Unity and Pattern: The Universe and the Mandala

     The mandala, stripped of all its aesthetics and symbolism, remains no more and no less than a pattern frozen in time. We can see much in this pattern, we can see centrality, dualism, holism, order and chaos, peace and upheaval—whatever is within us we will find in the fabric of the mandala. And yet, even beneath this most essential universality, at the core remains ever the pattern. It is a community of points, of particles, set into a specific arrangement. So also is the entire Universe, as subatomic particles come together to form everything that we can see and everything we can imagine. From the most distant stars to the thoughts within your mind, everything exists in waves of particles and energy set to an ever-changing pattern. To say that the same is true of the mandala is not to be symbolistic at all—it is an absolute, literal truth. The patterns of the Universe and the mandala may differ in scale, but they share the same infinite potential. And even the difference in scale between the two could well be an illusion of our own limited, relativistic viewpoint.
     The intricate pattern of the Universe reveals order and chaos in the same breath. There is a definite order in the relationships between the countless particles that comprise it, but it is an order of such unimaginable complexity that to any but a vast, universal mind it would seem sheer chaos. The mandala transforms this infinite macrocosm into a microcosm of captivating detail and beauty. It captures an instant of the Universe’s infinite flux, a sliver of existence that would otherwise have slipped by utterly unnoticed. It is a magnificent opportunity to appreciate this wondrous cosmic moment, to study the mandala and to meditate upon its essential truth. It is a mirror, both of the Universe without and of the Self within.
     Just as the varied and numerous particles of the mandala are part of a single, cohesive pattern, so is every particle in the Universe inter-connected and interdependent. And within the myriad waves and particles are the collected bits of matter and energy that make up each one of us. The Hindu concept of Maya refers to the belief that all observed phenomena are illusion, and Taoism tells us that the naming of things separates them from the unified wholeness of reality. Both reflect this concept of an underlying and largely unperceived universal continuity. We are not islands in the ocean of night, but rather integral elements in a wide-reaching tapestry of cosmic scope.
     The overriding impression we have that each of us is isolated and unique is a complex illusion stemming from an ancient evolutionary need to be highly aware of our surroundings. Our survival demanded, and achieved, this analytical specialization. Unfortunately, such refined development of our reductionist powers came to weaken or eliminate our holistic awareness of a unified cosmos—we sacrificed much of our big-picture awareness for the ability to focus and discern. So in the end, our eyes and brain distinguish between the elements of the Universe in a very practical, albeit biased, manner. If we were to discard the visual information inherent in all the light around us and think on the direct relationship between the ever-expanding layers of particles that compose us and surround us, we might faintly see through the illusion that the elements of the Universe are distinct and isolated. We may see through the dream of Maya, and realize what the Hindu calls Brahmin—the true wholeness of existence. We would realize that the particles in our bodies are in contact with the particles of the earth, the water, the trees, the sky, of the clouds drifting through space, of the stars and the galaxies—it is all a vast, universal soup, every particle intimately connected to everything else.
     And if there is no real separation, no distinction between one elementary particle and the next, then there can not really exist a you, a me, a him or a her as absolute and discrete entities. We are simply different areas of a never-ending mass of electrons and quarks. Within that vast mass, each of our "areas of influence," our conscious minds, exhibit a unique pattern of energy interaction, a personality. But this is just the same as the mass of the Earth exhibiting billions of localized geological patterns. We should not consider our minds isolated from the universal awareness any more than we consider the continents to be separate from the planet’s surface, or the crest of a wave to be isolated from the sea.
     And so we return to the mandala, where the pattern is the Universe, the central point is the mind, and the interdependence of the two is obvious. Just as obvious should be the realization that this distinction between the bindu and the mandala, and between the mind and the universe, is an utter illusion. All is One in the beautifully intricate tapestry of reality. This essential wholeness is an elementary feature of the Universe that should translate itself into the way that we think and act. So many, if not all, of our struggles as a species are simply based on the instinctive, undeniable urge to enforce the ego, the self. True enlightenment is to realize that the self is a fallacy, that we are all just trying to swim against the cosmic current. It is not only futile, it is pointless—we are engaging in battles where the victories are ephemeral and the spoils meaningless.
     The pattern of the Universe, of the mandala, is all the truth there is. It tells us that we belong to the whole, to each other, to ourselves.
     We are All, we are One. No other truth is necessary.

July 20, 2003
by Peter Patrick Barreda, material copyright 2009, all rights reserved