Who we are is not what we do but how we live our lives - Sofia Sunshine
The inspiration for this essay comes from my new friend, Sofia Sunshine. Wouldn’t you like to have the last name Sunshine? She brings it to the world like a burst of sunshine illuminating the surroundings with her presence. I met Sofia and her husband Tony at the Center of Universal Light. At that time, she delivered an inspiring speech Walking through the Fire about her journey from a devastating illness to spiritual wellness. I was instantly drawn to the artistic and spiritual side of her personality because of the unique blend of vulnerability and strength. She was courageous in undertaking a journey of discovery and healing, rather than accepting the faith of disability and disease. In this process, she transcended the construction of her ego-mind by “feeding her demons” and illuminating the “dark side of the moon.” Her encounter with “the shadow” nearly killed her by assuming the face of Lyme disease and its “friends.” At the end of this uncertain path, she concluded that she was a spirit that was given a beautiful body for caretaking. With this realization and the help of the spiritual guidance of Padmasambhava, the guru of Buddhism in Tibet and Bhutan, she began a new direction of life by offering healing guidance to others. In much more detail than I have written here, Sofia describes her story and healing journey on a beautifully illustrated website, so I invite you to visit it *
Sofia gave another lecture at the Center for Universal Light. I named this essay after the name of her second presentation. In it, she laid out the use of the mandala for spiritual wholeness and enlightenment. But before I go any further, I must step back and remind readers of the meaning of the mandala. The word mandala comes from the Sanskrit language and the literal translation is "the circle." I first came across the term mandala in the books of Carl Gustav Jung, who is the one who brought it back into western culture. He observed the pattern of the circle in art and speculated that the drawings of the circle reflected the inner state of wholeness, which he called the Self. The mandala arises at the time of personal and spiritual growth for the purpose of restoring or creating harmony and unity in ourselves and in the outside world. **
My further introduction to the world of mandalas came from Buddhist monks and their “sand mandalas.” I indirectly attended their activities when they came to the city where I lived then, Fargo, North Dakota, in 2011. I learned that in their tradition, mandalas have outer, inner, and secret meanings. The outer level represented the world in its divine form; the inner level was the map by which the ordinary human mind is transformed into an enlightened mind, and the secret level brings a perfect balance between the subtle energies of the body and the spiritual dimension of the mind. Creating a sand mandala symbolically leads to purification and healing on all three levels.
The mandala sand painting in Fargo began with chanting, music, and mantra recitation, followed by the drawing of an outline of the mandala on the wooden platform. In the following days, the monks laid the colored sands. Each monk held a traditional metal funnel known as a chakpur while running a metal rod on its grated surface. Vibrations caused by skillful hand movements forced the sand to flow like liquid across the platform, creating a complex and symbolic design. When the mandala was completed, it was left to the visitors to observe, communicate and learn from it. At a predetermined time, the monks gathered again around the mandala and performed the final ritual, which included blessings, prayer and purification. After that, and in accordance with tradition, the sand mandala was destroyed. This is done as a metaphor for the impermanence of life, whose acceptance, according to the Buddha's teaching, is one of the most important ways of liberation from suffering. The sand used to make the mandala was swept away and placed in an urn, and then transported to a nearby river where it was deposited with a prayer to carry the healing blessing to the ocean, and from there throughout the world for planetary healing.
After this short digression about the concept and meaning of the mandala, I return to Sofia and her lecture. She illustrated it with slides of beautiful mandalas from different cultures and time periods. She said that the mandala was the place that holds everything, the totality of our inner and outer universe. That it was a spiritual tool of healing through the process of accepting all aspects of ourselves. Especially our “dark” side, the shadow, because it bears the greatest gifts and power in the process of transformation. The mandala is a timeless blueprint of consciousness, a circle that has no beginning or end and which represents the process of birth, life, death and rebirth. In her talk, Sofia mentioned that she was starting a six-week-long course on mandalas on her property, which consists of four acres of land with small study space for making mandalas and other projects. Sofia would be a guide for course participants using guided meditation, surrounding nature and mandala creation as ways to access different aspects of self. Each class featured one of the five elements: earth, air, fire, water, and space. The sixth final one was dedicated to the unity of the mandala.
My wife Tina and I could not engage in the whole program, but we decided to take the opportunity to drop in one of the classes. By the time we arrived, the circle was ready, and, in a few minutes, we were all sitting in it. Sofia opened the workshop with a guided meditation related to the element of water. The element of water symbolizes our emotions. As is known, water makes up 60-70% of our body weight. Unlike the elements of air and fire, which were covered in previous sessions, the water needs a container, in the same way, our emotions require a regulation “device” rather than being “spilled all over.” Sofia mentioned three Cs that apply to our time together: curiosity, compassion, and confidentiality, to create a safe place for a valuable experience. She led us further into the energy of the second chakra, swirling in the sacral area of the body with the vortex in the middle just above the pelvic floor. expand the energy of the second chakra and to follow it beyond the body's boundaries. We were guided into the woods in the middle of the night following a barely visible animal trail. The only light in this darkness-filled space was coming from the crescent moon. Suddenly, we were directed to the sound of the stream or something similar and the path led us to the rounded stone structure that we recognized as the well. We sat on the edge of the well looking down at it, trying to see in the dark. We threw a small stone, and it took a long time before we heard the splatter on the bottom of the well. Then we were invited to dive with our consciousness until we got to the surface of the water. Sofia invited us to immerse our faces under the water and to carefully observe what would happen. When we finished, we gradually went back to the beginning, ending this imaginary journey by returning to the room and to our bodies.
A conversation and exchange of experiences followed. I was the first on the task. I said that my emotions during the meditation were pleasant. Fear was not present at any point. Body sensations in the second chakra were present but in a subtle way. The forest, with its mysterious but attractive presence, reminded me of the ancient forests from the time of Robin Hood, as well as the fairy tales I read as a child. I associated the well with a screenplay written by my daughter Simone, which was about time travel. She gave it the same name: The Well. So, to a certain extent, my experience carried an element of timelessness, almost a state of oneness with all that exists. During the meditation, Sofia's voice was characterized by calm and reassuring energy. After everyone had finished and said what they had to say, we were asked to find running water nearby and choose something in a natural environment that could grow and with prayer put it in a bowl of water left in the middle of the circle. At the end of the class, Sofia planned to take that vessel filled with vegetation and consecrated water and pour it into the river with a similar intention that Tibetan monks had: the blessing of healing dedicated to the planet.
I was curious to explore the land and quickly found the “stream” by the sound. I wanted to get to its “source.” Almost like a goat, I moved through the hilly terrain until I finally came to a “spring” consisting of a large pipe set vertically from which water flowed. At that moment, I became light and bright, filled with joy, so I playfully dipped my hands into the bubbling water, feeling its energy. Then I discovered flowers, wild daisies and decided to pick them as my offer to the circle of life.
When we went back Sofia asked us to manifest our artistic side using a mandala as our vessel. She gave us the instruction of four sides placed inside of the circle and to think about our emotions and how they would be represented by the colors, shapes, objects, etc. I began to draw at the bottom of the circle by grounding it with soil, trees, roots and mycelium. I had in mind the role of mycelium as a means of communication between trees and its importance in renewing the ecosystem. At the top of the circle stood the sky with the large sun and its warm rays bringing light and nourishment to the plants. To the left was the night sky with the full moon, representing my feminine side, as well as the intuitive and dreamy side. It demanded acknowledgment and increased influence in my life. The moon is tied to the water element, the tides, and the flow, so it was appropriate to draw water on the opposite side of the moon. At that point, my drawing was almost complete. My mood was happy, and therefore I drew a happy face in the center of my mandala. I felt joyful. It was a rewarding experience. Thank you, Sofia.
When we returned, Sofia asked us to manifest our artistic side using the mandala as inspiration. She gave us instructions on the four sides of the circle (left, right, up, down) and their presentation with colors, shapes, objects, etc. I started drawing at the bottom of the circle by grounding it with trees, roots and mycelium. I considered the role of mycelium as a means of communication between trees and its importance in restoring ecosystems. At the top of the circle stood the sky with the large sun. Its warm rays brought light and food to the plants. To the left was the night sky with a full moon, which represented a female archetype with an intuitive, emotional and dreamy side of personality. The moon is related to the water element, the tides, and the flow, so it was appropriate to draw the water on the opposite side of the moon. With that, my drawing was almost finished. I was in an ecstatic mood, so I manifested it through a happy face in the center of the mandala. My world was completed, filled with light and darkness, the vitality of nature and its basic elements, as well as a continuous cycle of renewal. Thank you, Sofia.
** Man and His Symbols, by Carl Gustav Jung, Doubleday, 1964
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