adrian
December 2, 2018, 11:55pm
1
Master Ri-Chang gives a description here:
站起来设曼陀罗，曼陀罗就是供养 。为什么这个地方要设曼陀罗呀？这个曼陀罗就是我们……这个真正的曼陀罗叫作坛城，叫周界。换句话说，这个曼陀罗虽然是我们现在手上的形相，这个就是表示把我们所有、所有的一切都供养 ，所以这个现在西藏还保留着。Lamrim Commentary Track 87A
And here is Wiki’s description:
A mandala (Sanskrit: मण्डल, romanized: maṇḍala, lit. 'circle', [ˈmɐɳɖɐlɐ]) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for establishing a sacred space and as an aid to meditation and trance induction. In the Eastern religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Shinto it is used as a map representing deities, or especially in the case of Shinto, paradises, kami o...
That saying, I am still struggling to really understand the significance and how I can better visualise and use it in my practice.