Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation 03/13/2019 with Tracy Cochran

Episode Date: March 14, 2019

The Rubin Museum of Art presents a weekly meditation session led by a prominent meditation teacher from the New York area, with each session focusing on a specific work of art. This podcast is recorded in front of a live audience, and includes an opening talk, a 20-minute sitting session, and a closing discussion. The guided meditation begins at 17:00. If you would like to attend Mindfulness Meditation sessions in person or learn more, please visit our website at RubinMuseum.org/meditation. This program is presented in partnership with Sharon Salzberg, the Interdependence Project, and Parabola Magazine. Tracy Cochran led this meditation session on March 13, 2019. To view a related artwork for this week's session, please visit: http://rubinmuseum.org/events/event/tracy-cochran-03-13-2019

Welcome to the Mindfulness Meditation Podcast. I'm your host, Dawn Eshelman. Every Wednesday at the Rubin Museum of Art in Chelsea, we present a meditation session led by a prominent meditation teacher from the New York area. This podcast is a recording of our weekly practice. If you would like to join us in person, please visit our website at rubinmuseum.org meditation. We are proud to be partnering with Sharon Salzberg and teachers from the New York Insight Meditation Center. In the description for each episode, you will find information about the theme for that week's session,

including an image of a related artwork chosen from the Rubin Museum's permanent collection. And now, please enjoy your practice. Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to the Rubin Museum of Art and to our weekly mindfulness meditation practice. My name's Dawn Eshelman. Great to have you here with us. And we're talking about reflection or reflective practice this month.

We've been kind of leading up to this, talking about intention and looking ahead. And the other side of that is taking a moment to reflect. And we're also thinking carefully about the nature of that, right? Particularly as it relates to meditative practice, we're wanting to lean away from the sort of grasping thinking, thinking of the past in that kind of anxious, grasping way. What if that had happened, or what if I had done this?

But really more a reflective practice, which is kind of considering the journey and the path and the bigger picture. So we're looking at a beautiful object today. This is Vajrayogini. And this is from Tibet, 18th century, brass and gilt copper alloy. And this is an object that practitioners would use as a focal point occasionally in a meditative practice. And it's interesting to consider that, of course, there would be learning and thought and understanding of the symbolism that went into this. And then in this moment of reflection of that, the practitioner would

even put the factual information aside and just really have an experience with the sculpture and the presence of the deity. This Vajrayogini is a representation of complete Buddhahood. So she is this symbol. She is not necessarily a historical figure, but more of a symbol. The nature of Buddhahood and the true nature of power and certainly female power. And let's just take a look at it here together. She's surrounded by this kind of large halo here, this arc that's this bright yellowish kind of brassy gold color.

And then in contrast to that, we see her figure, which has this beautiful dark patina to it. She's standing in a very expressive warrior's pose with her hip kind of jutting out and has this belt of jewels around her waist there. And then her arms are outstretched and reaching, and her face is upturned. And this really interesting expression, if you're able to see the detail of that as you were coming in, we were showing a little bit of detail of this facial expression, which is, you know, very

animated and turned upwards. And if you look closely, you can tell that, yes, she has fangs. And if you look closely, you can tell that, yes, she has fangs. And she has some beautiful, ornate jewelry around her head, too, kind of a hat, a cap. And she is this embodiment of this fierce, wrathful that we talk about sometimes. And it's just a wonderful and unique expression here in Vajrayogini. So hope you enjoy that. But as you think about it, you can think that this is really meant to symbolize the true nature of Buddhahood and something that, you know, might be a little bit more unexpected. So we are so happy to have Tracy Cochran back with us for a second week in a row.

She's a writer and the editorial director of the quarterly magazine Parabola, which you can find upstairs right here at the shop or online at parabola.org. And she teaches often here at the Rubin. We love to have her. And as well, she teaches at New York Insight, where she'll be having a workshop on March 30th. It's a Saturday. And every Sunday at Hudson River Sangha in Tarrytown, New York. You can find information all about her and Parabola on Facebook, Twitter, and tracycochran.org. Please give her a warm welcome back, Tracy Cochran. Hi I love coming into this room and I hope you do too

and even for those people who are just listening today not here there's something about coming here that reminds me of what people did thousands and thousands of years ago, which is that they would draw together by the fire to listen to an elder tell a story. And as I said last week, an elder is someone with a lot of experience making mistakes. Because, as I've heard it said, wisdom is healed pain.

Wisdom is pain that has healed. And the way people would live, drawing together to hear stories about very basic experiences like love and loss and grief and what it came next is because it would take them out of their private pain, their individual loneliness, and connect them to something greater, something shared between us. Something shared between us. And I've been reflecting a lot on this because I'm wondering if there's anybody in the room who ever feels stressed.

Anybody? Or worried or anxious. Does anybody in here ever feel alone because of that worry and that anxiety? Even in our practices, we're almost always alone, striving. And we've forgotten the way we're wired to be, which is together, sitting around the fire. And when I was on the train coming down, I was sitting opposite these wonderful older ladies who were going to a theater matinee,

because this is Manhattan and it's Wednesday. And their memories were long. They were remembering Ethel Merman, you know. And I was thinking, how could I compete with Ethel Merman? And I realized that what we do here is different in the sense that we all participate. It's not just one person speaking. Because when. You come here for something and you may not know what, but in a little bit you'll become aware of your breath again in your body. So So the micro story I felt to share is about the mother of the Buddha, Maya.

When Maya was about to give birth, she headed for a place called Lumbini's Grove. headed for a place called Lumbini's Grove. And scholars now believe that she intended to go to this place for a long time. It was thought that she just happened to stop and give birth there on the way to her father's house. But this was not so, because Lumbini's Grove was a special place inhabited by a goddess who was the fierce protector of women, especially women who were giving birth. And she lived, they thought, in a particular tree. And at the time that Maya gave birth to the baby who would become the Buddha, she held on to this tree. According to the myth, its boughs reached down to support her.

So it turns out that this place, which is on the border of Nepal, was sacred long before the time of the Buddha, and it's sacred still. sacred still. It's a place where the divine feminine, the spirit of the earth, resides and is honored. So even after Maya died, and she died shortly after giving birth, she was She was protected, became a goddess herself, so that the Buddha, in times of trouble and anxiety and stress, would reach out to her and they would meet. I think of Paul McCartney reaching out to his mother, who told him to let it be. Let it be. And I thought of that image of the Buddha sitting under the tree when he was overwhelmed with anxiety and fear, when he, Mara, the great demon who wanted to unseat him, sent fearful images of all that would come.

And the Buddha calmly reached down and touched the earth. Our mother, our common mother, asking her to bear witness to his right to take up space, to be sitting there, just breathing and waiting. And I'm thinking of what it's like when we can't sleep because we're so worried and we feel so frightened and alone. And the story of what we're afraid of might differ. We might be afraid of getting old or what will happen to a child or what will become of the earth. But it's still fear. It's our fear. And remembering and reflecting on what it feels like to finally fall asleep when the hand of thought ungrips and you remember that you're warm and safe in bed,

and you're breathing, and you go to sleep. And I was looking at the divine feminine issue of Pramila, which you can order if you want, and just one line came to me, that if we're seeking to remember, remember what's been forgotten. In a way, remember this. In our practice, in our life, our life is largely what we have paid attention to. That's not from parabola, that's from my life. It is.

It's what we pay attention to. And this practice, including this practice that we do here together, is a practice of remembering and expanding what we pay attention to. what we pay attention to. The history of the Divine Feminine is a history of all that we have forgotten. And she's making herself known now. We're remembering the earth and its suffering. And in our personal lives,

our practice is to remember what we forget when we're locked in our worries and our anxieties, to reflect on what has given us comfort and support. All those things we forget, micro-moments in nature, moments of relaxation, lying in bed, memories of moments of being met by a friend, really seen and taken in. Do you ever notice that often the kindest, best moments that you recall are not big deal moments, quiet moments of really being seen, laughing with someone, sharing a meal or a drink, tiny moments.

And the work of reflection is to invite ourselves to make those moments more frequent and even smaller. To realize that your practice isn't just made up of strenuous times of remembering the breath and remembering to sit, but inviting yourself to recall and reflect on all those micro-moments of goodness or honesty or quiet justice, if you think of it that way, of being seen. And that's a moment when the feminine makes herself known, that which we receive, that wisdom. Because since ancient times, the feminine has been equated with wisdom, Sophia, that which has been lived through.

So why don't we sit and notice the body as you find it today. And notice the body come into your experience. And notice how it feels to let an intention settle on it that doesn't judge, that is patient, open to receive what comes. And notice that as you bring your attention to the body, this part of the earth that we live in, it begins to reveal its warmth, its life, its inner vibrancy. And as this begins to happen for you, as the body begins to open, let the attention come to the breathing, without seeking to change it in any way, just notice the rhythm of the breath. Noticing that you don't have to think about breathing, that it happens, and that it can carry your attention. And when you find yourself thinking or worrying or planning, just gently come home again to the breath that connects you to life, all belong here, to take up space just to breathe and to be in this body receiving what comes with no judgments. Thank you.... Notice that when you come home, you're always welcome, without judgment or comment, and Thank you. And notice that the stillness that we share is very alive. is very alive. It's not being silenced but opening to the life that we normally forget, Thank you. Notice that as you let yourself come home to the breath, to soften and open to the present moment. You remember a feeling of being present that's just naturally good and responsive.

It wishes to be here. Thank you. Thank you. It flows in and out. And notice that life supports you. It flows in and out with the breath and with the impressions that arise. Thank you. When you get distracted, when you think, when you judge, just notice this with no judgment and come home again to the breath and the experience of the body in this moment. Notice that there is a light of attention inside you that isn't thinking, that's not from the sensation of being present. Thank you. Thank you. Notice that when we practice sati, the ancient word for mindfulness, which means remembering we feel less alone. We remember to come home of a greater life. We belong here. Thank you.. See that you can let everything pass through and still come home, still be present and Thank you. And see that even if you get lost a thousand times, a million times, you can come home. being given to you with each breath that you aren't alone. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes this week's practice. If you'd like to attend in person, please check out our website, rubinmuseum.org slash meditation to learn more.

Sessions are free to Rubin Museum members, just one of the many benefits of membership. Thank you for listening. Have a mindful day.