What is exactly a Mandala? Could you tell us a briefly historical backround? Why are they always in a shape of circle? What represents these circles?
A sacred Temple is usually made up of a circle inside of a square mandala go back through time through India. This was also through turkey and a lot of the native traditions around the world the earliest mandalas that were painted were at least 6000 years old and maybe a lot older than that. They're always in the shape of a circle because the circle represents consciousness. When you're looking at a circle you're actually looking at an image of your own soul so you're usually inside a circle and sometimes inside of a square very ancient symbol.
Can a Mandala help us to transform our lives? And how?
Yes mandalas can help you transform your life because when you're looking at them, what you're really doing is looking inside yourself. The center of the mandala is the center of your heart or your heart center. When you're meditating useing your eyes, you're meditating on Mandala, which is the sacred image. So yes, it is true, you can transform your life radically and quickly.
How did you start to make spiritual paintings? What kind of changes did you experienced in your life after you started to paint Mandalas?
I just wrote a 125 page book on how to start a spiritual painting. A great tool for beginner mandala painting would be a coloring book. I will be coming out with two mandala coloring books in the near future. This is a great tool to start with and then after that you'll could start painting small mandalas. You will then want to make larger and larger mandalas. It's really important to be around a mandala teacher when you start, to guide you. Since I started painting mandalas, I haven’t been able to stop painting. Ever since I started painting mandalas, my whole life is changed radically forever. My life will never go back to the way it used to be. From my mandala painting I've met famous people and I have worked for famous people. I work for Dr. Deepak Chopra who now has 80 books and I have continued to work for him for over 15 years. People come and look at my mandalas from all over the world.
Why do you refer Mandala as a teacher?
One of the beautiful things about mandalas or in this case a personal mandala is the fact that the mandala is a doorway into your own soul. It's a threshold, so when you're painting mandalas you're having a constant relationship with your soul. In other words, on the other side of the mandala painting, are the forces of your soul, I call these divine forces. Remember the more mandalas you paint, the more you get in touch with the divine forces and the more you will develop a relationship with your soul. Mandalas are profound teachers and they integrate all your forces.
How and where can we learn to paint a Mandala? Is it easy to learn?
I mentioned earlier the best way to start painting mandalas if you're on your own, is start coloring with colored pencils. Once you feel ready you can begin making very small paintings like about 12" x 12" and then you gradually move up to paintings 24 inches or larger. The best way to do this is constantly practice and also go on the Internet and download templates. The internet has so many painting ideas available. The ultimate way would be to have a teacher come and teach you how paint mandala paintings. This is something I've been doing for over 25 years.
What would you like to say to the people, who thinks they are not enough talented to paint a Mandala?
People that think they're not very talented in being artistic don't realize that the part that's not very talented, although is true it's only a small part, there's a much greater part to each person that's extremely talented and also knows a lot about painting and mandalas. I’ve seen this in hundreds of people and what's lacking in them is that in the beginning, they are very unaware and unconscious of how much they know after they painted 10 mandalas they realize they have a lot of creativity ready to come out.
How could we most benefit of the Mandalas? Shall we create our private Mandalas ? Is it better if we carry them with us or are they only for hanging to the spaces?
The most beneficial aspect of a mandala a person can receive is the fact that they are with their mandala as a student, most people don't have a spiritual teacher and the mandala is a perfect guide and example of a relationship with higher consciousness. What’s nice about the mandala is that you will now have a close relationship with a higher consciousness spiritual power right in your own home, in your own living room or whatever you decide to place your mandala. This is awesome for people because the mandala is extremely wonderful in conscious transformation and growth spiritually.
Also, you can create personal mandalas and every one that you make will be taking you deeper into your own self and teaching and exploring your own soul or inner landscape. I know of no other teaching that is capable as fast and direct as the mandalas. Mandalas are good for both hanging in spaces and carrying with you. You can go on the Internet anytime you want and you could Google hundreds and thousands of mandalas that you can print out and carry with you wherever you go.
Where is it the best place at home or at the office to hang Mandalas?
You can hang mandalas everywhere because they are spiritual rather than religious. What I'm saying is that they are not religious, so if your Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim or Christian, the mandala is wonderful for each one of those religious beliefs. The mandala itself transcends any religion and in some ways unexplainable and unknowable, yet when we're painting and we're looking at them were slowly going in to our own interior. The best places to hang mandalas is everywhere.
You said 'the journey of the Artist is the discovery of the soul'. What kind of techniques have you been doing for Self-Realization except painting? Like meditation, breathing techniques etc.
Other techniques I have used as a mandala teacher and mandala master is that I've been meditating for over 45 years, doing yoga for 30 years and have been practicing ayurveda. According to my Dosha, what that is in the ayurvedic teachings that there are three kinds of body energies called Doshas. I'm a fire, which is perfect for an artist. This is how I have been preforming several forms of spiritual practice and have been for many many years
What is the message of your Soul to the mankind?
The message of my soul to mankind is the fact that as a world and as a people, we are way too skewed towards the mind and masculine values. My soul is is a feminine because the feeling it brings is that of a circle connecting to all of mankind. My soul reaches out seamlessly, never stopping and therefore my mandalas have taught me that the world should be run by more feminine energies. I feel that womankind or the reflection of our world soul should be in charge of environment and political systems. If this occurred, think how radically our world would change. What if the United States and Turkey were governed by the soul or women? What a radical change in the world that would be! So, the mandala has taught me and given me an experience that we’re all connected in this world. I think it's an absolute fact and there's no question about it.
You have acknowledged Barbara Streisand in the beginning of your book, Divine Forces. What kind of contribution did she make for your art?
The very first morning I made my very first Mandala painting, Barbara Streisand was there and the moment it was completed, she had asked me for another painting and so did several people in the room after I had created my first painting. Barbara Steisand was so interested in my mandala painting, she was the first famous person I painted for.
It felt so wonderful that it was on the very first day of my very first painting she was there. That shows you the mystery in the magic of mandala and from that time til now I've met famous people, very wealthy people and even royal people through painting mandalas.
Where are you based? Where is your painting Center? Where can we purchase your paintings in Europe? Do you work with European Galleries?
I'm based in Laguna Beach, a beautiful little our community with over 1000 artist that live here. We have many art festivals in the summer and I had a studio in Laguna Canyon for many years, but now my paintings I do in the studio I have at my own home in the hills of Laguna Beach overlooking the ocean. many people purchase mandala.
I remember exactly , when I met you and your wonderful paintings at 'Seduction of Spirit' event first time. Since then I have been seeing you almost in every Chopra Center event, in California. Do you realize any difference in attendees during the years in the term of number of participants, nationality, art requirements and especially general awareness state? Over the years, the Chopra center has had many big changes. Fifteen years ago, the Chopra center was very much involved with Indian medicine and Indian teachings about chakras, about food and diet. They still teach those things except the artwork has moved from deities from Buddhism and Hinduism into flowers, mandalas, and trees, so overall there's been a great change. The development from Dieties into images of nature and more organic spiritual meditation paintings one thing is clear about two years ago when Deepak Chopra and Oprah got together and started doing a free 21 day meditation course online. The first courses had about 20,000 people sign up and now some of their most recent meditation courses have had over 1 million people sign up worldwide which means that 1 million people are meditating together twice a day. It's been a wonderful and important transition for the Chopra center. From these programs, hundreds of people have come to the Chopra center looking to learn how to meditate, do yoga and eat properly. It's been that's been a very very big change and is one that's going on now. In addition, in the last three years Deepak it has invited all kinds of spiritual teachers such as Eckard Tolle, Wayne Dyer, Jean Houston, Byron Katie, Marianne Williamson, and Andrew Weil. These incredible teachers have really brought in a lot of new members to the Chopra Center where my art hangs in all the workshops that people come from all over the world and therefore I have sold mandala paintings to people of over 45 countries.
I hope to host you for a Mandala workshop under the roof of Yükselen Çağ asap in Istanbul. Would you like to share something finally with Turkish Readers?
I've always wanted to go to Turkey and teach a mandala painting workshop there. It would be a great honor. This past year due to the breaking of an ankle I wasn't able to go with my family to Greece. During this trip we were planning on making a one-day visit to Turkey. I've always wanted to be in Istanbul and go in the amazing temple, Haggia Sophia. So yes, to answer your questions I will come and teach a workshop in Turkey sometime in the future. In addition, I also have a book that I've written that's at a publisher that explains all the things I've been talking about to you. This book should be coming out in the next six months.