Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation 2/17/16 with Kimberly Brown

Episode Date: February 24, 2016

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 Interdependence Project. This week’s session is be led by Kimberly Brown focusing on the theme of the Potential. To view a related artwork from the Rubin Museum's permanent collection, please visit: rma.cm/oc

Thank you. please visit our website at rubemuseum.org. We are proud to be partnering with Sharon Salzberg and the teachers from the Interdependence Project. 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 Ruben Museum's permanent collection. And now, please enjoy your practice. And now, please enjoy your practice. of the year-long IDP Meditation Teacher Training Program, the first one, in fact. She studies Tibetan and American Buddhism, and her work and teachings emphasize the ways in which contemplation, wisdom, and ethics

are shared among all traditions of awakening. Please welcome Kimberly Brown. I was here last week, and I was here last last month and I'm a little bit curious. I was asking Don about your experiences with meditation because it seemed that a number of you may be relatively new and some of you seem to have been doing this for a very long time. So I'm just curious, if you've been practicing meditation for, let's say, less than two years, would you mind raising your hands? Okay, okay, that's a little over half.

Part of the tradition of practicing meditation together, mindfulness meditation, or any of the Buddhist traditions, is sometimes you'll be in a big room and there'll be someone who's just starting to learn to meditate today. And there's someone who's been practicing for 20, 30, 40 years. And each of the practitioners bring something

special to support each other. Newbies bring a freshness and a kind of a willingness to try something new and curiosity. And people who've been practicing for a long time can bring a real stability and support. So thank you for supporting each other here every Wednesday the way you have been. As Dawn mentioned, today we'll be talking a little bit about the Chintamani. And I'm very excited, actually, to share this with you, the little knowledge I have of it,

because it's been a very inspiring legend and metaphor. I first encountered a Chintamani. You'll see it in many different Buddhist statues and artwork in the Mahakala. Sometimes you'll see a Buddha holding it between his hands or on his lap in his hands. I think upstairs there's one with a top knot that has a wish-fulfilling gem, a cintamani. I kept seeing this when I first started practicing meditation, and I thought, oh, well, how neat, a mystical object that fulfills all your wishes.

And then I started to practice and learn, and it's a lot more than that. It's actually a metaphor for our experience of being humans. We often feel that there is a treasure without, right? A treasure we're going to find, we're treasure without. A treasure we're going to find. We're going to seek it out. And that will fulfill our wishes. At least in my life that had been things like, well, if I get this job I really want, that's going to fulfill my wishes. That's a sort of treasure.

And maybe if I had this material thing this beautiful apartment or a lovely pair of shoes that would be a sort of treasure without and if all the circumstances lined up in a very particular way outside of me then my wishes would be fulfilled, my wishes for being happy and not to suffer. That's all of our deepest wish. The Chintamani, this points to the treasure within, that each of us have this gem,

this invaluable, precious nature to wake up, to connect with each other, to have wisdom. Mahakala is helping to cut through things like greed, things like ignorance. And others, like Waitara, helping us see our connection through compassion right all of this points to what we have inside ourselves and this is profound because I come from a psychoanalytic background and there is a sense that perhaps there's something wrong with all of us, deeply wrong, that we can diagnose and you can learn to live with.

But this point of view is quite radical. It is saying each one of us, whatever our struggles, whatever our suffering, whatever our confusion, we have the potential through mindfulness, through concentration, through being present with ourselves, that we can start to develop and cultivate all these qualities. Now, in the Buddhist tradition, you'll read a lot of different stories about this, different legends. And one is a sutta that is a woman goes

to visit her very wealthy friend. And while the woman's visiting, the friend, out of kindness and generosity, sews a priceless jewel into the woman's clothing. And the woman leaves the next morning wearing her clothing. She doesn't know that she's carrying around this very valuable treasure. Sometime later, the woman is at the marketplace begging. She's now destitute.

And the wealthy friend comes upon her, and the friend says, Oh my gosh, you have had this valuable possession all along, you just didn't know it. And this is for us the metaphor that we live with. We have this precious nature, this precious valuable life, and we aren't sure that we see it, and it's hard for us to uncover it. It's also said that it's difficult. It takes some effort, some looking. Shantideva, who is a great Indian teacher, he said that the discovery of your own shintamani, She said that the discovery of your own shintamani, your wish-fulfilling gem, your potential, is like a blind person digging through a pile of trash and finding the most valuable gem.

And this is pointing to our experience that trash is our confusion, which we manifest in our greediness, our fears, our anxieties. We forget our connection to each other. Now probably other teachers here have talked about the root of mindfulness. It's a word, shmirti, and it means to remember. Remember to come back to the present moment and also a reminder of coming back to our own nature.

It's said that if you have the inclination to work with your mind and your heart, to be a meditator, to want to learn mindfulness as you are, that you already have a notion of your potential, of your wish-fulfilling gem, and that it's cause for rejoicing and delight. So I hope that you will take that in a little bit and rejoice and delight in your willingness to be here. The treasure is also not just this wish-fulfilling treasure, but there are all kinds of treasures within. And I was telling Dawn when I was here last week, I was roaming the galleries. If you go up there, there is this wonderful statue of Jambala, who is an

archetype of wealth. And he's this chubby guy. He's painted gold. In one hand are gems. In the other hand is a jewel-spouting mongoose. So the treasures come from within the mongoose. So the treasures come from within the mongoose. The mongoose here symbolizes generosity. Mongoose are known for killing snakes. And snakes in the legends often protect wealth and money. And they stand for greed and avarice. So generosity is one of the treasures within, and patience and kindness. I meet a lot of people in my role as a meditation teacher.

I'm running a small nonprofit. And there's a real sense that humans are awful. I hear it all the time. People are terrible. People are violent and destroying the earth and ruining everything and foolish. Of course, there is some truth to that. And yet, what is the antidote?

Well, we are the antidote. And each one of us, through contemplation and through mindfulness, through really being with our connection to each other, can begin to develop qualities that help benefit ourselves and others and to do less harm to ourselves and others. So we're going to do a little bit of meditation today. We'll do a little mindfulness of body. And toward the end, I'll offer a little metta practice,

metta or loving-kindness practice, just as a reminder of our chintamani. So before we start, if you are tired today, don't close your eyes. Keep them open. Have your eyes gazing in front of you a little bit, half closed. have your eyes gazing in front of you a little bit, half closed. And if you don't want to do that and you get tired and you keep nodding like so, stand up. Just stand up.

So everyone, take a position that's comfortable to you, that you can sit for a little bit. And before I start the meditation, don't meditate, don't not meditate. Allow yourself to be here. You can close your eyes or cast a downward gaze. And take just a moment to allow whatever intention or motivation brought you here today, whatever reason you're here working with your heart doing mindfulness meditation and take a moment to appreciate that and remember you can bring that up to support you anytime. And also recognizing all those who have made it possible for you to be here today. And now choosing to move your attention to the feeling of your feet not thinking about

your feet but actually allowing yourself to have the experience of your feet your feet on the floor noticing your seat relaxing your belly bringing your attention to the center of your chest, your heart center, and just gently noticing your forehead and your cheeks and your jaw, allowing sound to enter your ears. And again, returning to your feet. Noticing your seat. Bringing your attention to the palms of your hands. Relaxing your belly. Opening your heart.

And gently noticing your forehead and your cheeks and your jaw, allowing sound to enter your ears. So, Noticing where your attention is and gently, mindfully returning to your feet. Giving yourself permission to just feel this experience in this moment. Feeling your seat. Relaxing your belly. Opening your jaw. Allowing sound to enter your ears. If you're feeling sleepy, opening your eyes or standing up. Gently bringing your attention to your feet noticing your seat relaxing your belly and your attention to the center of your heart and gently noticing your forehead and your cheeks and your jaw,

allowing sound to enter your ears. Thank you. Noticing where you are, gently coming back, feeling your feet. Noticing your seat. Bringing your attention to your belly, to the center of your heart. And with kindness, noticing your forehead and your cheeks and your jaw. Hearing sound. Thank you. If you're planning or wondering or remembering, if you have joy or sadness, just noticing all of that and choosing to move your attention to your feet. Feeling your seat. Relaxing your belly, opening your heart, and gently noticing your forehead and your cheeks and your jaw.

Just allowing sound to enter your ears. Thank you. Okay. Noticing where your mind is, if you're worrying or regretting, just seeing that, choosing to come back to the present moment, feeling your feet, relaxing your seat, opening your heart. Gently noticing your forehead and your cheeks and your jaw. And allowing sound to enter your ears. Thump, thump, thump. Noticing where you are, noticing if you're annoyed your attention to the center of your chest, to your heart center. And taking a moment to kind of bring a sense of yourself to your heart. You could imagine yourself as you are now or as a child or just your presence, felt presence. And offering phrases silently of metta. May I be safe. May I be happy. May I be healthy. May I live with ease. May I be safe. May I be happy. May I be healthy. May I live with ease.

May I be safe. May I be happy. May I be healthy. May I live with ease. May I be safe. May I be happy. May I be healthy. May I live with ease. May I be healthy. May I live with ease. And silently repeating those phrases to yourself as if you're giving yourself a gift. Thank you. May I be safe. May I be happy. May I be healthy. May I live with ease. And now bringing to your heart a sense of a dear friend. Again, you might kind of see them or just have a feeling that they're here with you.

And offering these phrases to your dear friend. May you be safe. May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you live with ease. May you be safe. May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you live with ease. May you be safe. May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you live with ease. May you be safe. May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you live with ease. And again, continuing silently on your own, offering these phrases. Thank you. Thank you. May you be safe. May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you live with ease. And now, considering offering this loving kindness to everyone here today, may we be safe, may we be happy, may we be healthy, may we live with ease. May we be safe, may we be happy, may we be healthy, may we live with ease.

live with ease. Continuing offering this as though you're giving a gift to yourself and your neighbor and everyone here. Thank you. May we be safe. May we be happy. May we be healthy. May we live with ease. In a moment I will ring the bell. Please stay still until you can no longer hear it. And if you'd like, then you can offer a bow to yourself and each other and join me in honoring this practice today. Thank you so much for your practice. 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.