Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation 10/28/2015 with Sharon Salzberg

Episode Date: October 27, 2015

Every Wednesday, the Rubin Museum of Art presents a meditation session led by a prominent meditation teacher from the New York area. This podcast is a recording of the weekly practice. If you would like to attend in person, please visit our website at RubinMuseum.org/meditation to learn more. We are proud to be partnering with Sharon Salzberg and the teachers from the New York Insight Meditation Center. This week’s session will be led by Sharon Salzberg. To view a related artwork from the Rubin Museum's permanent collection, please visit: http://rma.cm/i2

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 slash meditation to learn more. We are proud to be partnering with Sharon Salzberg and the 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.

It's great to be back here. Thank you for coming out in the rain. And I'm going to talk briefly about impermanence. We're going to get a chance to sit. And then there'll be an infinitesimally small period for questions. And you'll be free to go back to your day in whatever way. So there are these three characteristics of impermanence, what is kind of classically

translated as suffering, sort of modern translators sometimes call it stress dissatisfaction uneasiness, insecurity, there are lots of ways of describing that state and then emptiness or no self and as Don said so correctly the flip side of that is a sense of interdependence rather than independence and isolation and so on. So it begins with impermanence. These three form the insight of insight meditation. When we practice mindfulness meditation, these days many people, most people maybe talk about let's see the the benefit of mindfulness

of actually inhabiting your life drinking that cup of tea and actually tasting it listening to somebody and actually taking them in and these of course are enormous benefits and change the way we live. Classically, the main benefit of mindfulness is said to be insight. It's not just inhabiting your life, but understanding your life. It's understanding much more deeply who we are, the conditioning we have around who we are, the conditioning we have around who we are, being able to dissolve some of the sense of self and other and us and them and isolation and some very profound questions like where is happiness actually? Is it in clinging, holding on, possessing, accumulating?

Would I actually be perfectly happy if I had a bigger apartment in New York City? Would I? Is compassion really a weakness? The way we've been taught all kinds of myths and legends and conditioning can get challenged through our careful looking. And one of the most profound levels of insight is seeing the constantly changing nature of everything. Everything we know and the knower as well. Impermanence has different aspects to it. Impermanence has different aspects to it.

There's the part of impermanence that is about arising, beginnings, doors opening, a sense of possibility. We don't need to feel so frozen, so stuck, so imprisoned by things because change itself is life. There's always movement. change itself is life. There's always movement. And the idea or the felt sense of frozenness, of being stuck, of rigidity, is something that's actually superimposed. It's not found in the experience.

So the kind of identification we might have, say, with a difficult emotional state, like, I am so frightened, and I always will be. Or, I'm really angry, and this is all I ever feel, and ever will feel. We understand the kind of constructed or manufactured nature of statements like that, and that they're not real. They're not realistic. They're, in some way, distortions of how things actually are. We don't have to be so

caught in them. So there's that beautiful sense of freedom and opening and all kinds of things changing and in wonderful ways that is part of the insight into impermanence. There's also the kind of poignancy of impermanence. These days, I often say, because it's true, that the Insight Meditation Society is about to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Now, I have virtually no other word to describe that other than bizarre. Like, how in the world did that happen? Surely, I'm still 23.

And we're looking at land and we're trying to figure out what to do. And, you know, someone had to explain what a mortgage was. In fact, we couldn't get a mortgage from a bank. These friends had to step forth and personally co-sign the loan. Isn't that the way things still are? You know, or nobody had ever, certainly nobody used the word mindfulness, you know, in conversation.

And 40 years has gone by like nothing. How did that happen? Nothing lasts. Everything changes. Our lives are this cascade of impermanence. And we may cling and we may insist that it not be that way. But it's that way. but it's that way. So there's that kind of feeling tone.

It's not really distressed. It doesn't go all that way. But it is a kind of poignancy, like, wow, look at this. There it goes. And it also leads to our understanding even more the preciousness of encounters, relationships, connections, this moment. Because this moment does not last.

It will not last. I think one other time here I talked about when I left India in 1974. I went to see one of my teachers, this woman named Deepamath, to get her blessing to come back. I was coming back to the States for what I was absolutely convinced was a very short visit. And I was going to do what I needed to do and get a new visa and all this stuff. And then I was going to go right back to India and spend the entire rest of my life in India. Well, lo and behold, it didn't happen that way,

which she told me it wouldn't and I didn't believe her. And in fact, she was the person who told me to teach. She's the reason that I became a teacher because she told me in that conversation that when I came back to the States I would be teaching and I said no I won't and we went on from there but anyway. I was so sure that the rest of my life was going to be spent in Asia as a student. And every once in a while, I do meet somebody who's lived for the last 30 or 40 years in India or Thailand. And I look at them like, huh, that was supposed to be my life. What's it like?

But it wasn't my life, right? Everything changes. Everything moves. And I am so grateful that I look back at the time I was in India and I was completely a student, that I lived it so fully. Instead of thinking, ah, I've got 40 years to get this done, you know? Because I didn't, in fact. years to get this done, you know? Because I didn't, in fact. So even that side of impermanence, the fleeting nature of things, the fact that we can't control it, we can't hold on, that also enriches our lives to have a much greater sense of presence and commitment and gratitude for what is here.

Because everything is said to share the nature of these three characteristics, impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and no self, and because classically the ultimate aim of mindfulness is to open up an understanding of at least one, if not all three, of these characteristics. It said that anything can serve as a vehicle. And this is why we say in terms of mindfulness that what you are observing, beautiful feeling, painful feeling, lovely sensation, painful sensation, whatever it might be, joy, peace,

restlessness, everything can reveal when looked into these three characteristics. So in the Chinese tradition, they say if you want to understand the nature of water, look at the waves. We look at the waves of our experience, whatever's arising in this moment, in such a way that it brings us to a deeper sense of the water, a deeper sense of these three characteristics. And that's why we say you cannot fail at meditation. You might be having an experience,

you're not delighted to walk out of here, for example, and run into a friend and say, well, first it was boring, then it was painful, and then my head hurt, and then I got angry. We would all much rather say, first it was serene, and then it got really blissful, and then it was like overwhelming joy. That's what we'd rather say. From the vantage point of mindfulness and seeing deeply into the nature of impermanence, either is fine. One is not better than the other. So we say that mindfulness does not take the shape of what it's watching. We can use anything as a vehicle for seeing more deeply into the nature of change.

So if I were teaching meditation directly to somebody, for example, say on retreat, and they said to me, I feel a lot of anger. Sometimes I might say to them, well, the next time we meet in a few days, see if you can tell me three things you found within the anger, and one of them could be change. Because that's how we utilize an experience.

We look into it, not declaring it right or wrong or good or bad or thinking my god i'm still angry i've been meditating for 44 years this is shocking or i need a new therapist i can't believe i'm still angry but this is anger what is it we look into it it's also not i'm going to do this vengeful thing and that vengeful thing and then i'm finally going to ruin this person's life not I'm going to do this vengeful thing and that vengeful thing and then I'm finally going to ruin this person's life online. You know, so it's neither falling into the state nor pushing against it, but exploring it, going into it. What do we find within it? If we're looking at anger, maybe

we find sadness. Maybe we find fear. We will definitely find change within it. It's ebbing and flowing. It's shifting. It's changing. It's moving because everything is. So if you experience boredom and anger and sleepiness and all those things, it's okay. Because if you look deeply into them, you will find the truth of

change. And that's what changes our life fundamentally, is really understanding differently who we are, how we're connected to one another, where happiness is going to come from. If everything is constantly changing, then closing down, fixating, holding on, is not going to do much for us, right? Instead, we can use that deep seeing of impermanence for a much greater kind of fluidity and presence and gratitude and openness to our actual experience. Okay, so let's sit together a bit.

I'll guide you through it. So remember, the cornerstone is that it's okay, whatever comes up. To start with, see if you can sit comfortably. You can close your eyes or not. However you feel most at ease. See if you can settle your attention on the feeling of your breath. Just a normal natural breath, wherever it's clearest for you or strongest for you. Maybe that's the nostrils or the

chest or the abdomen. And just rest. See if you can use a quiet mental notation of in, out, or rising, falling to help support the awareness of the breath, but very quiet. So your attention is really going to feeling the breath, one breath at a time. And if images or sounds or sensations or emotions should arise and they're not very strong. If you can stay connected to the feeling of the breath, see if you can just let them flow on by. You're breathing. It's just one breath. They can come and go. It doesn't matter. But if something arises and it is quite strong,

it pulls you away from the breath. See if you could take a moment and just recognize this is what's happening right now. No judgment. There's thinking. There's joy. There's sorrow. Whatever it might be. Acknowledge what's taken you away. See if you can then gently let

go and bring your attention back to the breath. And for all those, perhaps many times you are just gone. And you emerge from a big fog, it's okay. That's the moment to practice letting go and beginning again. Females Gullu R Gullfors fjell. Gå ut. Gullfors fjell. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 51, 52, 53, 56, 57, 58, 59, 51, 52, 53, 56, 57, 59, 52, 53, 56, 57, 59, 52, 53, 56, 57, 59, 52, 53, 56, 57, 59, 52, 53, 56, 57, 59, 52, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 1. Thank you. Gå ut. Gullforskjøl Gå ut. 1. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 51, 52, 53, 56, 57, 58, 59, 51, 52, 53, 53, 56, 57, 59, 52, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, Gå ut. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 51, 52, 53, 56, 57, 58, 59, 51, 52, 53, 56, 57, 59, 52, 53, 56, 57, 59, 52, 53, 56, 57, 59, 52, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, 53, Gå inn på høyre del av høyre del av høyre del. 1.5 kg of fat. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 51, 52, 53, 56, 57, 58, 59, 51, 52, 53, 56, 57, 59, 52, 53, 56, 57, 59, 52, 53, 56, 57, 59, 52, 53, 56, 57, 59, 52, 53, 56, 57, 59, 52, 53, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 53, 56, 57, 53, 56, 53, 56, 53, 56, 53, 56, 53, 56, 53, 56, 53, 56, 53, 56, 53, 56, 53, 56, 53, 56, 53, 56, 53, 56, 53, 56, 53, 56, 53, 56, Gullu Gullforskjøl Rekordverk. Gå in. Gullfors sted. Rekordverk. 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.