Product Description

Experience the ultimate journey of self-discovery through mandalas and meditation.

Mandala art has been used throughout the world for self-expression, spiritual transformation, and personal growth. Mandala is the ancient Sanskrit word for circle and is seen by Tibetans as a diagram of the cosmos. It is used by native Americans in healing rituals and in Christian cathedrals the labyrinth is a mandalic pattern used as a tool for meditation. An archetypal symbol of wholeness, the mandala was sued as a therapeutic art tool by psychologist Carl Jung, who believed creating mandalas helped patients to make the unconscious conscious. Joseph Campbell brought mandalas to the public's attention in The Power of Myth (1988): "In working out a mandala ... you draw a circle and then think of the different impulse systems and value systems in your life.... Making a mandala is a discipline for pulling all those scattered aspects of your life together, finding a center." Mandala: Journey to the Center provides insights into the significance of mandalas and helps you to use them as a path to greater self-awareness. Mandala offers over 400 breathtaking color photographs of mandalas in manifestations from art, architecture, and nature -- from Buddhist paintings to the Pantheon to atomic structures, and explores how the mandala has been used throughout history and is relevant today as a tool for meditation, personal growth, and expression. Mandala features a gallery of worldwide contemporary mandala art accompanied by inspirational stories from the artists who created them, and provides exercises and examples of specific techniques for making one's own mandalas. Exploring the mandala can lead us on a journey to wholeness, helping us discover the center within ourselves and beyond.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #422576 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

About the Author
Bailey Cunningham is the Executive Director and creator of the Mandala Project (mandalaproject.org), a non-profit organization devoted to the promotion of peace through art and education. The project features a cyber-quilt gallery of mandalas from all over the globe, and has been described as "an anthology of our collective spirit." The author is also an artist and designer who teaches Mandala Project workshops in public schools. She lives in Washington State.

Customer Reviews

Cross Cultural Experience
The Hermitage of New Glastonbury was lucky enough to be given this book for the library. It's great. The author surveys the use of mandalas through history and by cultures around the globe. Reading the book is like taking a journey not only around the world but into the soul. Each page is rich with color photographs and artwork that not only illustrate the text but also give ideas for creating mandalas of your own. In fact the author includes instruction on mandala construction with suggested tools and materials. The author's emphasis on the common artistic and spiritual ground of humanity is a welcome message, especially at this time. The book is clearly worth the price - both for the great illustrations and for the wisdom of experience shared by the author.

A World of Visible Symbols, Ringing with Invisible Truths
Unlike most who will ever know the wonder of holding Mandala: Journey to the Center, I was drawn into the work via its text, when first-time author Bailey Cunningham asked for some writing feedback. Following Bailey's progress from the outlining stage through drafts and revisions, I experienced an ever deepening and widening sense of wonder and delight in the world we share. This is a world in tension with itself, spinning and weaving harmony from the interplay of opposing elements: the world inside myself, mirroring the world outside; the world outside myself, showing myself to me. A world of visible symbols, ringing with invisible truths; a world where facts point to something beyond themselves, and where a simple change in perspective decides what is center and what is perimeter. A world where "spirituality" and "practicality" know no dividing line.

Unlike most who return to the pages of the book again and again, finding something new each and every time, the photographs and illustrations were unseen by me until I'd read the complete text - but, oh, what happened then! From a womb of words, the book had come into full life with a body dancing with mind-blowing colors and forms.

I regret the "Look Inside" offered on this page cannot reveal the true colors, sharpness and vibrancy of the images (more than 400 of them!) contained within. I would buy this book for the images alone; they are nothing short of magnificent. (Mandala: Journey to the Center is perfect for gift-giving for this very reason.)

The beauty of the book is magnified by its practical application, however, and I highly recommend this work to educators. The mandala is an excellent tool for integrated studies, and because students can see how otherwise "dry" elements combine to make a meaningful whole, mathematics, physical and social sciences, and even language arts spring to life in the classroom, encouraging learning of these topics simultaneously with furthering understanding of self in relationship to the work at hand.

If there is a definitive book on the mandala, Mandala: Journey to the Center is it. I give it my highest recommendation.

A Spiritual and Artistic Journey
Bailey Cunningham's MANDALA Journey to the Center was for me a journey of discovery of the spiritual dimension that can be found in forms and color. In this beautifully illustrated book, the author presents a myriad of mandalas and the many forms in which they are found. Some are absolutely breathtaking. She then shows us how we can create our own-and why we might. Although I meant to browse the book casually, I actually read it cover to cover in one sitting. I recommend MANDALA Journey to the Center to artists and non-artists alike for the way in which it can touch the artist that is deep within us all.