Visual Mantras
About
- Who am I?
- How should I live?
- How do I relate to others?
- What gives life meaning?
- How do I navigate change?
For thousands of years, humanity has wrestled with these questions. Across cultures and centuries, philosophers, psychologists, spiritual traditions, scientists, and storytellers have offered remarkably similar answers—often expressed through simple yet powerful visual models.
Visual Mantras is an invitation to explore these ideas, discover unexpected connections across traditions, and find the ones that resonate most deeply with your own life. Explore this growing collection with curiosity, and perhaps discover a few ideas that can help you live with greater wisdom, purpose, and meaning.
About the Project
Visual Mantras is a curated collection of timeless visual models that illuminate the human experience. Each mantra combines a clear diagram with a concise summary, questions for reflection, and carefully selected references, transforming complex ideas into practical wisdom that can be remembered, revisited, and applied throughout life.
Rather than promoting a single philosophy or worldview, the project brings together insights from diverse cultures and disciplines—including philosophy, psychology, religion, science, mythology, and Indigenous wisdom. By presenting them side by side, it reveals the remarkable patterns that unite humanity's search for meaning across time and place.
The project grew from Manuel Lima's lifelong fascination with diagrams and their power to shape the way we think. Over time, his attention shifted from visualizing information to collecting the timeless visual frameworks that help us navigate life. Visual Mantras brings these enduring ideas together into a single collection, making humanity's shared wisdom more accessible, memorable, and meaningful.
About the Author
Manuel Lima is an author, designer, and international speaker whose work explores the intersection of design, visual culture, and the human experience. He is the author of Visual Complexity, The Book of Trees, The Book of Circles, and The New Designer, and has spent more than two decades researching how visual models shape the way we think, learn, and make sense of the world.
His books have been translated into multiple languages, and he has spoken at more than 100 events across four continents. His work has been featured in Wired, The New York Times, Science, Nature, Fast Company, Forbes, and many others, reaching audiences across design, technology, culture, and education.
Visual Mantras extends this lifelong exploration into a new territory: the timeless ideas humans have developed across cultures, philosophies, religions, and disciplines to understand themselves and live more meaningful lives. Through simple visual models, Manuel makes this collective wisdom easier to see, remember, and apply.
