Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation with Elaine Retholtz

Episode Date: March 13, 2026

The Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art presents a weekly meditation for beginners and skilled meditators alike. Each episode is inspired by a different work of art from the Museum’s collection and is led by a prominent meditation teacher.The episode begins with an opening talk followed by a 20-minute meditation. In this episode, the guided meditation begins at 7:14.Teacher: Elaine RetholtzTheme:  Fierce CompassionSix-Armed Mahakala; Tibet; 14th century; copper alloy with pigments; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin; C2006.66.59Learn more about the Rubin’s work around the world at rubinmuseum.org.

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 Children. Every week, we offer a meditation session that draws inspiration from an artwork from the Rubin's collection and is led by a prominent meditation teacher. You can find more information about the related artwork. in the episode description. Our mindfulness meditation podcast is presented in partnership with Sharon Salzberg

and teachers from the New York Insight Meditation Center, the Interdependence Project, and supported by the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism. And now, please enjoy your practice. Hello everybody, Tashi Dele. Welcome to the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Arts Mindfulness Meditation Program. I am Tashi Churdan, Himalayan Programs and Communities Ambassador, and I'm delighted to be a host today. The Rubin is a global museum dedicated to presenting Himalayan art and its insights,

and we're so glad to have all of you join us for our weekly program, where we combine art and meditation. Inspired by our collection, we will first take a deep look at the work of art we've chosen for today. We will then hear a brief talk from our teacher, Elaine, Rethals, and then we will have a short sit, 15 to 20 minutes for the meditation guided by her. Let's take a look at today's theme and artwork. The artwork for today's session is this beautiful sculpture of six armed Mahakala, known as Nguambo Chagdupa in Tibetan. Origin Tibet dated 14th century, and this is a copper alloy with mineral pigments, and it's about 12.1 fourth in

to 878th into 358 inches. So the theme for the month of March is fierce compassion. Mahakala is an enlightened, wrathful protector deity. He is known for his ability to dispel obstacles. He utilizes wrath with intention for the benefit of all sentient beings. His example helps us to skillfully utilize fierce compassion to create proactive change. The wrathful deity Mahakala is deeply associated with ritual practice due to his attribute of bestowing protection. Mahakala's appearance is fierce, wrathful.

He is often portrayed wearing a crown that consists of five skulls. This represents the transformation of the five afflictive emotions, known as clashes in Sanskrit, into five wisdoms. Although Mahakala is depicted as fears, his role is that of a guardian protecting practitioners from negative forces and destroying obstacles on the path to enlightenment. Now let's bring on our teacher for today. Our teacher is Elaine Rethals. Elaine has been studying and practicing the Dharma since 1988. In addition to teaching Dharma at New York Insight, she is certified both as a mindfulness-based stress reduction, MBSR teacher and MBSR teacher trainer.

Elaine has a deep interest in helping students integrate mindfulness into daily life. Elaine, thank you so much for being here. So I realized that I've actually been thinking a lot about anger lately and practicing a bit with it. I was actually so delighted in an odd way to hear that the theme of this month is wrath. And this deity, Mahakala, who has transformed normal anger, is infused with lots of ill-will, hatred wanting to destroy into compassion. And that's something that can be really an interesting thing to explore, especially, I mean, certainly interpersonation. personally it can happen, especially in this day and age and this social and political reality.

There can be, you know, there's been conversations certainly in the tradition that I practice in, the early Buddhist Theravadan tradition, about whether anger is wholesome or unwholesome. And to me, and it actually comes from my background in Chinese medicine, I practiced acupuncture for so many years, that anger is the energy of recognizing on one level that there's something that's wrong, that there's some injustice. And it's also a way that we find our voice. It's actually the energy of springtime, the seed that's been frozen, that has the energy to break through the frozen soil and manifest and bloom.

and there's nothing unskilful about that. What gets unskilful when we identify, when we think that, oh, this is happening to me or mine, and I've got to change it when there's a lot of self-identification, and it's the force of it, the fuel of it, instead of being compassion, is instead wanting to destroy that which we don't want, want. So I'm very interested in this process of, it's really an alchemy that is represented by Mahakala.

So, you know, this being has six arms and it's said that those are the fulfillment of the perfections of heart, generosity, patience, morality, diligence, meditation, and, and and wisdom or insight. And in order for us to express in this way, we need to do our own work of, you know, it's really not about getting rid of the energies of defilement, of all kinds of greed and jealousy and envy and ill will and fear and hatred

and all of the ways that we're confused and not understanding what we're seeing. but it's really about practicing, practicing to begin to recognize and to begin to not be diluted by it, to not act out of it, to not react to these energies. And so I'm going to guide a practice now and we'll just take some time to explore this. because this is something that in so many ways is at the heart of our practice. How do we meet Dukkah? How do we meet suffering, the recognition of our own vulnerability

and the vulnerability of others? How do we meet what's unfolding in the world? sometimes because, you know, it's being done purposefully harming people, harming others, harming the earth. How do we meet that without adding fuel to the fire that is anger and ill will? You know, and the Buddha said that, you know, anger is like a coal. And if we pick it up even to throw it at somebody else, that hot coal is going to burn our own hands.

So we really need to practice in this way. So I invite you to find a comfortable posture now, not too rigid, upright, if that's available to you, feeling grounding with the earth, whether it's through the feet on the floor, and you seat on a chair, if you seat it on a chair, or just feeling your seat on a cushion, knees and legs, forming the base of your posture,

or perhaps you're lying down, feeling the earth supporting your weight and connecting with the breath, the natural breath, just really receiving the body as it breathes you into being. And I invite you to take some time at the beginning of this practice period, to relax, to really invite ease into your body.

Perhaps starting with the head, noticing any holding in the face around the eyes or the jaw, bringing some ease or the invitation of ease to the neck and to the shoulders. Noticing how the arms are draped and supported and perhaps inviting. any tension, perhaps your hands are gripping in some way, and allowing the tension to ease. It may not be possible, but just sometimes the awareness can be useful. And of course, if we can't let go, then allowing. It's like this now.

It's already here. And bringing ease to the tortuiness. so to the breath, the back, the belly, ease, to the buttocks where we actually often hold tension and to the legs and feet and toes. The Buddha told us that a relaxed mind is more easily gathered so we don't have to corral the mind in any way, but just trust that if we can cultivate some ease towards our own experience, the mind can be gathered. And I'd like to invite you to the extent that you have the resources to bring to mind an area of your life where there is some struggle and anger. You just think, I just don't think this should be happening. It's not

fair. It could be in a relationship, it could be health, and it could be something in the wider world in your community or abroad, and shifting perhaps from the tension and heat of anger to the knowing of the pain of the duca, and perhaps considering the times that we've all been unskilful and spoken or acted out of anger or revenge. Maybe you have to go very far back to feel this, but just recognizing the human nature, or perhaps it's not human nature, but the tendency of humans

to move towards striking out at times, whether it's with words or even with thought, and sometimes with our actions. And if you feel any, you, discomfort relating to this situation arising in the body. Just allowing it as if you were cradling it, like a mother would cradle her child. Just holding it becoming familiar,

allowing it if it does to dissipate. Compassion really comes about with two steps. The first is the feeling of suffering, allowing our hearts to tremble. And this is actually a capacity that we cultivate, cultivating a heart that can tremble in the presence of Duka, ours, or that of others. And the second piece of this, because we so easily, in the presence of the trembling heart, can turn to blame or turn to getting busy and wanting to fix it.

it, whether or not we're clear about what's needed. The second step is to pause. How can I help? What's needed here? And so I'm going to offer some compassion phrases. And you can drop it into your hearts and minds, just as you might drop a pedal into a pond. Just watching the ripples, hearing, the sound of the rock, the pebble, being dropped. meeting the surface. May I be at ease with what's happening now? And if you're thinking of a particular person, may you be at ease with what's happening now?

We're not trying to say that what's happening is fine and okay. It's cultivating ease in the midst of what's happening right here, right now. May you find peace. May I find peace in the midst of this. I care about this duca, this suffering, this stress, this vulnerability that I'm feeling right now. And I care about your situation as well. May you care and bring care and compassion and take care of what's needed in your own realm.

may we find the way to peace, may all beings find the way to peace in the midst of what's present here and now. And of course, it's possible and perhaps even likely that at times tension can arise in the body and in the mind, thoughts can arise either thoughts of how you're going to fix it or get away from it. thoughts of ill will. And so pause, already here, this is what's here, bringing ease and care, just as you would to a child that is afraid, that is angry, cultivating this energy that the Buddhist said is needed for loving kindness of a mother who protects with her life, her child, her only child, caring for the heart, protecting the heart from the harm of anger that's fueled by ill will. May I be at ease with this? I'm taking a few minutes now to cultivate loving kindness, universal, unconditional,

kindness towards all beings, those that are not. harm and those who are targeted, those who have no fear if such beings exist, and those who are in the midst of fear right now. May all beings everywhere be safe and protected from inner as well as outer harm, so free from the defilements of greed and hatred and hatred. and confusion that cause us to separate ourselves, self and other, and cause us to think and speak and act unskilfully. May all beings everywhere be safe and protected from inner and outer harm. May all beings everywhere without exception.

Be happy and peaceful in this happiness and peace is not dependent on outside circumstances, not dependent on having or getting or winning. It's an unshakable inner happiness, inner peace. May all beings everywhere be happy and peaceful. May all beings everywhere be as healthy as possible for them. May their bodies support them with ease. May they have access to the care that they need,

and may all beings everywhere, without exception in every realm, find ease in all the conditions of their lives, touch joy in all the conditions of their lives. And so in practicing in this way, we can begin to transform the anger that's self-righteous and grounded in ill will, an anger that helps us move into compassionate action that allows us to check in in with what our resources are, what we can be available for, and respond appropriately. And just as a mother creates boundaries, appropriate boundaries with a child,

preventing the child from doing what might be harmful to them, and at times that can seem pretty forceful, this practice of compassion and loving kindness is not designed for, passivity, although at times that might be right action, but to allow it to see more clearly both what is needed and what is possible given our resources and circumstances. And this might take different forms and appear differently for each one of us and certainly for each of us at different times. So may this practice help bring clarity

and also viria, this energetic courage to allow us to show up in our lives with kindness and skillfulness. And may whatever benefit arises from this be shared widely and be of benefit to all beings everywhere without exception. Thank you for your practice today. Thank you so much for that, Elaine.

And thank you all for listening. That concludes this week's practice. If you enjoyed this podcast or are a weekly listener, we invite you to support this series by donating and becoming a friend of the Rubin at Rubinmuseum.org slash friends. The Rubin is a nonprofit that relies on the generous support of donors like you to create meaningful experiences with Himalayan art around the world. If you are looking for more inspiring content,

check out our other podcasts, Awaken, which uses art to explore the dynamic path to enlightenment and what it means to wake up, available wherever you listen to podcasts. And to learn more about the Rubin Museum's work around the world, sign up for our newsletter at Rubinmuseum.org slash newsletter. Thank you for listening. have a mindful day.