Mandala: Body Mandala Main Page
Mandala Main PageSubjects, Topics & Types:
- Description (below)
--- Buddhist
--- Bon
--- Shaiva/Shakta
- Body ‘Parts’ Mandala: Vajrabhairava & Eight Vetali Mandala
- Pitha Locations
- Yantra Yoga
- Masterworks
- Confusions
- Others...
Videos:
- Body Mandalas
- Searching for the Body (Book Review)
- Secret Map of the Body. (Book Review)
Body Mandalas, also referred to as 'internal body mandalas, are based on the physical human body, the nervous system, veins, arteries, spine and principal joints of the body. All of these grouped physical parts of the body are visualized (imagined) to be major and minor deities. Body Mandala theory and practice is found with many of the religious and spiritual movements in Asia such as the Shaiva, Shakta, Tantric Buddhism, Bon and Taoist religions.
In Tantric Buddhism body mandalas are taught in the major Anuttarayoga systems of practice such as the Chakrasamvara, Guhyasamaja and Hevajra Tantras. Each of these Tantras have similar, but often differing, explanations for naming the individual deities, and describing and explaining the location, meaning, and function of the internal body mandala.
Body Mandalas belong to the category of Mandala-like Circular Forms.
Jeff Watt 8-2011 [updated 6-2017]
Bibliography:
Searching for the Body. A Contemporary Perspective on Tibetan Buddhist Tantra. Rae Erin Dachille. Columbia University Press, New York, 2022. (Book Review).
Secret Map of the Body. Visions of the Human Energy Structure by Gyalwa Yangonpa. Translated from Tibetan and Annotated by Elio Guarisco. Shang Shung Publications, 2015.
Bon: The Magic Word. The Indigenous Religion of Tibet. Samten G. Karmay & Jeff Watt, editors. Rubin Museum of Art. New York 2007. Imaging the Beyond, Beyond Imagination by Henk Blezer. #8, pages 180-207.
