Lessons of the Mandala

Chris Buchanan - UNT Integrative Studies Major

I am sitting in my Mandala for the last session of the semester on a rainy afternoon in April. The temperature is fairly warm, the sun is blocked out by thick rain clouds, and it pops out occasionally for a few minutes at a time. I am reflecting on my Mandala experience over the course of the semester and analyzing how it has impacted the ways in which I observe the environment and the interactions of the various forms of life that inhabit the world around me.

The Mandala experience has had a positive effect on the way that I interact with and observe the environment. One important lesson that it has taught me is how to just sit down, in nature, and observe without getting distracted by the people around me or thoughts that are unrelated to the task at hand. I also learned how to pay attention to the tinniest details of the environment and I improved my ability to describe them in an interesting way. Another lesson that I learned is how to effectively question many of the natural processes that are taking place in the environment and how to identify the various species of life forms inhabiting my Mandala. Just as I began to recognize the specific, individual, life forms that inhabit my Mandala, some of them even started to recognize me. For example, the turtles became quite used to my presence and often swam up to me in search of food. The Mandala experience made me realize that I did not pay as much attention, as I should, to the natural environment around me in my everyday life.

One of the positive effects of the Mandala experience is that I have gained patience. Sitting in my Mandala on a weekly basis definitely improved the level of patience and comfortableness I have in focusing my attention on observing the environment around me. I also developed more appreciation, respect, and understanding of the countless and complex relationships and biological processes underlying the interactions of life and the environment. Another important result of the Mandala experience is that I greatly improved my knowledge of the biological life forms that inhabit my Mandala, the ways in which they interact with the environment, and the biological processes that aid their survival. The Mandala experience helped expand my perspective of how much more is happening around me than I thought. It has also led me to question and analyze the ways in which I, both positively and negatively, interact with the environment.

The Mandala assignment taught me about the importance of approaching the study of life forms and the environment from an ecological point of view, rather than attempting to study the different forms of life individually, while ignoring their relationships with the environment. Ecology is the study of the interaction between living things and their environment. This concept is precisely what we studied while observing our Mandala and documenting findings. The experience was incredibly beneficial and it improved my understanding of the world around me. I would highly recommend it to anybody who is looking to do the same.