A magic circle; a plot or place of enlightenment; a round or square altar on which buddhas and bodhisattvas are placed; a group of such, especially the garbhadhātu and vajradhātu groups of the Esoteric school; these were arranged by Kūkai to express the mystic doctrine of the two dhātu by way of illustration, the garbhadhātu representing the 理 and the 因 principle and cause, the vajradhātu the 智 and the 果 intelligence (or reason) and the effect, i.e. the fundamental realm of being, and mind as inherent in it 胎 and 金剛.

The two realms are fundamentally one, as are the absolute and phenomenal, e.g. water and wave. There are many kinds of maṇḍalas, e.g. the group of the Lotus Sutra; of the 觀經; of the nine luminaries; of the Buddhaʼs entering into nirvana, etc. The real purpose of a maṇḍala is to gather the spiritual powers together, in order to promote the operation of the Dharma or law. The term is commonly applied to a magic circle, subdivided into circles or squares in which are painted Buddhist divinities and symbols. Maṇḍalas also reveal the direct retribution of each of the ten worlds of beings (hells, pretas, animals, asuras, men, devas, the heavens of form, formless heavens, bodhisattvas, and buddhas). Each world has its maṇḍala which represents the originating principle that brings it to completion. The maṇḍala of the tenth world indicates the fulfillment and completion of the nine worlds.