Yantra
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Yantra literally means "Loom, "Instrument or Machine". In actual practice a Yantra is a symbolic representation of aspects of divinity, usually the Mother Goddess. It is an interlocking matrix of geometric figures, circles, triangles and floral patterns that form fractal patterns of elegance and beauty. Though drawn in two dimensions, a Yantra is supposed to represent a three dimensional sacred object. Three-dimensional Yantras are now becoming increasingly common.
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Yantra is primarily a meditation tool both for serious spiritual seekers as well as sculptors in the classical tradition, its Shakti is also available to new seekers with sincere devotion and good intention.
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Yantras are also used for innumerable mundane purposes such as to enhance the quality of one's life, attract prosperity, abundance, love, harmony, peace, enhance learning, promote healing, relieve health problems, for career advancement, achieve desired goals in projects, improve business and protection from negative forces.
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Yantras are often mistakenly thought to be symbols purely of the manifold aspects of the Mother Goddess. This is an understandable error as most Yantras are indeed connected to the Goddess, the most famous
being the Sri Yantra, an abstract representation of the Mother (and Father too!) as Cosmos.
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Abstract geometric representations of the universe that do not represent a deity, are called Mandalas. Every Yantra is a also a Mandala, though not all Mandalas are Yantras.
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In ancient texts, Lord Shiva is supposed to have explained the mystical meaning of the Yantra to his consort,
Goddess Parvati: "The Yantra is as essential to a god as oil is to the oil lamp or as a body is to a
living human being".
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Yantras are constructed with observing immutable laws of sacred geometry, being symbolic representations of energy patterns of a deity and rank amongst the most powerful 'centering' devices for harnessing divine energies. The Yantra is actually more powerful than a picture of a God which, to be energized, requires a Yantra to be affixed at its base or back.
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A Yantra always contains a Mantra associated with it. Just as the mind is a part of, yet different from the body, so is the Mantra from the Yantra. The Mantra is the mind consciousness while the Yantra is the form of the deity.
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