Yogaversity International
Byron Bay 		5 Elements & Yoga
- Yama & Niyama -
the Foundations of Yoga
 Sacred Geometry
Who are'Yogaverse'?
Planetary Awakening

The Yoga Mandala Text & Symbology

The poster incorporates so many archetypal symbols that each person will no doubt find their own meanings hidden within it. Here we can merely offer a review of the text with some thoughts about what the symbology means to us.
In choosing the words to go on the Yoga Mandala we sought a balance between inspiration and instructions. Keeping in mind that many readers would be unfamiliar with Sanskrit terminology and perhaps with yoga practice itself, we have tried to cater for all levels of interest.
The second half of the text which deals more specifically with yoga practice can be found on the page about yoga and the five elements.

Quotes from the Poster
are in white ~

"The word 'Yoga' is from the same root as the word 'union',
and means any path that leads beyond the illusion of separation from the whole."

"'Mandala' is a name for a symmetrical design used as a focus for contemplation of the divine.
They are found in most cultures, often as symbolic maps of the universe"

Commentary
in green

The text within the circle of the mandala is a
table of correspondences for the five elements.
Each element is portrayed as a petal of the flower, which is also the sphere of material existence.
This can be used as a reference chart for integrating awareness of the elements into yoga practice, daily life, and meditation.

Other Material
in cyan

Carl Jung, who gave us such concepts as 'synchronicity' and the 'collective unconscious' had this to say about Mandalas -
"The goal of contemplating the processes depicted in the mandala is that the yogi shall become inwardly aware of the deity. Through contemplation, he recognizes himself as God again, and thus returns from the illusion of individual existence into the universal totality of the divine state."

from Concerning Mandala Symbolism. C. G. Jung.
trans. from "Uber Mandalasymbolik,"
Gestaltungen des Unbewussten (Zurich, 1950)


The top central section of the artwork represents a realm beyond time and space, a realm of pure living geometries and aspects of divine intelligence and meaning. At the centre of the vibratory field of the Sri Yantra a star-flower of Light is born from which the nectar of existance falls down to be caught in the burning grail of conscious relationship. There it is spun into a toroidal vortex, (the form of a magnetic field or smoke ring), which overflows the chalice as a white whole at the centre of the Universe (which is everywhere and nowhere).

 

Sri Krsna

The Whirling Heart of the Galactic Dervish

"Beloved Essence of All That Is...
We give thanks for the bodies of living beings
that are the most exquisite and sacred forms in the universe.
By means of your evolutionary process the essence of pure existence is organized into an infinity of patterns of energy.
This work of Art only exists because the times we live in require
an evolutionary shift in human consciousness.
This Mandala is a gift of Spirit, which supports access to knowledge of: physical health, vitality, the nature of mind and emotions, and the fundamental structures of the Universe.
All that can be perceived in this magic mirror is the creation of your own indefinable presence.
Space and Time, Mind and Matter, Man and Woman, can only be said to exist when there is Consciousness able to perceive them.
Therefore it is you who lend them your 'Reality' and give them Meaning."

 

Gold Tara

Mother of Mystery - Giver of Time and Measure

From the white whole at the centre of the Universe the Light flows out to its opposite pole, the black hole at the centre of the galaxy. This is represented by the form of the Goddess and God as the Infinite Mystery and the All Atractive Source of Beauty. The Light is then focussed through the fractal lense of a Mandelbrot and tumbles down from the Sun to the Earth and into the Eye of the Yogi seated in meditation upon the true nature of existance.

"The analysis of the fundamental unity of all phenomena into 5 interdependent Elements or qualities is a time honored alchemical practice. Here they are presented as the 5 petals of the flower of the Mandala, and metaphorically named: Space, Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. All phenomena can be classified into these 5 categories.
Yoga philosophy calls them the 'Pan-cha-maha-bhutas' which means the five great states of material existence. The innermost circle of the Mandala names the element, its associated sense and body or 'sheath'. The senses are hearing, touching, seeing, tasting & smelling. The 5 sheaths are the causal, intellectual, psychological, physiological & anatomical bodies. The 5 pointed star, or pentacle, incorporates the 'Golden Mean' proportions and is intimately connected to the structure of the DNA, the blueprint of life on Earth. "

The five types of poses (Asanas)
will develop the qualities of their associated element.
Likewise, the five disciplines of Yama or Niyama will help one with the types of asana of the element.
The affirmations can also be used to work on developing a particular element's qualities.

For instance, practising backbends (Fire) will energise you and develop qualities such as creativity and courage,
and the practice of openness (asteya) or austerity (tapas)
will help to develop your flexibility and srtength in these poses.
The affirmation "enthusiastically love burns within me, combusting all pride and self-condemnation"
will also develop your psychological body (manomayakosha).
See the poster or the correspondence table for more detail.

The more than two millenia old 'Yoga Sutras of Patanjali', one of the most venerable and influencial texts on Yoga, begins...
 1. atha yoga nusasan
Now Yoga Transmission.
2. yoga citta vritti nirodaha
Yoga happens with the stilling of the Flames of the Heart.
3. tada drasthuh svarupe vasthanam
 Then the Solar Angel abides within the Light of its own Being in all circumstances.
4. vritti sarupyam itaratra
 Otherwise, there is identification with every movement as though it were the Centre, the True Self.
5. vrttayah pancatayyah klista klistah
The apparent play of phenomena is Fivefold, both pleasant and unpleasant.
"To know that what is impenatrable for us really exists and manifests itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, whose gross forms alone are intelligible to our poor faculties - this knowledge, this feeling ... that is the core of the true religious sentiment." Albert Einstein


There is much play of implied 'dimensions' within the artwork. The whole is contained within itself as the 'game board' that the Yogi ponders, (or perhaps its the yoga mat that he hovers above). All things contain each other and arise from the same fundamental patterns. Macrocosm is reflected within microcosm, future within past, self within other ~ and meaning arises spontaneously from the harmonics of their relationship.

"The primary energetic geometry of this Mandala is a star hidden in an apple.
There is a story where it is told that humans ate the consciousness-altering fruit of the Tree of Knowledge and were banished from the Garden before they might eat of the Tree of Life and become one with the Gods.
Perhaps we are still eating the original apple, and only when we have consumed its five-seeded core may we realize that all trees are part of the one tree, and open our eyes to find ourselves back in the Garden that we never truly left."
"Mandalas are all based on the squaring of a circle. Their basic motif is the premonition of a centre of personality, a kind of central point within the psyche, to which everything is related, by which everything is arranged, and which is itself a source of energy. The energy of the central point is manifested in the almost irresistible compulsion and urge to become what one is, just as every organism is driven to assume the form that is characteristic of its nature, no matter what the circumstances. This centre is not felt or thought of as the ego but, if one may so express it, as the self. Although the centre is represented by an innermost point, it is surrounded by a periphery containing everything that belongs to the self -- the paired opposites that make up the total personality." C.G. Jung

 

 "Where attention goes, energy flows. The mind effects every part of the human anatomy. Use the power of affirmations consciously to ensure that cells not only survive but thrive. Be discerning about what you ingest as it must be either assimilated or eliminated by the bodymind. Take some time for yourself every day. Dawn is the strongest hour for expressing affirmations. As you wake from the night, place into your consciousness thoughts and feelings that will shape your day to support your highest evolution."

This Thy body Love, These Thy hands
These Thy thoughts Love
This Thy dance.

There is only one Tree,
There is only One Garden,
There is only One Man,
There is only One Woman,
There is only One Apple,
The One you are eating.
There is only One Life,
The One you're Living.
There is only You.

For the rest of the text which is focussed more specifically on yoga
please see the 5 elements in yoga page.

Yogaversity International
Byron Bay 		5 Elements & Yoga
- Yama & Niyama -
the Foundations of Yoga
 Sacred Geometry
Planetary Awakening