The Art of Yantras

NEW 2013 April 23 NEW
The twelve yantras that appeared weekly in the Daily Doodles in 2013 have been added.

A Mantra, so I'm given to understand, is a sound used for meditation, not for its meaning but for its mind-focusing property. Tantra is the same idea, but involving yogic acts, including of a sexual nature. Yantra, so I understand it, signifies a visual which serves like a Mantra for meditative mind-focusing. A term better known for symbolic visual abstracts is Mandala. I don't know if these qualify as Mandalas or Yantras in the traditional meanings, but what I had in mind in creating them was Yantras, so that's what I call them. You can call them whatever you like. You can also buy these nifty designs on stuff.

Elseweb article: Yantra: Hindu Tantric Diagrams (http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/george/yantra.html)

Coral and Marine Center-balanced abstract, 6-point symmetry. 1997 Mar 19 yantra, mandala, meditation, ocean, coral	Needlepoint Center-balanced abstract, 6-point symmetry. 1997 Apr 2 yantra, mandala, meditation, needlepoint	Dark red hearts around an orange-yellow circle Center-balanced abstract, 6-point symmetry. 1997 Apr 12 yantra, mandala, meditation, heart, flower	Spiral of Canes and Zigzags Center-balanced abstract, 24-point symmetry. 1997 Apr 13 yantra, mandala, meditation, canes, spirals
Horizontally-banded petals over daisies Center-balanced abstract, 6-point symmetry. 1997 Aug 13 yantra, mandala, meditation, flower	Mayan-ish squiggles around two inner rings of odd shapes Center-balanced abstract, 7-point symmetry. 1997 Aug 22 yantra, mandala, meditation, Mayan, pictograph	Forty-nine spirals Center-balanced abstract, 49-point symmetry. 1997 Oct 15 yantra, mandala, meditation, spirals	Yantra Fiesta Center-balanced abstract, 8-point symmetry. 1997 Oct 17 yantra, mandala, meditation, New Mexico, fiesta
Pastel explosion Center-balanced abstract, 7-point symmetry. 1997 Dec 1 yantra, mandala, meditation, pastel, explosion	Cosmic balance Center-balanced abstract, 7-point symmetry. 1997 Dec 1 yantra, mandala, meditation, cosmic, balance	Seraphic Host Fourteen-point symmetry 2013 Apr 23 yantra, Seraphim	Guardian Gardens Seventeen-point symmetry. 2013 Apr 23 yantra, Seraphim, safety, garden
Creative Impulse Seventeen-point symmetry 2013 Apr 23 yantra, creativity	Background Radiation Twenty-point symmetry. 2013 Apr 23 yantra, cosmology	Energy Conversion Seven-point symmetry. 2013 Apr 23 yantra, energy	Racing Inward Nine-point symmetry. 2013 Apr 23 yantra, progress, spiritual work
Carrying Life Ten-point symmetry 2013 Apr 23 yantra, life carriers	Directed Reversion Nine-point symmetry. 2013 Apr 23 yantra, humor, play, Reversion Directors	Expanding Faith Sixteen-point symmetry 2013 Apr 23 yantra, living faith	Astral Projection Ten-point symmetry. 2013 Apr 23 yantra, stars
Summer Noon Sixteen-point symmetry. 2013 Apr 23 yantra, Summer, Noon	Isolation Ends Fifteen-point symmetry. 2013 Apr 23 yantra, isolation, quarantine

1997 series
The trade secret behind these is Deluxe Paint version II enhanced, by Electronic Arts, an old DOS program that was for years my online art mainstay.

2013 series
These were created in an entirely different manner, mostly using the kaleidescope function of Paint Shop Pro, an old, sold, no longer supported program which I still find handy. 2013-Apr-23

• Reformatted, new yantras added, 2013 Apr 23.
• Reformatted 2012 Dec 17.
• Reformatted 2011 Sep 22.
• Webpages revised & published to mindfulwebworks.com 2007 Apr 21.
• Revised 2001 Jan 03: Overprinting on Yantras which originally appeared in the Daily Doodle series has been expunged from the images (sometimes noticably, alas). Each Yantra now stands alone on its own page instead of all of them on one page. Converted images to PNG format. Added Yantra Fiesta. Changed "9 Yantras" page to "Yantras" and changed URL accordingly. Created thumbnails.