The title for this mandala comes to me through a passage I read in the classic book, The Secret Of The Golden Flower. It’s been years since I read it, and it’s always stayed with me. At the time the mandala was made, I hadn’t read this book yet. Like my other hand drawn mandalas, this one held other layers of meaning that I would grow to understand.
Here’s a very brief portion of the book passage I’m referring to:
The light is neither inside nor outside the self. (…) The light of heaven and earth fills the universe; the light of the one individual also naturally extends through the heavens and covers the earth.
_ The Secret Of The Golden Flower, translated by Richard Wilhelm
The passage further explains that the whole earth, the sun, the moon, the oceans and all the waters are this light, so it’s not just inside the self. All intelligence, knowledge and wisdom are this light, so it isn’t outside the self. What a wonderful thing to contemplate. It’s separation that’s the illusion.
The Daily Zen Journal has an excellent post on The Secret of The Golden Flower if you’re interesting in knowing more about it. You’ll learn about turning the light around – an astonishing teaching!
I hope this finds everyone in their own creative sweet spot.
