Sunday, November 16, 2014
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Malachite
Malachite Gemstone meaning
Malachite is believed to be a strong protector of children. It
is said to protect the wearer from accidents and protects travelers.
Malachite has been used to aid success in business and protect against
undesirable business associations. It is a stone of balance in
relationships.
Malachite is always green, usually in banded tones varying from
very dark green to a mellow green. Most malachite comes from Zaire,
Chile and Australia.
Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans used malachite for jewelry
and ground it to use as eye shadow. It is used in amulets to protect
against the evil eye. In the Middle Ages it was used to protect children
from witches and other dangers.
Healing properties of Malachite
Malachite is a stone that should not be used for physical
healing. Malachite has been called the "mirror of the soul". It is
variable in its condition. It reaches the inner feelings of the person
and reflects what is there, negative or positive. It is so beautiful
that one would like to wear it in jewelry, but caution must be used when
wearing Malachite. It will always reflect how you feel, if you feel
negative don't wear Malachite. It reminds us that we have a dual nature
and it is up to each person to know and rule his own person. To help
get rid of nightmares, keep a piece of Malachite in your bedroom.
Use with copper to increase the power of malachite.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Tibetan symbol
Golden Fish (Tibetan: Ser Nya)
Of the Eight Auspicious Symbols, the Golden Fish symbolize freedom and liberation,
as well as skill with handicrafts and power in the hands for healers.
(Image by the artist Kalsang Nyima)
Saturday, August 2, 2014
Tibet
Tibet
Tibet
(tɨˈbɛt/;
Tibetan:
བོད་, Wylie:
Bod, [pʰø̀ʔ];
simplified
Chinese: 藏区;
traditional
Chinese: 藏區;
pinyin: Zàngqū;
Mongolian:
Tuvd,
also Tsast
meaning Snowy)
is a plateau
region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas,
in the People's
Republic of China. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan
people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas,
Qiang, and
Lhobas, and is now
also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han
and Hui people.
Tibet is the highest region on Earth, with an average elevation of
4,900 metres (16,000 ft).
Tibet emerged in the 7th century as a unified
empire, but it soon divided into a variety of territories. The
bulk of western and central Tibet (Ü-Tsang)
was often at least nominally unified under a series of Tibetan
governments in Lhasa,
Shigatse, or
nearby locations; these governments were at various times under
Mongol and Chinese overlordship. The eastern regions of Kham
and Amdo often
maintained a more decentralized indigenous political structure, being
divided among a number of small principalities and tribal groups,
while also often falling more directly under Chinese rule; most of
this area was eventually incorporated into the Chinese provinces of
Sichuan and
Qinghai. The
current
borders of Tibet were generally established in the 18th century.
Following the
collapse of the Qing
dynasty in 1912, Qing soldiers were disarmed and escorted out of
Tibet
Area (Ü-Tsang). The region subsequently declared its
independence
in 1913, without recognition by the following Chinese
Republican government. Later Lhasa took control of the western
part of Xikang
Province, China. The region maintained its autonomy until 1951
when, following the Invasion
of Tibet, Tibet became unified into the People's
Republic of China, and the previous Tibetan government was
abolished in 1959 after a failed uprising. Today, the P.R. China
governs western and central Tibet as the Tibet
Autonomous Region; while eastern areas are mostly within Sichuan,
Qinghai and other
neighbouring provinces, as ethnic
autonomous prefectures. There are tensions
regarding Tibet's political status and dissident groups which are
active in exile. It is also said that Tibetan activists in Tibet have
been arrested or tortured.
The economy of Tibet is dominated by subsistence
agriculture, though tourism has become a growing industry in
Tibet in recent decades. The dominant religion in Tibet is Tibetan
Buddhism, in addition there is Bön
which was the indigenous religion of Tibet before the arrival of
Buddhism in the 7th century CE (Bön is now similar to Tibetan
Buddhism) though there are also Muslim
and Christian minorities. Tibetan Buddhism is a primary influence on
the art,
music, and
festivals
of the region. Tibetan architecture reflects Chinese
and Indian
influences. Staple foods in Tibet are roasted barley,
yak meat, and butter
tea.
Pink dragonfly dream mandala
Pink dragonfly dream mandala
Distemper paints
This mandala is inspired with beautiful native dragonfly.
Spectral colors
Spectral colors
The familiar colors of the
rainbow in the
spectrum
– named using the Latin
word for appearance
or apparition
by Isaac Newton
in 1671 – include all those colors that can be produced by visible
light of a single wavelength only, the pure
spectral or
monochromatic
colors. The table at
right shows approximate frequencies (in terahertz)
and wavelengths (in nanometers)
for various pure spectral colors. The wavelengths listed are as
measured in air or vacuum
(see refractive
index).
The color table should not be
interpreted as a definitive list – the pure spectral colors form a
continuous spectrum, and how it is divided into distinct colors
linguistically is
a matter of culture and historical contingency (although people
everywhere have been shown to perceive
colors in the same way. A common list identifies six main bands: red,
orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Newton's conception included
a seventh color, indigo,
between blue and purple. It is possible that what Newton referred to
as blue is nearer to what today we call cyan,
and that indigo was simply the dark blue of the indigo
dye that was being imported at the time.
The intensity
of a spectral color, relative to the context in which it is viewed,
may alter its perception considerably; for example, a low-intensity
orange-yellow is brown,
and a low-intensity yellow-green is olive-green.
Friday, August 1, 2014
Color
Color
Color
or colour
(see spelling
differences) is the visual
perceptual property
corresponding in humans
to the categories called red,
blue,
yellow,
green
and others. Color derives from the spectrum
of light (distribution of light
power versus wavelength)
interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light
receptors. Color categories and physical specifications of color
are also associated with objects or materials based on their physical
properties such as light absorption, reflection, or emission spectra.
By defining a color
space, colors can be identified numerically by their coordinates.
Because
perception of color stems from the varying spectral
sensitivity of different types of cone
cells in the retina
to different parts of the spectrum, colors may be defined and
quantified by the degree to which they stimulate these cells. These
physical or physiological
quantifications of color, however, do not fully explain the
psychophysical
perception of color appearance.
The
science of color is sometimes called chromatics,
chromatography,
colorimetry,
or simply color
science.
It includes the perception of color by the human
eye and brain, the origin of color in materials, color
theory in art, and
the physics of
electromagnetic
radiation in the visible range (that is, what we commonly refer
to simply as light).
Electromagnetic
radiation is characterized by its wavelength
(or frequency)
and its intensity.
When the wavelength is within the visible spectrum (the range of
wavelengths humans can perceive, approximately from 390 nm
to 700 nm), it is known as "visible light".
Most light sources emit
light at many different wavelengths; a source's spectrum
is a distribution giving its intensity at each wavelength. Although
the spectrum of light arriving at the eye from a given direction
determines the color sensation
in that direction, there are many more possible spectral combinations
than color sensations. In fact, one may formally define a color as a
class of spectra that give rise to the same color sensation, although
such classes would vary widely among different species, and to a
lesser extent among individuals within the same species. In each such
class the members are called metamers
of the color in question.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Monday, November 25, 2013
About Mandala
What is Mandala?
Although the mandala form (and the term ‘mandala’)
is most often associated with Tibetan Buddhist art, there are
innumerable instances of it in every culture. The rose windows and
labyrinths of medieval Christianity, the domed mosques and Sufi whirling
dervishes of Islam, the temples of the Hindus, the sand paintings of
the North American Indians, as well as the pyramids of Ancient Egypt and
Central and South America, are all based on the same form, with its
multiple symmetries radiating from a central point.
This is far from surprising, given the prevalence of the circle – and
of radial symmetry – at every level of the natural world, from galaxies
and solar systems, down through trees, flowers and fruits, jellyfish,
spider’s webs and shells, rock crystals and snowflakes to
micro-organisms, cells and subatomic particles. The recurring cycles of
day and night, the seasons and the months of the year, as well as
organic life cycles, reflect a similar pattern.
In
essence, then, the mandala form is a visual expression of this
universal ordering principle of nature, one of the ways in which
humanity has sought to relate to and sum up the awesome universe of
which we are a part. Mandalas are – sometimes literally – cosmic
diagrams, attempts to represent the essential elements of the macrocosm
in an ordered, coherent manner. (Derived from the Sanskrit words for
‘essence’ and ‘container’, the word mandala clearly reflects this vocation.
Traditional belief systems have viewed the macrocosm beyond us as a
reflection of the microcosm within us, so, by the same logic, the mandala
has also been understood as a means of presenting the apparent chaos
within our minds in an orderly way. On one level, Tibetan Buddhist
mandalas are intended as symbolic depictions of the various emotions and
energies inside the human being.
This microcosmic interpretation of the mandala
was first introduced into western thought by CG Jung. He adapted it to
fit the more individualistic trends in western psychology, using the
many mandalas created by his psychiatric patients as an aid to understanding their mental states. Today, the creation of mandalas is widely used in psychotherapy and personal development work. Such mandalas
are viewed as a concise and innately ordering form in which to express
personal beliefs and feelings, and thus to reach a deeper understanding
and harmony of the self.
The fact that all the components of a mandala
must be organised around a central point means that it provides a clear
diagrammatic representation of the self, and inevitably brings some
sense of unity to its various components, however disparate. This
harmonising, centring quality is the key to the function of the mandala in Tibetan Buddhism. The process of creating mandalas
and the subsequent contemplation of them are first and foremost two
equally valid forms of meditation – and both work through centring.
On the one hand, the concentric design, which is always created by
working outwards from the centre, reminds the intellect that the
universe, in all its diversity, is ultimately one, joined at the source.
It also symbolises the fact that the spiritual quest is a journey back
from the circumference that is the outside world, to the centre that is
the space within ourselves. On the other hand, allowing the eyes to
become lost in such a compelling and satisfying visual form, in which
they are drawn back again and again towards the centre, the still point
where all movement ceases, helps the meditator to calm the mind and fall
into a silent and peaceful space.
Herein lies the powerful appeal of the mandala
form – the pleasure the eye (and the mind) derives from gazing at such a
perfectly resolved and centred structure. It intimates a sense of
underlying order and harmony in an often chaotic world, and the eye,
enthralled by its intricacy, can dance endlessly around and across the
rhythmical patterns of the surface, knowing that it will be held safely
within the magic circle of the design.
Let us not get too comfortable, however. It is a humbling thought that some of the most beautiful and elaborate of all mandalas
are those created out of coloured sand by Tibetan Buddhist monks – only
to be destroyed afterwards, as a symbolic reminder of the impermanence
of all specific life forms.
Mandalas From Tibet
Tibetan Mandalas
The Tibetan Monks are most famous for creating mandalas from colored sand. Monks study for about three years to learn all the symbols to be used in creation of a mandala. They learn the geometric shapes to be used and strive to become one with their work as they add sand to the creation. In most cases, four monks create four sections of the mandala each, with a helper that colors in the outlines they make in the mandala. The eight must work as one person and that is the beauty of creating the mandala in the first place.
It is interesting to know that after spending weeks and weeks making the Tibetan sand mandalas
a broom is taken to the creation and the sand is collected and taken
to the nearest body of water. It released into the water so that all
that use the water will benefit from the blessings of the mandala.
Think of the mentality of those monks that created the masterpiece
only to have it brushed away. This would truly take a feat of
selflessness.
There are a set of plans and instructions for creating mandalas
within each spiritual entity. There are set symbols and set rituals
for creating the symbols. There is often a set order in which to place
the symbols. Constructing a mandala is sometimes painstakingly intense, yet that is the beauty of creating one.The Sacred Circle
Mandala song
When entering the realm of inner vision,
We must create a threefold sacred circle,
Composed of purity, of strength and knowledge
Surrounding us like a protective wall.
The purity of heart creates the lotus-circle;
The admantine scepters form the second ring:
The power-circle of determined will and higher aims;
The third one is the ring of wisdom-flames.
The threefold magic circle thus unfolded,
Grows with the depth of heart´s vibration,
Grows with the strength of inner penetration,
Grows with the wisdom that knows life and death.
But only when this world becomes a magic circle,
In which each point can be a living center:
Then we surmount the cause of all illusion,
The riddles of rebirth, of death and dissolution.
Then nothing remains rigid, self-contained;
No point coagulates into a finite "I",
Each being in the others is enshrined,
And in the smallest lives infinity.
Then we shall see released to higher norm
This world as essence of the highest mind,
Which, formless though, creates and moves all form,
Inspires and transmutes it, ever unconfined.
Lama Anagarika Govinda
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