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Namaste Mandala
Mixed media
(kiln ash, ink, and oil)
O anxious soul, I am
telling you that you yourself are God’s dwelling, God’s secret
hiding place…all your good and hope is so close to you as to
be within you. ("The Imitation of Christ, Thomas à Kempis)
The kingdom of God is
within you. (Luke 17:21)
Dwell in me as I dwell
in you. (John 15:4)
Be filled with the
fullness of God. (Eph. 3:19)
Imagine what would happen
if we lived from conscious awareness of this Indwelling
Presence, using the Namaste greeting tradition of “I revere
the Divine within you” not only as a concept of our True,
deeper Self but for ethics and awe—for honoring God in, yet
also beyond, all beings.
This Namaste Mandala was
made while on spiritual pilgrimage in India. It represents the
journey toward greater awareness of the Indwelling Light. The
coiled snake made from kiln ash and ink symbolizes the journey
toward the Eternal within. The Light, shaped as a cross, is
made from the oil of an arati lamp at a Christian Ashram. The
lamp is placed before each Christian during Evening prayer as
we meditate upon the Divine Splendor and ask for illumination.
The Hebrew “RCH-El” in the center is rabbinic word play on
Ruach-El—Spirit of God (dwelling within my being) and Rachel,
the name of my daughter (who also dwelled within me).
May we, as we meditate upon
the Divine Splendor within, remember how the One in the many
links our lives. |
