Many / One

A database of 11,000+ illuminated guiding quotations in 40 categories from 600+ inspired books by our most brilliant and influential authors.
Compiled by JoAnn Kite

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1 "Both as a principle of unity and a model of the cosmos, the sphere represents the ultimate undivided, undifferentiated whole." Keith Chritchlow, 'Twelve Criteria for Sacred Architecture' Homage to Pythagoras, Rediscovering Sacred Science (Christopher Bamford, editor)

2 "The Mandala is infinite, as are the capacities of the individual." Mandala (Jose and Miriam Arguelles)

3 "The mandala is an image and a synthesis of the dualistic aspects of differentiation and unification, of variety and unity, the external and the internal, the diffuse and the concentrated. It excludes disorder..because, by its very nature, it must surmount disorder. It is, then, the visual, plastic expression of the struggle to achieve order – even within diversity – and of the longing to be reunited with the pristine, non-spatial and non-temporal 'Centre', as it is conceived in all symbolic traditions." A Dictionary of Symbols (J. E. Cirlot)

4 "We know from experience that the protective circle, the mandala, is the traditional antidote for chaotic states of mind." Collected Works (Carl Jung)

5 "It is no accident that Jung discovered the mandala in the context of psychiatry. The mandala often is constellated naturally to heal and protect such profound transformative experiences." ." Michael Flanagin, Ph.D., 'The Mandala in Jungian Psychotherapy' Mandala, Luminous Symbols for Healing (Judith Cornell, Ph.D.)

6 "The circle is ever open, ever unbroken. May the Goddess awaken in each of our hearts." The Spiral Dance, A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess (Starhawk (Miriam Simos))

7 "The circle has been variously interpreted as a state of oneness, unity, heaven, the sun, Yang, the Self, ultimate wholeness, enlightenment." Seeing With the Mind's Eye (Mike Samuels, M.D. and Nancy Samuels)

8 "The idea of rotation is the keystone of most transcendent symbols: of the mediaeval 'Rota'; of the Wheel of Buddhist transformations; of the zodiacal cycle; of the myth of the Gemini; and of the 'opus' [work] of the alchemists. The idea of the world as a labyrinth or of life as a pilgrimage leads to the idea of the 'centre' as a symbol of the absolute goal of Man – Paradise regained….Pictorially, this central point is sometimes identified with the geometric centre of the symbolic circle." A Dictionary of Symbols (J. E. Cirlot)

9 "The point signifies unity, the Origin and the Centre. It also represents the principles of manifestation and emanation, and hence in some mandalas the centre is not actually shown but must be imagined….There are two kinds of point to be considered: that which has no magnitude and is symbolic of creative virtue, and that which – as suggested by Raymond Lull in his 'Nova Geometria' – has the smallest conceivable or practicable magnitude and is a symbol of the principle of manifestation." A Dictionary of Symbols (J. E. Cirlot)

10 "Man is a transition, an agent of transformation as well as the material to be transformed. This transformative operation can occur only through the focusing power of some new symbol or image of the whole process in which man now finds himself involved. In its universality, the Mandala provides at least the base structure for such a symbol." Mandala (Jose and Miriam Arguelles)

11 "The world and its inhabitants are integral facets of one Mandala." Mandala (Jose and Miriam Arguelles)

12 "The oldest mandala drawing known to me is a paleolithic 'sun wheel', recently discovered in Rhodesia….Things reaching so far back in human history naturally touch upon the deepest layer of the unconscious and affect the latter where conscious speech shows itself to be quite impotent. Such things cannot be thought up but must grow again from the forgotten depths, if they are to express the deepest insights of consciousness and the loftiest intuitions of the spirit. Coming from these depths they blend together the uniqueness of present-day consciousness with the age-old past of life." C. G. Jung The Secret of the Golden Flower (Richard Wilhelm, translator)

13 "In Black Elk's vision, the hoop of his people will be reunited only when the tree of the center flowers once again. This is the vision of a Mandala of global consciousness." Mandala (Jose and Miriam Arguelles)

14 "Mandalas are also formed with the hands, danced, and represented in music (for instance Bach's 'Art of Fugue')….When a mandala is being formed, everything round and square known to man works on it too. But the impetus for its formation comes from the unconscious archetype." C. G. Jung: Letters, 1951-1961 (Gerhard Adler and Aniela Jaffe, editors)

15 "There is a simple self-moving power directing all things to mingle as one; it starts out from the Good, reaches down to the lowliest creation, returns then in due order through all the stages back to the Good, and thus turns from itself and through itself and upon itself and toward itself in an everlasting circle." Pseudo-Dionysius, The Complete Works (John Farina, Editor-in-Chief)

16 "The circle (or sphere) is a symbol of the Self. It expresses the totality of the psyche in all its aspects, including the relationship between man and the whole of nature. Whether the symbol of the circle appears in primitive sun worship or modern religion, in myths or dreams, in the mandalas drawn by Tibetan monks, in the ground plans of cities, or in the spherical concepts of early astronomers, it always points to the single most vital aspect of life – its ultimate wholeness." Aniela Jaffe, 'Symbolism in the Visual Arts' Man and His Symbols (Carl Jung)

17 "It is the Mandala that can burst the fetters of man's internal bondage and conflict by leading him to a viewpoint from which the various polarities may be harmonized." Mandala (Jose and Miriam Arguelles)

18 "In the circle, which comprehends in itself the beginning and the end, we have the figure of true being; and circular motion is the only enduring form of motion. From this Spirit, which is called the Life of the Universe, proceed the life and soul of everything which has soul and life." Giordano Bruno (1548-1600), Italian philosopher and poet, answer at his trial before the Inquisitor in Venice, May 1592, quoted by I. Firth in "Life of Giordano Bruno, Boston 1887, p. 123 Reincarnation: The Phoenix Fire Mystery (Cranston/Head, editors)

19 "Since consciousness has always been described in terms derived from the behavior of light, it is in my view not too much to assume that these multiple luminosities correspond to ..conscious phenomena. If the luminosity appears in monadic form as a single star, sun, or eye, it readily assumes the shape of a mandala and must then be interpreted as the self…The symbols of the self have a uniting character." 'On The Nature of the Psyche', CW 8 Basic Writings of C G Jung (V S DeLasslo, editor)

20 "The shape of the world exists everlastingly in the knowledge of the true Love which is God: constantly circling, wonderful for human nature, and such that it is not consumed by age and cannot be increased by anything new….in its workings the Godhead is like a wheel, a whole." Hildegard of Bingen, Mandala, Luminous Symbols for Healing (Judith Cornell, Ph.D.)

21 "Deity and the cosmos may be likened to a circle or sphere whose circumference is nowhere – hence boundless – but those center is everywhere. And each monad is such a divine, immortal, preexistent center." Editors Reincarnation: The Phoenix Fire Mystery (Cranston/Head, editors)

22 "No matter what cultural lens is used, the symbol of a circle which contains the whole world and the various evolutionary levels of consciousness is powerful and universal." Mandala, Luminous Symbols for Healing (Judith Cornell, Ph.D.)

23 "Re-vision your home as a container for a sacred circle of love." Who Do You Think You Are? The Healing Power of Your Sacred Self (Carlos Warter, M.D., Ph.D.)

24 "The Mandala has appeared throughout man's history as a universal and essential symbol of integration, harmony, and transformation. It gives form to the most primordial intuition of the nature of reality, an intuition that inheres in each of us, giving us life." Mandala (Jose and Miriam Arguelles)

25 "The mandala emphasizes the process of spiritual growth, of the mind's evolution echoing the evolution of the universe." Breaking the Mind Barrier (Todd Siler)

This body of quotes compiled by JoAnn Kite