{"id":9445,"date":"2013-06-22T08:09:36","date_gmt":"2013-06-22T08:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/?p=9445"},"modified":"2013-06-22T08:09:36","modified_gmt":"2013-06-22T08:09:36","slug":"mandalas-in-garden-and-landscape-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/mandalas-in-garden-and-landscape-design\/","title":{"rendered":"Mandalas in garden and landscape design"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"775\" height=\"480\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/i-5i2PfjB4w\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>This video is an attempt to involve the forces of nature in <em>making <\/em>and <em>un-making<\/em> a &#8216;flower and sand&#8217; mandala pattern.<\/strong> <br \/>\nMandalas are diagrams which help explain, in Giuseppe Tucci&#8217;s phrase, &#8216;the geography of the cosmos&#8217;. Buddhist mandalas explain the Dharma &#8211; the Buddha&#8217;s teaching. It is both a philosophical system and a course of action. Sand mandalas are made in Tibet, as part of a monk&#8217;s training &#8211; and then &#8216;ritually destroyed&#8217;. The outer region of a mandala represents the world and the universe &#8211; <em>samsara<\/em>. It is impermanent. The inner region of a mandala represents <em>nirvana <\/em>&#8211; an ideal condition in which the spirit is liberated from the cycles of death  and suffering. Some Buddhists think of nirvana as a real place.  Other Buddhists think of nirvana as a state of mind. Mandala diagrams often have Mount Meru, a palace and a palace garden at their centre. The diagram then explains the path from suffering to enlightenment. It is a path which requires, study, meditation and compassion.<br \/>\nFor western garden designers, and for non-Buddhists, a fascinating comparison can be drawn with the Neoplatonist\/Idealist axiom that &#8216;art should imitate nature&#8217;. In aesthetic theory, it is now interpreted as a call for &#8216;naturalistic&#8217; and &#8216;representational&#8217; art. But for most of its history &#8216;art should imitate nature&#8217; was a call to embody the fundamental essences of Nature in works of art. The principles of optics, for example, were seen as Laws of Nature which could and should be employed in the design of baroque gardens. Under the influence of Christianity, from the time of St Augustine (354-430) onwards, this meant the ideals, laws and principles upon which God&#8217;s design for the universe was founded. We could say that a mandala-based design is also &#8216;an imitation of Nature&#8217; (which Buddhists understand as the Dharma). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This video is an attempt to involve the forces of nature in making and un-making a &#8216;flower and sand&#8217; mandala pattern. Mandalas are diagrams which help explain, in Giuseppe Tucci&#8217;s phrase, &#8216;the geography of the cosmos&#8217;. Buddhist mandalas explain the Dharma &#8211; the Buddha&#8217;s teaching. It is both a philosophical system and a course of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9445"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9445\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gardenvisit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}