“For our hearts to be simple and free, we have to attend to the mandala of our being – which includes body, emotions, mental state, and thought structure – and their relations with one another, author and meditation teacher Jack Kornfield said in an interview in a recent issue of Spiritualty & Health magazine.

“Human development is a mandala,” he said later in the interview.

It’s that term “mandala” that has me thinking of the sacred circle that can be drawn or coloured to represent one’s mandala of being. My partner Sarah’s artistic and spiritual practice is the mandala. She draws them, paints them on panels and furniture and provides template for others to colour as a meditative practice.

Pictured is one of the mandalas Sarah drew for me: Be Who You Are. Not that she intended it to be that way but as it evolved, she saw who it was meant for!

When I think of the mandala in terms of my own spiritual practice, I think of the medicine wheel. Looking at the aspects of the four directions and the centre, I can observe what sort of balance I am living in my life. Rather than looking at my calendar, filling in the sections of the mandala created by the medicine wheel is a more accurate barometer of whether I can fit someone or something else in.

In the materials that are now a book for my mentoring program, Writing Home: A Whole Life Practice, I’ve included a blank for people to fill out. In the example in the book, I filled in specific tasks I had attended to including having a nap in the sun in the North of the medicine wheel which is about the body, earth, rest and letting go.
I printed off a blank form yesterday and was about to fill it in with tasks and activities but what came to me were phrases to add to each direction. “Be real with my emotions” is in the West which is water, emotions, love and intuition.

On reading about Tara Brach and her new book, Refuge: Finding Peace and Freedom in Your Own Awakened Heart, I’m going to add this Buddhist mantra to the centre of the mandala/wheel: “May whatever arise serve the awakening of wisdom and compassion.”

I may choose an ally in the form of a guide, goddess, or wisdom from Nature for each of the directions as well.

We all need a practice to sustain us for the journey and act as a touchstone. This is one of mine.

Another practice is to choose cards from the mandala decks that Sarah created. She suggests choosing three cards from each deck. They’re a reflection of what’s pertinent right now.

Come to Centre is one of the cards from the mandala decks and one Sarah has given me to use for the Poetry as a Doorway In Circles.

To see Sarah Clark’s many gorgeous mandalas, visit her website. You can order your own colouring pack or package of postcards to colour as well as mandala decks. They’re also available at the Salish Sea Market in Bowser; Living Light Source (Old Firehouse Building) in Nanaimo; Lobelia’s Lair in Nanaimo; as well as Departure Bay Aromatherapy Boutique in Nanaimo.