• Ransirini Gamage on the power of mandala art as a form of meditation

Meditation is a practice with many benefits, helping practitioners develop a calm and focused mind and improved concentration, mindfulness, and mental wellbeing. While some tend to look at meditation as bound to religious practices and spiritual doctrines, today, meditation takes different forms, making it more approachable and inviting to many.

Ransirini Gamage focuses on using mandala art as a form of meditation, having found solace in the art form while processing grief. Her personal experiences and the benefits she reaped from this form of art has led her to share her knowledge with others, conducting workshops and even publishing a book of mandala art.

In conversation with The Daily Morning, Gamage spoke about a programme she recently carried out at the Nihanda Arana Meditation Centre, Nillambe. Founded by Ven. Aluthgamgoda Gnanaweera Thero in 2018, the meditation centre identifies itself as a silent haven and temporary shelter for the seeker, and a practical guide on one’s journey of self-discovery. It invites people to explore the realm of mindful living, regardless of one’s religious beliefs, and offers various programmes for both monks and laypersons.

Gamage was invited by Nihanda Arana Meditation Centre to conduct mandala art workshops and went into detail about the programme as well as how mandala art connects to concepts one comes across in meditation.

Following are excerpts from the interview:

Tell us about the programme you carried out at the Nihanda Arana Meditation Centre, Nillambe recently.

The Nihanda Arana Meditation Centre reached out to me to conduct a programme and they sponsored all the material, transportation, and everything related to the programme. It’s a very nice place, located in the Galaha area in Kandy and a part of the Hanthana Mountain Range. It’s a lovely place.

We don’t refer to the accommodation as rooms, and they are instead referred to as “kuti”. It’s a meditation centre adjoining an “aranya”. The Chief reverend at the centre called me and invited me to conduct a programme. I was there for six days, from 24-30 October.

I carried out the programme on all days for all of those at the meditation centre. They were mandala workshops, where I did several exercises with the participants. Each programme commenced with meditation, known as alpaha-wave meditation, which is the type of meditation I’m practicing at the moment. Previously, I practiced anapanasati, but now I practice alpaha-wave meditation.

Anyone can do this type of meditation. When you are practicing vipassana meditation, alpaha-wave meditation helps you reach the level of samadhi very quickly.

Going forward, are you hoping to conduct more programmes with Nihada Arana Meditation Centre?

I am hoping to find a sponsor, which will allow me to carry out more programmes.

Can you tell us more about mandala art as a form of meditation?

When it comes to any kind of meditation, we have to build our alpaha-wave, where we can expand our brain capacity – one of the main objectives of meditation in general. When practicing meditation, especially when you are ordained, we talk about “sati”, which translates to mindfulness. You have to be in control of your brain, preventing it from wandering and instead focusing on what you are doing at the moment.

There is a lot of emphasis on focus in meditation. If you have a running mind, you can’t focus on anything. For meditation, you need a clear mind with good focus. When colouring or filling a mandala, for instance, one stray line or dot can mess up the mandala or pattern. When we look at the concept of karma, the good we do brings us good results, but the bad we do brings us bad results. This is something that people face when colouring a mandala, where they in a simple way understand the concept of “hetu-pala”, which states that anything and everything in this world arises due to six root causes.

A mandala starts with a small circle in the centre, and is filled in a circular pattern. This helps people develop “vipassana”, where they start at the centre point like a lotus. When developing vipassana, one cannot start at the biggest or last point. That is not how it works. When it comes to a mandala, we begin at the centre – similarly to vipassana – progressing from the smallest or lowest level to the higher level.

How can mandala art be used as a form of meditation?

Whether you are ordained or a lay-person, you are likely to face various issues in life. Mandala art can help them remove the pain in their lives by cleansing the mind. It can help people come out of the difficult juncture they are at in life.

When we talk about art in a therapeutic sense, people may wonder if this is something they can turn to if they lack any artistic skills. Is this something people need to be concerned about?

There are people who can’t concentrate. They can’t keep their mind at one point. Due to professional work and personal issues, they may face various problems, which could be more to do with their mental health than physical health, although mental health issues can develop into physical issues.

When it comes to mandala art, people who are not creative or artistic can still colour a small shape. A mandala comprises several small components in different sizes. When people are filling these, they have to concentrate. That is not artistic and doesn’t require any drawing knowledge. You need not know any techniques or styles. All you have to do is take a pen or pencil and fill in a small component.

Through this form of art, we can help people concentrate and develop mindfulness, which is what many lack. This is where many go wrong.

Not everyone can spend days at a meditation retreat, but mandala art is something that won’t require this level of commitment. Do you have any tips for those wishing to practice meditation through mandala art at home?

People tend to think that they have to go out for meditation programmes, mandala workshops, or any kind of activity that helps with relaxing the mind. However, I teach my students that you need not go out.

There are several mandala books in the market, but – and this is not to condemn anyone – you don’t need to colour every one of those books. Most books have patterns downloaded from the internet and printed and published as a book consisting of several drawings. However, there are no directions on where and how to start, what colours to use, or the tools you need.

If you take my mandala book, there are guidelines on how to start the mandala and how to go through the pattern. If you have a proper mandala book or drawing sheets with you, you can follow these very simple meditation tips with me, which I do in my workshops, but you can follow these steps at home. The only thing you will need is knowing what instructions to follow.

You mentioned that you conduct mandala workshops. What can you tell us about them?

Every day, I conduct workshops. There are people who like to do individual workshops, which I conduct at home. They can schedule individual workshops in Colombo with me, or else, they can join group classes as well. We also do corporate training.

I must mention that people with early stage dementia may benefit from such programmes. So can elderly persons. Children aged eight and up can also partake in the workshops. The workshops will help expand their brain capacity. The meditation we practice at the workshops helps participants relax and can encourage children’s creativity.

And finally, what can you share about the mandala book you recently published?

There are several mandala books in the market, as I mentioned before, but this is the first mandala book created by a Sri Lankan artist. I have prepared it in a very proper manner, from the smallest steps to higher. It was released on 22 September at the BMICH.

At the moment, we are working on another book, which we plan on releasing in March 2024.