mandala

The Sanskrit word mandala means circle and, by extension, the whole world. It is used in the Hindu and Buddhist traditions to refer to the symbolic circles that represent the entire world, with all its divine energies, in a microcosm. Especially in the Tibetan Vajrayana tradition, visualizing the world created in the mandala (called kyinkor) with all its color and detail becomes a powerful and finely-tuned meditation practice.