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The word yantra is used in two or more ways in Sanskrit. It comes from the root "yam", which means supporting or holding the essence of an object or concept. The syllable "tra" comes from "trana" or liberation from bondage. Yantra also means liberation from the cycle of birth and rebirth (moksha). As a tool, yantra meditation is used to withdraw consciousness from the outer world, so as to help the student to go beyond the normal framework of mind to the altered states of consciousness known as turiya. Yantras are visual tools that serve in meditation either as centering devices or as symbolic compositions of the energy pattern of a deity as seen by Tantric seers in their vision. As there is a difference between mind and body, so there is between yantra and mantra. Yantra is the body or form of the deity (devata), whereas mantra is the mind, consciousness, spirit or name. Yantra is the external, visual expression through which the deity receives devotion. When a yantra is adopted for worship and the energy is invoked in it, it becomes a symbolic representative of the deity and actually it becomes the deity when the person abandons his analytical, critical attitude and the energy circulates in higher centers. Every yantra becomes the dwelling place of the deity it represents. No idol or picture of a deity is as powerful as a yantra in meditation, because a yantra is composed of archetypical forms that are common to all existing phenomena. The very process of making a yantra is an archetypical activity that works with the encoding of the genes. During the process one moves from concrete reality to abstract truth
The act of drawing and painting yantras teaches the mind how to concentrate, how to be one-pointed. To some people this practice of painting yantras is fascinating and absorbing, while others might not find it as interesting as doing calligraphy or singing, but creating a yantra can yield a valuable lesson. Yantra drawing requires accuracy, exactness, discipline, concentration, neatness and patience. The geometrical forms of the yantra activate the right hemisphere, which is visual and nonverbal.
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