Kritik am Buch „The Shadow Of The Dalai Lama ... - Neues von Shi De

The mandala principle
The Buddhist universe (Chakravala) takes the form of a mandala. This Sanskrit word originally
meant ‘circle’ and is translated into Tibetan as kyl-khor, which means, roughly ‘center and periphery’.
At the midpoint of the Chakravala we find Mount Meru; the periphery is formed by the gigantic iron
wheel we have already mentioned.
There are round mandalas, square mandalas, two- and three-dimensional mandalas, yet in all cases the
principle of midpoint and periphery is maintained. The four sides of a square diagram are often
equated with the four points of the compass. A five-way concept is also characteristic for the tantric
mandala form — with a center and the four points of the compass. The whole construction is seen as
an energy field, from which, as from a platonic Form, tremendous forces can flow out.
A mandala is considered to be the archetype of order. They stand opposed to disorder, anarchy and
chaos as contrary principles. Climatic turbulence, bodily sicknesses, desolate and wild stretches of
land, barbaric peoples and realms of unbelief all belong to the world of chaos. In order to seize
possession of such regions of disorder and ethnic groupings or to put an end to chaotic disturbances
(in the body of a sick person for instance), Tibetan lamas perform various rites, which ultimately all
lead to the construction of a mandala. This is imposed upon a “chaotic” territory through symbolic
actions so as to occupy it; it is mentally projected into the infirm body of a patient so as to dispel his
or her illness and the risk of death; it is “pulled over” a zone of protection as a solid fortification
against storm and hail.
Like a stencil, a mandala pattern impresses itself upon all levels of being and consciousness. A body,
a temple, a palace, a town, or a continent can thus as much have the form of a mandala as a thought,
an imagining, a political structure. In this view, the entire geography of a country with its mountains,
seas, rivers, towns and shrines possesses an extraterrestrial archetype, a mandala-like prototype,
whose earthly likeness it embodies. This transcendent geometry is not visible to an ordinary eye and
conceals itself on a higher cosmic level.
Hidden behind the geographical form we perceive, the country of Tibet also has, the lamas believe, a
mandala structure, with the capital Lhasa as its center and the surrounding mountain ranges as its
periphery. Likewise, the street plan of Lhasa is seen as the impression of a mandala, with the holiest
temple in Tibet, the Jokhang, as its midpoint. The architectural design of the latter was similarly
based on a mandala with the main altar as its center.
The political structure of former Tibet also bore a mandala character. In it the Dalai Lama formed the
central sun (the mandala center) about which the other abbots of Tibet orbit as planets. Up until 1959
the Tibetan government was conceived of as a diagram with a center and four sections (sides). “The
government is founded upon four divisions”, wrote the Seventh Dalai Lama in a state political
directive, “These are (1) the court of law, (2) the tax office, (3) the treasury, and (4) the cabinet. They
are all aligned to the four points of the compass along the sides of a square which encloses the central
figure of the Buddha” (Redwood French, 1985, p. 87).
The prototype of the highest Buddha and the emanations surrounding him was thus transferred to the
state leadership and the various offices which were subordinate to it. Of course, the central figure of
this political mandala is intended to be the Dalai Lama, since he concentrates the entire worldly and