Author: Jordan Mendez

After a semester of practicing the art of mandala of making, it is now the end of this assignment, however for me my personal project is not over. I hope to continue the practice of mandala making because it has been very relaxing and to my surprise has had an impact on me. I am going to continue to make mandalas and create a portfolio to gather my designs in one place.

During this project I struggled to find meaning within each of my mandala designs. While I do not think there was a theme throughout all of my designs, I think the meaning of each mandala was oriented around finding a deeper significance of what true peace really means. Throughout the course of our FYS, we explored the reasons as to why nonviolence works and why, in comparison to violence, it is the better choice. Prior to this class, I thought that the possibility of the end of war was not practical nor feasible. After exploring different perspectives surrounding this theory, I still believe in my initial thought that war can not be completely eliminated from society. However, while I do not believe war will come to a complete end, I do believe that it is possible for us towards a more peaceful and safer society. I think mandala making help me come to this conclusion because as I drew each mandala I thought about what peace really means and thought about ways in which society can change, so that we can move closer to a society that we all want to live in. At first I was not sure what I would get out of my personal project, however I can happily say that I am satisfied with the results.

Nearing the end of the semester, I now have a collection of mandalas that I have created over the past few weeks. Though I find the mandala making process a way of relieving stress, lately it has been difficult to find time to work on this craft because I have been very busy. Even though the mandalas that I have been making do not look too intricate, the drawing of the circles and creating the patterns on the mandala involve a lot of patience. However, I have been able to create small and quick sketches. As of now, I do not have as many mandalas as I’d wish to have, but I think I am satisfied with the quality of each mandala that I’ve created.

In one of my mandalas, I incorporated a quote by Adlai E. Stevenson, which reads “Making peace is harder than making war.” The past few weeks our class has been discussing the Israeli- Palestinian conflict and I find that this quote closely relates to this topic. For years, Israel and Palestine have been experiencing an ongoing struggle and have yet to come to a compromise. This quote by Adlai Stevenson illuminates the difficulty of obtaining peace, which causes many people to turn to war because it is the easier option. Many times in the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, people went down the path of war simply because it was perceived to be the easier option. While creating this mandala, I thought about how it is important to recognize that although peace is not the easier option, it is the better option.  

As our personal projects come to an end, I wish to find more time to create mandalas and continue to enjoy the calming experience of mandala making.

The last couple of weeks have been quite stressful and to my surprise I have found myself gravitating to creating mandalas to relax and regain my composure during these times. I am still working with mandalas on a smaller scale, however I am attempting to spend more time on each mandala that I do, so that they can be as neat and through as I desire. I have struggled to find a particular meaning and message that fits behind each mandala that I create, however I think as I continue this personal project an overarching theme may appear.

In Horgan’s The End of War and Nagler’s \ Nonviolence Handbook, the two authors talk about the importance of the end of war and a world of peace stemming from an inner strength and desire to engage in nonviolent behavior. To me, there lies a connection between this inner strength and the process of creating a mandala because both practices start with a center. When creating a mandala, I start by creating the most inner circles and then expanding my circle making outwards. I also start the designs on the mandala from the inside and work my way to the outside. The idea of starting from the center in a mandala creates the same impression of working from the inside to create peace and change in society.

As I continue to make mandalas, I hope to discover more connections between our nonviolence class, my life and my mandala making.

Prior to this personal project I have never created my own mandala, but now that I have I can say that I truly enjoy the practice. As I began to draw my first mandala I struggled with the techniques of mandala making, such as the symmetrical aspect of mandalas. I was not satisfied with my first few attempts to create a mandala, however I think that the practice that I received from those attempts helped me to produce an outcome that I actually liked. For my first mandala I decided that I wanted to stick to using only a pencil and a black pen to create my art, but later in the process I am planning to add colors to my artwork and use different drawing utensils.

So far creating mandalas has been a very relaxing and calming practice and it has given me the opportunity to find time during stressful days to relax and do something that I enjoy.

My hope for my project is to still experiment with the different techniques of mandala making. As of now, I am creating mandalas on a small scale, so that I can focus on the intricacy of each piece that I make. However, I want to create a mandala on a larger scale and devote my time to creating one big mandala. Although I will still focus on the intricacy of the mandala, I think it will be beneficial to make a mandala that takes a lot of time and patience.

Image of my first mandala

Details of my mandala