Welcome to the Mindfulness Meditation Podcast presented by the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, a global museum dedicated to bringing greater awareness and understanding of Himalayan art to people around the world.I'm your host, Tashi Chodron.
Every Thursday, we offer a meditation session at New York Insight Meditation Center that draws inspiration from an artwork from the Rubens Collection and is led by a prominent meditation teacher.
This podcast is a recording of our weekly in-person practice.The description of each episode includes information about the theme for that week's session and an image of the related artwork.
Our Mindfulness Meditation Podcast is presented in partnership with Sharon Salzberg and teachers from the New York Insight Meditation Center, the Interdependence Project, and Parabola Magazine, and supported by the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism.
And now, please enjoy your practice. Good afternoon, everyone, and Tashi Delek.Welcome, welcome to the Rubin Museum's Mindfulness Meditation at New York Insight Meditation Center.
My name is Tashi Chodron, Himalayan Programs and Communities Ambassador, and I'm delighted to be your host today.So the Rubin is a global hub for Himalayan art,
and I'm delighted to have all of you join us for this weekly program where we combine art and meditation and to awaken the hearts and minds So, inspired by our collection, we will first take a look at work of art.
We will hear a brief talk from our teacher, Elaine Rethels, and then we will have a short sit, about 15 to 20 minutes, guided by her.Let's take a look at today's theme and artwork.
This month, we are exploring on the theme of openness, openness to change.When we are open, there is fluidity, there is ease. And the art connection for today's session is this beautiful thangka of Avalokiteshvara in his Pothala Pure Land.
Avalokiteshvara is known as Chenrek Zik in Tibetan, origin Tibet, dated later 18th to early 19th century. This is a thangka, mineral pigment on cloth, and silk brocade, as you see here.And this is about 47 into 26 inches thangka painting.
The connection to the theme is Avalokiteshvara expresses openness through his compassion for all sentient beings. Now, this is a beautiful, the central figure is Avalokiteshvara.Avalokiteshvara is the Bodhisattva of boundless compassion.
And Avalokiteshvara is also known as the patron deity of Tibet.Avalokiteshvara has vowed to keep coming back to this samsara to help all sentient beings reach liberation or awakening.
As you see in the central figure here is Avalokiteshvara, who appears in many forms.
Some of you may be familiar, he's appeared in Avalokiteshvara in the Tibetan Buddhist, in Mahayana as the male form, whereas in Kuanyin in the Chinese culture is the female form, and he's appeared in multiple arms, in two arms, four arms,
six arms and 1,000 arms as well, and 11 headed in peaceful and fierce wrathful form.All of this manifestation is to help beings liberate from the cycle of existence, the suffering.
And so Avalokiteshvara presides over his celestial dwelling of Mount Patalaka.This is a beautiful island that is believed to be in somewhere in Western India.
And what you see here on the bottom of the thangka is the beautiful green Tara, who is the protector of all the great fears. and then on the other side of the bottom where you see Padma Pani, the other form of Avalokiteshvara.
And then if you see closely, you see those ladder where miniature figures climbing up.So this is kind of showing the path to liberation, to the pure land.
Avalokiteshvara, you will also see him in four arms, is also associated with the four immeasurable loving-kindness practice as well.And the upper arms in holding the crystal mala, and in the other hand holding the lotus flower.
So that symbolizes the purity or awakening.And then the other two arms in reverence folding gesture. Now let's bring on our teacher for today.Our teacher is Elaine Rathaus.Elaine has been studying and practicing the Dharma since 1988.
In addition to teaching Dharma at New York Insight, she is a certified mindfulness-based stress reduction, MBSR teacher and certified MBSR teacher trainer.
She's deeply interested in helping students integrate mindfulness into daily life and has been involved in New York Insights diversity efforts for many years.Elaine, thank you so much for being here and please help me in welcoming Elaine Rathaus.
Thank you, Tashi, and thank you all for coming.It's so great that we're here in my home.It feels so wonderful.So I wanted to reflect a little on openness and compassion. The term, at least in Pali, for compassion, it's two parts.
It's anukampa and karuna.Karuna we usually hear of as being, you know, one of the four Brahma-viharas, compassion,
But anukampa, which is an important part of it, is the part that describes the resonating, the vibrating of our hearts in the presence of suffering.
So when you hear about Kuan Yin or Avalokiteshvara, you know, listening to the cries of the world, that first part is a heart that resonates with suffering.And then the second part is, how can I help?What needs to be done here?
And in terms of there's the cultivation of compassion practice, compassion at heart.But there's also this insight that is available to us as we begin to notice the habits that we bring when we encounter dukkha.
Because what blocks us from being open to compassion is often a habit of the way we respond. when there's dukkha present, whether it's in our own lives or going out to globally.
And so that if we respond with fear and anxiety, our tendency might be to avoid and to turn away.
If we respond with another aspect of, you know, aversion, you know, we might move into blaming, either looking for somebody to blame or blaming this person, responding in anger. Do you recognize this in your life?I can give some examples, right?
If we're really attached to a concept of self, right, we may respond thinking, I'm responsible.I should be able to fix this.I should be able to control this.The fact that this is happening and I can't control it, there must be something wrong.
And we can get either very guilty.We can experience a lot of guilt. or we can... get really busy.A lot of us do that in response to encountering suffering.What can I do?We make lists, we call people, we organize.
Of course, the problem with that is that if we're not bringing the other four Brahmaviharas to the table, then we can be not opening actually to what's needed, but instead
What we do is trying to alleviate our own suffering and not the suffering in the world.So what happens, you know, we need metta, we need to befriend the discomfort that's arising within us. right?
We need equanimity to recognize that, you know, all things rise and fall and we're, as much as we want to, we're not in control and beings aren't completely in control except the way we meet things.
And we need to notice also joy, that it's not just that everything is wrong, but really cultivating what's right to bring a resource to us.So I thought I would talk about this because actually,
It's actually really fruitful as we cultivate compassion, or try to, to pay attention to the places where we get stuck.
To bring our sati, our mindfulness practice, to begin to become familiar with our habits of reactivity that prevent us actually from being open to the suffering of ourselves and of others. And you know we cultivate, for me I'm speaking, that
that when we notice that it's not available, that's actually the classroom.One of my teachers calls that the classroom of practice.When we notice the closing, it's like, what's happening here?Can I bring compassion?Can I bring friendliness?
Can I bring interest and investigation to begin to explore what gets in the way?So I thought I would
guide a practice that's actually just not going to be predominantly a compassion practice, but is going to be an exploration of open, which is the theme this month.So coming into a posture that supports you in this different environment,
Maybe taking a moment to look around the room and out the windows and at these other wonderful beings who are here with you practicing.And pausing.You know, part of open has to do with where we direct our attention.
It has to do with assessing actually what our availability is.And so right now, if it's okay for you to direct your attention within arriving in the body. And just noticing what your experience in the body is right now.
Of course, from a meditative practice point of view, we can be mindful of the contact points, the posture, the breath. There may be sensations that are predominant that from time to time might pull your attention away.
Just pausing, being open with receptivity and friendliness to what's here now.
And you may actually notice, even here in this formal practice, the tendency to move from a direct experience of the body to a concept, a narrative about this body that may not be kind.
this idea of what an ideal body should be like, comparing oneself to societal norms or to how it used to be for you.
Is it possible actually to remember or to come back to the direct experience which might be just a bunch of different sensations, vibrations, pressure, temperature.This body as the body.
And even now, there may be experiences of pain or discomfort, significant pain, or just the discomfort from an itch.And are we meeting this with care?I care about this. May I find ease in the midst of this.
Or it might be that you notice some argument.It shouldn't be this way.This is what I have to do to fix it.If only I had done this.
And can we open both to the discomfort and also to the reaction that we're having, the argument that we're having with it?And be interested.Oh, I think I'm in charge.Or whatever you're encountering.And bring some friendliness.
I find that actually that encounter can be a cause for joyfulness for me.Oh, I'm seeing this.I'm not being ruled by it.I can see it.OK.Just sitting with the body.
And perhaps recognizing that just as I have these uncomfortable experiences in my own body, and varying degrees of argument, warring with the experience of my own body, so too others may have this.And can that be a cause of compassion?
Recognizing this.And staying connected to this body, the reality, the direct experience of this body, And inviting yourself, if it feels that you have the resources, to open to the experience of the mind.
Sometimes we can be at war with some of the thoughts we have.Especially, you know, you'd think as meditators we might have more peace.But there might be this encounter with, I can't believe I'm feeling this way.I can't believe I'm thinking this way.
I'm a meditator.I shouldn't be.Can we just notice this argument? this delusion about self, and allow these thoughts to come and go, recognizing their ephemeral nature.As we open, sensitive to the rising of thoughts, is it possible to befriend them?
To take joy in being able to recognize that they're not me, not mind, a habit.To perhaps see through them.Bringing care to the experience of our own minds, That really results from many complex causes and conditions.
But just thinking about what we learned in our families, what we learned in our schools, what we learned from the news media, all the ways that that education might have really hardened us into thinking of self and other, separation.
Judging ourselves, judging others.Feeling the pain of that, perhaps.And is it possible for compassion to arise? seeing the impersonal nature of how our thoughts and views have been conditioned.
And is it possible today, here, now, in New York City and wherever you are, to recognize how our society is being divided by creating self and other according to these views and opinions.Can we recognize?Can we open?
to others who also have come to their views and opinions by conditions really complex and in some ways not as complex as we'd like to make it, based on their own context and family and schooling and what they're feeding their minds and hearts.
And can there be compassion?Can there be opening? Not so different. I'd like to invite you to bring into your mind and heart somebody you know who is struggling right now.
And perhaps there might be, depending on who it is in the relationship, some judgment and blame. And just acknowledging that that arises.You don't have to do anything with it.It's a far enemy of compassion.
There may be pity, feeling sorry for, which is not true compassion.It's a near enemy.And just feeling the care underneath all of the defenses that we put up, wanting them to be at peace in the midst. of everything in their lives.
Perhaps if you feel resourced, bringing to mind peoples who are suffering either from war or poverty or environmental degradation.It's kind of blameless.
Is it possible to feel sorrow, to wish them well, to have your heart tremble, to want to alleviate in the smallest way.And finally, if it feels accessible to you,
Bringing to mind and into your heart someone, not the biggest perpetrator of harm, but somebody in your life who's actually actively causing harm.Maybe by the way they relate or parent or manage at work or whatever.
It's not a whatever really, but just... And what is it like to bring compassion to those who are doing harm?And here I think holding that none of us, not one of us, would do harm if we weren't influenced by ignorance, if we weren't confused, deluded?
And can there be compassion for the suffering state of people who are actually harming themselves and others? Is it possible to open to this, to not make them other, to not banish them as separate from us?
So may all beings be really free from ignorance.May all beings recognize how we belong to each other.May all beings care about their own suffering and find ease in the midst of it.And may we care about each other.
May all beings find ease in the midst of, not somewhere else, right here, right now, in the midst of the suffering and vulnerability that we share, each of us differently.May there be peace.
Thank you for your practice.Thank you so much for that, Elaine. That concludes this week's practice.To support The Rubin and this meditation series, we invite you to become a friend of The Rubin at rubinmuseum.org slash friends.
If you are looking for more inspiring content, please check out our other podcast, Awaken, which uses art to explore the dynamic paths to enlightenment and what it means to wake up.
Season four, hosted by Isabella Rossellini, delves into the Buddhist concept of attachment and explores how the practice of letting go can transform our experience of the world.Available on November 12th, wherever you listen to podcasts.
And to learn more about the Rubin Museum's work around the world, visit rubinmuseum.org.Thank you for listening.Have a mindful day.
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