We sometimes want to find the “true” model for everything. We may assume we need to find the actual big picture that explains it all. It’s useful to have maps, they are great, but the Mandala is not a map.
It’s not an attempt to synthesize all the traditions together from some objective perspective. The distinction between the purpose of the Mandala and a map is that this is not about “looking at” different views but more like “looking as” or “looking from” them. It’s looking from the interior of possible points of view rather than looking at them from outside.
At the beginning, the Mandala will often seem to be a map. But if you look closely, you’ll see that we’re talking about a way of orienting towards traditions, with that orienting being from inside, from within your own personal experience of the perspective. It’s also not “not a synthesis,” but when it is a synthesis, it will be your own synthesis, not mine or anyone else’s. You are going to have your own unique integration. It’s your tapestry but it’s not a pre-made synthesis.
In a way, the Mandala is a meta-perspective. I am trying to speak about an orientation rather than a particular point of view. Initially, it will seem like a template, a tool given by someone else, but once you digest it and deeply engage with it, it will become your own. You’re walking the territory, not looking at it. No one can describe the particular path that you will walk, and you are not meant to walk anyone else’s path.
As I mentioned earlier, maps are great, and it’s not a matter of either approach being right or wrong. There’s clearly a value in both of them, but there is a distinction. It’s about building the ability to both “look as” and “look through” different perceptual lenses and then develop what is personally revealed to you.
The Tapestry, itself, is something that you will weave, but that will not happen by merely looking at things and finding the right ingredients and then putting them together.
It’s more about participating with the impulses of Being. The question is “Where is Being moving me”? Then you notice, “Oh, it’s moving me in a Blue direction. This Blue teaching here, that looks useful” or “It’s moving me in the Green direction. I want to explore these teachings about the Green dimension.” The Tapestry perspective and exercises in this book can help you to get in touch with your own internal guidance.
It can assist you in cooperating with your organic intrinsic movement, where you feel life pulling you. It enhances your confidence in your unfolding perspective. It becomes your unique tapestry because you weave it through your own walk, your own dance. You get a sense of how your direct, immediate experience is on the spectrum. You can also see how you are similar to or different from other people.
So while this teaching is not a particular synthesis, you will develop your own, naturally. We find a unique voice through listening to others. Being exposed to different perspectives can affect how we understand reality without any effort on our part to “get it right.” And as I mentioned before, that way of being with paradox without having to “know” develops another aspect which is, from this perspective, most important: Trust. But to really trust, we must first know who we are.
(From The Tapestry of Being, Chapter 1 : The Tapestry Mandala)