Material Used: Cotton Canvas • Gold leaf
• Natural Mineral and Vegetable Pigments
Size of the main Painitng = 25 cm x 25 cm
Kalachakra Mandala is a Sanskrit word for “wheel of time”. The mandala of kalachakra is aerial view of the kalachakra temple, situated in Lhasa and contains 722 Deities, and at its heart on a Lotus flower, a single Buddha: Kalachakra. It is a 5 level structure, each level is represented by a square, and each square is set within the others. In mandala there are six circles of elements: wisdom, space, wind, fire, water and earth. Then we get to different entrance of the body, speech and mind.
The Dalai Lama and the Kalachakra
Although thought to have once been a carefully guarded secret of the Shambhala Kingdom, the Kalachakra Tantra is now widely known. The Dalai Lama himself has given thirty-three separate initiations into this practice all over the world, including in Tibet, India, Switzerland, Canada, and the United States.
In an essay on his website, His Holiness writes, “the Kalachakra initiations empower the disciple to practice the yoga of the Kalachakra tantra, and, ultimately, to achieve the state of Shri Kalachakra.” As with other mandala practices, the goal here is for the initiate to “enter” into the mandala and identify with the deity represented therein.
The Kalachakra Mandala
Through meditation on the Kalachakra mandala, monks invoke the qualities of the deity, striving in a ritualized way enter the mandala and become the deity themselves. This practice is not usually public, and mostly occurs behind temple walls.
The floors of the palace depicted in the Kalachakra Mandala, from the ground up, represent:
1) Enlightened body
2) Enlightened speech
3) Enlightened mind
4) Enlightened wisdom
5) Enlightened great bliss
Arrayed around the palace are four elemental rings and two outer rings. From the inside out they are:
1) Earth
2) Water
3) Fire
4) Wind
5) Space
6) Wisdom
Taken together, all of these elements compose a microcosm of the universe, ruled by time personified.