Using your mandala

In the last post you developed your personal mandala that reflects your self - your values and feelings.  This mandala consists of six petals which point to the outside world and beyond. No two of the six petals interlock, but are interrelated with one another. The central focus of the mandala is the person to whom you refer to as yourself. The labels that are attached to the petals prevent the spirit of the True Being from shining outward. As long as the central being is attached to any of the labels, total awareness is not possible. The task is to become unattached to the labels. 

The self is who you think you are. In other words, it is all of those values and feelings that you have accumulated over the years of living on this planet. When you refer to yourself it is, almost always, the small self you are talking about. On the other hand, the Self (big "S") usually refers to that which is always present, formless, pure and unchanging. The big Self is also known as the witness. 

Use your mandala to remind you of your values and feelings and to allow you to reflect on how these values and feelings affect your daily activities. This is an important step because, by using the mandala to look at yourself, you can begin to see why you do the things you do depending on what happens outside and inside of you. It is important to remember that the mandala (the self) is not what you are - this is simply the way you react to various situations that you encounter every day.

So, for the next few days use your mandala to reflect on your self and to study your self. Try to understand why you feel the way you do when certain situations happen. While you are doing this self study remember that it is not those outside happenings that create your feelings, your feelings are created by who you (small self) are.

Stay with your self study and on the next blog you will see how you can go beyond the little self and onto the more powerful big Self.