If You're In Touch With Your Spiritual Side, Mandala Inspired Vegan Cakes Are For You

by N/A, 9 years ago | 2 min read

Stephen McCarty, a vegan-raw chef from LA, makes ornatelyÂ beautiful mandala cakes using only vegan ingredients, that are truly entrancing.

McCarty who is acutely aware of the speed and fragility of life, uses his mandala cakes as a tangible example of lifeâ€™s impermanence, and a way of sharing his message with his fans - enjoy all that you can, while you can.

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"Mandalas" are paramount spiritual symbols in Buddhism and Hinduism.

They're intricate, often symmetrically self-repeating patterns, in circular form, that are intended to represent the universe, and its unity of life.

Their symmetry and beauty, is an artful parallel for the balance and beauty of the universe, despite our personal worlds seeming chaotic and imbalanced at times.

Sand Mandalas - common in Tibetan Buddhist traditions - can take several weeks, even months, to create, yet when they're finished, are swept away in just moments.

Often times, Tibetan Buddhist monks will do this, collect the sand in a vase, then pour the contents into a river - a ritual intended to show they're allegiance to the natural world and universe. What they create, they give back to creation.

This emphasis on unity with the universe and veneration for nature is an intrinsic part of Buddhism.

It centers around the concept of being detached from the things of things world, and recognizing the fragility of life and beauty. When you understand both's impermanence, you begin to truly appreciate them.

And it's the same thing McCarty is emphasizing with his beautiful cakes - beauty doesn't last as long as you want it to. Relish it while it's there.