About how can help the young creatives find their path, voice and direction, I think the first step is finding their “self” ( Jung, the central overarching concept governing the individuation process, as symbolised by mandalas, the union of male and female, totality, unity. it as the psyche’s central archetype), when they feel confused, can not find the direction or position, maybe the subconscious can give more answers. So, I try to find some helpful information, and find that many people try to find the answer by drawing a mandala.
Carl Jung, he created many works of mandala in the process of his huge psychological crisis. In the process, he finally overcame his psychological crisis and found an excellent way of unconscious “self” experience and expression. The theory of “self” formed later became the characteristic of the psychoanalytic school. He also think that “self” is the source of life, the energy to heal and revive.
MANDALA comes from the Sanskrit MANDALA, which means round wheel and altar city. It is formed by the words MANDA and LA. MANDA means the essence of things, and LA means perfection. In Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism, mandala symbolizes the symmetry, unity and harmony of the universe, as well as the ultimate perfection, the supreme ideal state of the human mind. The mandala is also a map of the inner mind. People use the imagery of mandala for meditation and focus on the essential Self to gain extraordinary experience. Therefore, Jung believes that mandala contains the code of the highest “self” of human beings, Self, which is a manifestation of the unconscious “self”, an active imagination.
I am reading a book called << Spiritual Land: Mandala Painting Therapy >> byChen Canrui and Gao Yanhong. This book is the first mandala painting therapy book in China, which is divided into basic and professional chapter. In the basic chapter, it simply introduces the mandala painting history, its relationship with Jung and Buddhism, and then focuses on how to paint mandala, and how to analyse mandala painting. In order to make readers better understand the painting method and analytical thinking, this work provides rich cases. The professional chapter is suitable for those who want to use mandala painting for in-depth analysis or psychotherapy consultants who intend to apply the mandala in psychological therapy. This work mainly introduces the theory of mandala painting: the theory of psychological type, Jungian theory of the self, self theory and mandala stage theory. Then, through a long-term mandala painting treatment process, it reveals to readers the application of this technique in clinical situations. It is a Chinese book, which is easy for me to read and understand.
There are many kinds of mandala, such as self-image mandala, mood mandala, spontaneity mandala, dream mandala, life mandala and sacredness mandala, where self-image mandala can assist in the assessment of self-function, and the life mandala can help understand the path you really want to take.
I tried to draw a picture of mandala after reading it, and found it very interesting. It will give me a different feeling in the process. After painting, I will interpret my personal mandala from a different angle, which will give me another perception, and I wrote this feeling behind the mandala. Through the psychoanalytic method mentioned in the book, rational analysis will gain some understanding, and I think it may help my project. I also asked my friends draw some mandala and talked about their mandala.
Other reference:
1, Self realization, in the western understanding it is the “fulfillment by oneself of the possibilities of one’s character or personality” (see also self-actualization).
2, A study of Jung’s Mandala and its relationship to art psychotherapy. https://doi.org/10.1016/0197-4556(87)90018-9: