interpretations of this sacred symbol. Approaching the mandala The center of the Buddhist Wheel of the Teaching: basic ideas Outer mandala: the cosmos Plates Inner mandala: the person The other mandala: the tantric method The mandala and the West.