Bente Simonsen

Artist/Graphic Designer
Sweden

Variations of Sri Yantra. — Digital drawings made in Adobe Illustrator. — The most beautiful and complex yantra is the Sri Yantra. Originally formed of nine interlacing triangles centred around a central point (bindu). The triangles meet in eighteen exact points in such a way that they form 43 minor triangles in a web, which symbolizes Cosmos. On the outside it is encircled first by eight petals of a lotus, then sixteen petals of a lotus, and an earth square resembling a temple with four doors finishes it. All in one it expresses Advaita, or non-duality.
— Yantra is a Sanskrit word built from two words, Yan which means 'form', and Tra meaning 'to free' (form to free the mind from thoughts).
Yantras and mandalas are symbols on which you can concentrate the mind during meditation.
— The use of yantras and mandalas came into practice in Hinduism and Buddhism, since the average mind cannot concentrate on void, light, or the formless aspect of God in the beginning of meditation practice.

— For many years I've been fascinated by Sri Yantra and have found many new ways of 'distorting' it. — Here comes a few of them. — They all contain original elements, some may have been left out, others twisted, repeated, or connected in different ways.

Sri Yantra Variation 1
Sri Yantra Variation 1
24" x 36"
Digital Print
2011
Sri Yantra Variation 2
Sri Yantra Variation 2
24" x 36"
Digital Print
2011