We need to learn how to work with imagination to see into the inner self. But when we begin to play with images and symbols, we move from a cognitive, rational, intellectual and narrow frame of reference and enter an expanded state of awareness. One of the primary functions of imagination is to help us see how our inner energies are operating, all at once, in a way the rational mind cannot perceive. Within each of us are a multitude of drives and desires, hopes and fears, wounds and latent abilities that need to be acknowledged and consciously dealt with if we hope to continue to grow as human beings, learn from our experiences, and move toward the synthesis of our biological, personal and spiritual potentials. We cannot see into the unconscious directly, however, and so we need some kind of mirror with which to see the dynamic forces that operate within us.
Mandala art provides such a mirror.
This is a critical point of view, and when we begin to take all of ourselves into account, when we begin to honor and balance the dynamic forces within us, we can act in the world in ways that honor our essential wholeness, get our needs met, and allow us to share with others the very best within us. One of the fundamental concepts in Psychosynthesis states that the human unconscious can be understood to involve three levels, and mandala art can help both explore and document discoveries made on these three levels. A simple description suggests that the lower unconscious represents the past and in it is stored those experiences, memories, elements and dynamics that remain repressed or unresolved. The middle unconscious represents the present, and in it is stored all information, patterns, and dynamic energies functioning in the current stage in life. The higher unconscious represents the future and can be thought to contain all the unutilized talents and potentials waiting to be developed.