Gifts of the Mandala: A Guided Journey of Self-Discovery

By Clare Goodwin

Imagine that you found a map to the invisible realms of mind and spirit. What might you discover?

Such maps have been drawn for thousands of years in myriad cultures throughout the world. Today, we refer to them by the Sanskrit term mandala, loosely meaning the whole world.Mandalas are universally associated with healing and prayer. Creating mandalas is an absorbing and relaxing way to enhance your life journey.

Based on Clare Goodwins 35 year exploration of the mandala as an artist, therapist, and teacher of students world-wide, Gifts of the Mandala: A Guided Journey of Self-Discovery invites you to deepen your understanding of yourself through the sacred art of mandala making.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Aug 17, 2016
• ISBN: 9781504359757

Clare Goodwin

When first hearing the word “mandala”, in 1979, Clare Goodwin stepped onto a path that would become a lifelong passion. With students worldwide, her work appears in numerous collections and publications. She delights in sharing the gifts that creating mandalas can bring.

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Copyright © 2016 Clare Goodwin.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Balboa Press

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN: 978-1-5043-5974-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-5975-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016909497

Balboa Press rev. date: 08/17/2016

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CONTENTS

Introduction

Definition

How to Use This Book

Opening the Present

Attitude

Heritage

Attention

Source

The Temple

Portals

Wrapping Up

Resources

Artistic Resume

Templates

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INTRODUCTION

The wisdom acquired with the passage of time is a useless gift unless you share it.

~ Esther Williams

The word mandala came to my attention in 1968 when my first husband, Jerry, and I were driving in our tan Volkswagen bug. The folk group Peter, Paul & Mary came on the radio singing the anti-war song The Great Mandala. The words Take your place on The Great Mandala as it moves through your brief moment of time prompted me to ask Jerry if he knew what a mandala was. He replied, It’s some sort of religious symbol from the East. That satisfied my curiosity and I promptly forgot about it.

Eleven years later, in 1979, I was divorced with two little girls to take care of and determined to complete my college education. Although my major was psychology, I kept signing up for art courses. Sandra Kocher, one of my art professors, gave our class an assignment to create symmetrical paintings. In passing, she mentioned Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung and the word mandala.

Now the word took hold of me and settled into my consciousness like a long lost friend. Although I didn’t know it at the time, I had just received a gift that would change the course of my life. From manhole covers to ceiling tiles, I was suddenly seeing symmetrical circular designs everywhere. Looking through my daughters’ kaleidoscope became a favorite pastime. I was hooked.

At the same time that mandalas were getting my attention, I met a man who would become my friend, husband, business partner and mandala collaborator. Alan Goodwin was as interested in mandalas as I was. He had a strong background in graphic design and a natural proclivity for geometry. It was a perfect match.

Following my urge to explore everything mandala, I convinced the art department to allow me to create an independent study on the subject. I discovered that circles were important images for religions and cultures around the world.

As part of my studies, I painted a number of mandalas. One that represented the Native American tradition became a gift for my new mother-in-law. Another, that expressed the Tibetan culture, is still one of Alan’s