Mandalas

From MetaforasWiki

Buddhist mandalas are symbolic representations of the universe.

The notion of process as the goal of creativity predates the computer. Traditional Tibetan Buddhist practice includes the construction of elaborate mandalas made of colored sand. Monks painstakingly construct these highly detailed works over a period of days, only to later destroy them. It is not the end result that is important, but the spiritual energy brought to and expended in the construction. Likewise we could imagine a time-lapse photograph of the evolution of a city like Rome as it was built, destroyed, and rebuilt. As sections evolved and grew, layering civilization upon civilization, culture upon culture, we would see the ways in which human creativity builds upon itself (Stephen Johnson [Amercian computer scientist and UNIX hacker] would say it emerges) from a series of interconnected and overlapping creative acts. Culture is not a static entity, but the result of human interaction. As Henrietta Moore (British social anthropologist) states: "[Culture is] a series of sites of contested representation and resistance within fields of power. The notion of culture as an autonomous entity has been undermined."

See Also

• Cathedral
• Mosque
• Synaesthesia
• Chinese Painting
• Mandalas