Mandala: Sacred Circle in Tibetan Buddhism

All schools of Buddhism use images to teach and inspire, but Tantric Buddhism, the tradition found predominately in the Himalayas, employs the visual with an intensity that far exceeds the other branches of the religion. Mandalas are one of the tradition's most widely used visual tools and serve as a guide for complex meditation practices. These practices are meant to assist Tantric Buddhists in understanding the true nature of reality—to see the pure in what is commonly viewed as impure, realizing Buddhas where before they knew only of ordinary beings. Mandalas—whether painted on walls or cloth or fashioned out of metal, wood, or clay—represent images of deities that, once consecrated, are able to stand in for the figures that they represent. This allows the practitioner to properly visualize the absolute nature of buddhahood. Although mandalas have been assigned any number of definitions, from magic circles to cosmic diagrams, few of these meanings are either specific or expansive enough. This exhibition seeks to both refine and deepen our understanding of the mandala, decoding the structure, meaning, and related practices of Tantric Buddhism's sacred circle.

The exhibition was organized by the Rubin Museum of Art, New York. The Michael C. Carlos Museum gratefully acknowledges the financial support of donors and the generosity of lenders who have made the Atlanta display of this exhibition possible.

Donors:
The Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation
The Emory-Tibet Partnership
Drepung Loseling Monastery, Inc.

Lenders:
American Museum of Natural History, New York
Susan L. Beningson
Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich
Gyuto Monastery, Dharamsala
Thomas Isenberg
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth Texas
Navin Kumar, New York
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Zimmerman Family Collection
Oglethorpe Universtiy Museum of Art