Ritual

Om, the cosmic sound, is a
combination of three syllables - a,
u, m - that represent three phases
of the cosmic cycle - creation,
preservation and dissolution -
condensed into a single sound unit.
Rajasthan, c. 18th century.
Gouache on paper.
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Thus, yantra represents an energy pattern whose force increases
in proportion to the abstraction and precision of the diagram.
Through these power-diagrams creation and control of ideas are
said to be possible. The principle behind this tenet is that just as each
form is the visible product of any energy pattern rooted in sound,
so, reciprocally, each visible form carries with it its own implicit
power-diagram. Hence the yantra ought not to be considered a
schematic sketch of tantric astronomical and astrological maps and
computations, but a linear image revealed to the adept. All the
elemental geometrical figures of which a yantra is constructed and
other forms of meditative diagrams or psycho-cosmic energy
charts have symbolic values. They can be composed into a
complex structure to represent forces and qualities of the cosmos in
elemental forms. For the tantrika, therefore, these diagrams are
potent in that they are not only conscious entities, but,
symbolically, consciousness itself.
As in the yantra one looks for an affinity between the centre
which represents the focal area of psychic power and the core of
one's own consciousness, so also in the mandala a similar identity is
sought and expressed. The mandala, the word means circle, is an
archetypal image signifying wholeness and totality. It represents