The center of the mandala represents a particular quality of enlightenment, such as compassion and wisdom, symbolized by a deity. The outer part of the mandala represents different enlightened qualities such as diligence, patience, and strength. Every color, gesture, position, and symbol is meditated upon. After years of spiritual training and guidance from a meditation master, a practitioner begins to visualize her- or himself as the deity of a mandala, performs rituals, and meditates on the nature of human conciousness. The most common artistic form of a mandala is a square palace, home of the principal deity of that mandala, with four entrances and peripheral smaller mandalas that represent activities and qualities of the central deity.
Mandalas vary greatly in intricacy from one to another.
The variety of mandalas in Tibetan Buddhism represents the many different meditations for, paths to, and qualities of enlightenment. To support their monasteries and demonstrate one of the great traditions of Tibetan sacred art, groups of monks have traveled throughout the United States since the early 1980s building sand mandalas in homes, universities, community centers, and churches.