MANDALA RETREAT
We gathered together on the 100th day of the year 2021 - the day before the March new moon in Aries.
Our guest this morning was Dr. Claire Villarreal, a Tibetan Buddhist teacher. She works to adapt traditional Buddhist teachings for the demands of our modern day life. We had asked Claire to share with us some of her practices. She suggested working with mandalas. We began the day with her guiding us through a gentle meditation.
Pancake Mandalas
A wonderfully delicious brunch of Pancakes turned our new practice of setting intentions into motion again.
Our pancakes tasted so much sweeter when we took so much care with our food placement
Nature Mandalas
There was no stopping our flow of creativity as we continued focusing on new intentions, adding more direction into our lives, this time by creating nature mandalas.
Our setting was a beautiful garden filled with early spring blooms provided by Mother Nature.
Releasing
As we remind ourselves that all the blessings we receive from life, we must eventually let go of; we did the same with our nature mandalas. We have faith that the intentions we planted on that day, all our desires and requests were lifted by the soft winds and will manifest beyond our wildest imaginations
On this same day in 1912, the Titanic had set sail. Like the passengers who boarded the Titanic, everyone's life would change, and would never be the same. Much like our world now.
The history of mandalas is fascinating and they date back as far as the 4th century. There are different types of mandalas: they represent the perfect universe-while we create a mandala we envision "our perfect little world" in relation to the universe. This vision allows each individual to "create" their future possibilities and ultimately bring joy.
We began the day with Mimosas and Mandalas
THANK YOU CLAIRE!
The Savior replied, "Every nature, every modeled form, every creature, exists in and with each other. They will dissolve again into their own proper root. For the nature of matter is dissolved into what belongs to its nature."
Mary 2:2-4