A seed syllable mandala places a single sacred syllable at the heart of a mandala palace, usually on a lotus, where a deity mandala would have its main figure. A seed syllable (Sanskrit bija, "seed"; Tibetan sabön) is the sound-form of a Buddha or deity, and in Vajrayana Buddhism it stands for that deity's whole mantra.
How it is laid out
- The syllable sits alone at the very centre. In some of our paintings it is gold-coloured on black; in others it is painted on green, orange or red, or written in white.
- The lotus: an eight-pointed lotus or a ring of coloured petals holds the syllable, as a lotus seat holds a deity.
- The palace: a square seen from above, with a gateway in the middle of each side, each topped by an ornamented arch.
- The rings: bands of coloured squares and fine gold-coloured line work circle the palace, on grounds that range from pale blue and yellow to rose, orange and black.
What a seed syllable is
Each Buddha and deity has a seed syllable, often the first sound of its name. In many practices the meditator first pictures the syllable, set on a lotus and moon disc, then sees the deity arise from it, as a plant grows from its seed. Some of the best known:
- OM, AH and HUM stand for enlightened body, speech and mind, pictured white at the crown, red at the throat and blue at the heart.
- HRIH is the syllable of Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light, and of Chenrezig, the bodhisattva of compassion.
- TAM belongs to Tara, and DHIH to Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom.
In Japan, probably from the 11th century, whole mandalas were painted with every deity written as a syllable.
Reading the syllable
In Tibetan script, look at the marks around the letter:
- OM (ཨོཾ): the letter A, with a curved stroke rising above it and a small circle on top.
- AH (ཨཱཿ): the letter A, with a small hook beneath and two small circles to the right.
- HUM (ཧཱུྃ): the letter HA, with a looped mark hanging below and a crescent and dot above.
- HRIH (ཧྲཱིཿ): the letter HA, with a small RA tucked beneath, a hooked stroke above and two small circles to the right.
Painters often add a calligraphic flourish, and some use Lantsa, the ornamental script from Nepal that Tibetans use for Sanskrit, where the shapes differ.
A symbol, not a ritual
Our seed syllable mandalas are decorative designs by Kathmandu painters, not the mandala of a particular practice, and no ritual belongs to them. They keep the palace and rings of a classic mandala (see our guide to mandalas) with only the syllable at the heart. A mantra mandala does the opposite, circling its central syllable with rings of written mantras.
In a painting
Look at the syllable first: strokes that swell and taper with a sure hand, marks above and below in their proper places, and the letter centred on its field. Then look for straight palace walls, matching gateways, even lotus petals and gold-coloured line work that stays crisp in the close-ups. At a glance, this is the mandala with a single letter where other mandalas have a deity.
