THE KALACHAKRA MANDALA

THE KALACHAKRA MANDALA, The kalachakra (dus kyi 'khor lo \ wheel of time) is associated with the highest class of Tantra, The Anuttarayoga Tantras. The symbolic representation and the graphical structureof The Kalachakre Mandala vary from other mandalas. In the Kalachakra Mandala, the circles enveloping the palace is the components of the cosmos - namely wisdom space, air , water, fire and earth. Unlike other mandalas, the coloring inside the Kalachakra is found as black in the east, red in the south, yellow in the west, white in the north and green and blue at the center. In the Kalachakra tradition, a component of several mandalas - the eight charnel ground are only hinted at as wheels in the air and fire circles. In the important basic teachings, yogin of the Kalachakra tradition works only with the period between death and rebirth, not with the intermediate state (bar do) . Hence, Kalachakra Tantra does not have any concern with the sublime body of a dead person in the intermediate state. Two major phases called the "generation" and "completion" can be found within the Kalachakra Mandala . The "generation" phase is the ripening phase in which the "completion" is prepared for and rehearsed.