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specific deities. Mandalas can be an excellent tool for meditation. A yantra on the other hand can be used for meditation or a special ritual where a devotee would worship the yantra and invoke a deity in order to fulfil his desires.
The other difference between a mandala and a yantra is that whilst a mandala may be used in the case of any devatä, a yantra is appropriate to a specific deity only.
One important mandala is the wheel of life or wheel of becoming. This mandala has been reproduced here.
This mandala is an image, which enables us to think about ourselves against a background of eternal time. It expresses the central beliefs of Buddhism in visual form. It is divided into four concentric circles.. The innermost circle shows three creatures chasing and biting each other in an endless cycle. The red cockerel represents greed (lobha) and lust. The green serpent is the symbol for anger (krodha) and hatred and the pig represents illusion (mayä). These three are the greatest enemies of man and prevent him from leading a peaceful and religious life. According to Jain principles, there are four passions: greed, anger, illusion and ego. These four have to be conquered to achieve ultimate wisdom and then nirvana.
The second circle, in the above mandala, shows on the right half, people falling to a lower state due to their bad karma and on the left hand side one can see that some people are elevated to a higher state due to their good karma.. The third circle has six divisions and they represent different forms of living beings; they are: Gods, titans, hungry ghosts, animals and humans.
The outermost wheel represents twelve objects. These are the twelve links, which binds us to mortal existence and keeps us in a state of being and becoming. These are: ignorance, karma bondage, consciousness, name and form, mind and body, the six senses, contact with someone, feelings, desire, growing up, old age and death.
The whole thing is in the clutches of a monster: the monster of time. It is said that some person can see himself or herself after meditating upon this for a long period of
time.
Some mandalas may be used to meditate upon merely as symbols. The yin-yang symbol is one example which when meditated upon, makes one realise both positive and negative forces. The balance of opposite aspects and views or actions can be understood by this symbol. A symbol and its meaning has to be absorbed properly into one's psychic structure to get the full effect of the interpretation of that particular symbol..
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Mathematical Tables
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