Handpainted thangka with golden mantra mandala in the Black background. The mantra Om Mani Padme Hum has repeated in the orbits of this Mandala. A mantra is a sound or layers of sound with inherently great power. It is essentially the sound of the god or goddess. Often the sound "Aum" is used in a meditative mantra because it is the harmonic divine sound of god. If you think about it, the "ah" sound is evident in almost all terms for god. Use a mantra when you wish to focus your consciousness off of the external/material/banal world and move it inward into the realm of god. This mandala is a representation of the movements of the planets and the whole cosmos around Mount Meru, the holy mountain considered the center of the axis of both physical and spiritual universe.
This Mandala features traditional Buddhist symbols representing the different metaphysical state of the mind according to traditional Tibetan Buddhism.
