Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation with Elaine Retholtz 06/29/2023

Episode Date: July 7, 2023

Theme: Impermanence Artwork: Buchung Nubgya (b. 1979, Shigatse); New York City; 2020; mineral pigments on cloth; Rubin Museum of Art;http://therubin.org/36zTeacher: Elaine RetholtzThe 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 10:12. This meditation is presented in partnership with Sharon Salzberg, teachers from the NY Insight Meditation Center, the Interdependence Project, and Parabola Magazine.  If you would like to attend Mindfulness Meditation sessions in person or learn more, please visit our website at RubinMuseum.org/meditation.If you would like to support the Rubin Museum and this meditation series, we invite you to become a member and always attend for free.  Have a mindful day!

Welcome to the Mindfulness Meditation Podcast presented by the Rubin Museum of Art. We are a museum in Chelsea, New York City that connects visitors to the art and ideas of the Himalayas and serves as a space for reflection and personal transformation. I'm your host, Tashi Chodron. Every Thursday, we present a meditation session inspired by a different artwork from the Rubin Museum's collection and led by a prominent meditation teacher from the New York area. This podcast is a recording of our weekly in-person practice. In the description for each episode, you will find information about the theme for that week's session, including an image of the

related artwork. Our mindfulness meditation Podcast is presented in partnership with Sharon Salzberg and teachers from the New York Inside 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. Hello, everyone. Good afternoon. And Tashi Delek. Tashi Delek.

And welcome. Welcome to the return of in-person mindfulness meditation at the Rubin Museum of Art. My name is Tashi Chodron. I'm so happy to be your host today. So welcome. Welcome. Welcome. And just to let you know that we are a museum of Himalayan Art and Ideas in New York City.

And we're so glad to have all of you join us for this weekly program where we combine art and meditation. Inspired from our collection, we will first take a look at work of art from our collection. We will hear a brief talk from our teacher. And we're so happy to have our teacher Elaine Rettles back here. And then we will have a short sit, about 15 to 20 minutes, for the meditation guided by her. So let's look at the theme and the artwork. The theme this month, we are still exploring on the theme of impermanence. Again, the theme, we often select the theme based on our most newest exhibition, which is the Death is Not the End. And for that, the theme is impermanence. And the art connection

for today's session is this beautiful Thangka painting. It's very special and very unique because all of the past art connection, they are hundreds of years old. But today, this is something that was commissioned in 2020. And it was commissioned especially for the newest exhibition, The Death Is Not The End. And this is the art for sharing the life story of Nangsa Wubum. This is a story of De Lok in Tibetan word. De Lok, it's an honorific word for someone who passed away, and then Lok means return.

So someone who returned from the death. And so this is origin from New York City. the death. And so this is origin from New York City. The artist's name is Puchung Nugna, and of course he lives here in New York City, in Queens in fact. And this is a beautiful mineral pigment on cloth. The overall size of this thangka is 72.5 x 54 x 2.58, but the painting itself is 36 into 25 and a half inches. Now, this is the story of the legend Nangsa Wobum. Nangsa Wobum, which means coming to the earth with the rays of life benefiting 100,000 beings. W is like rays. Bum in Tibetan word means hundred thousand. Nang is given in honorific word and then sa means earth. So this is the legendary Nangsa Wubum who comes back to life after death and the story is from about 11th or 12th century, going back then, and she was born to a very wealthy family, and she begins her life with the wondrous birth of a girl to a childless couple. The Tibetan girl

Nangsa wants to pursue a spiritual path, but is forced to marry and has a child. So this painting actually depicting Nangsa Wombun's whole life story. She was brutally mistreated by her husband and just for giving alms, being generous to ascetics who comes at their door to beg. So she dies and faces the judgment of the Lord of the dead. So there are a lot of these scenes depicting how generous she was making offerings, literally giving alms to people who, ascetics and Buddhist teachers and others, whoever comes to their door. So she faces the judgment of the Lord of the Dead, who sends her back to continue her virtuous life alive again. Nangsa describes seeing the beings suffering in hell due to their actions in this and past lives,

as well as the salvation of others, thanks to their compassion, acts, and religious devotion. So her story affects the lives of people around her to behave better because she shares the stories of what she witnessed while she was dead during that period, sharing about the causes and effects, the karma, in other words, right? Therefore, she was able to benefit many beings to behave in a meaningful way for their own good merit. And now let's bring on a teacher today. Our teacher is Elaine Rethels. Elaine has been studying and practicing the Dharma since 1988. In addition to teaching Dharma at New York Insight, she's 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 Insight diversity efforts for many years. So thank you so much. Let's welcome our teacher, Elaine. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.

It's good to be here again. So, you know, when we look at, we get a list of artworks to choose, and then when I'm assigned the artwork, I take time to read about it. And this piece really, the story of this piece really spoke to me. And maybe I'll do a little bit of a reframe, and I understand here I am, a Western white woman in New York City in the 21st century, but here's a woman, a baby that's born to a family. And from the time she had a sense, she was so devoted to a spiritual life.

And the story is that the king saw her and wanted a bride for his son. And the parents, even though they were wealthy, which I didn't know, didn't have the power to say no. She's born into this patriarchal society where women are supposed to be married, and then there's this power differential, and so she gets married and kind of gets into trouble for being friendly to strangers and being generous with strangers. And is that really so different from what we hear about today? I mean, the culture in Buddhist nations

are that the monks travel and the community supports them and gives alms. But here in our country, there are some border states where if you leave food and water out for refugees, you can be prosecuted, right, for migrants. And the kind of questions that we face internally, just walking down the streets of New York in terms of how can I help? How do I meet the stranger? And then another piece of the story that I read, you know, there are different versions of it, is that, you know, so after she was brought back, I read one telling that she was ready to go into the spiritual life, but that her son begged her to stay. And so I'm just talking to all of us here, women and men, practitioners,

of how do we navigate remembering our intention to practice, to live a life that's in accordance with our values, to be generous, to not see separation between myself and people who are different from me in the context of a household or life. I'm sure all of us, as we practice, whether it's as simple as trying to carve a place in our lives to, I'm going to sit now, I'm shutting off my phone, don't come in, give me however long it is, to making decisions about how we work and how we spend our time and what we pay attention to.

and what we pay attention to. And so this woman was remarkable because of the purity of her intention and through everything, this line of following that intention. And it took a while for her to be able to enter into a monastery and devote full time to practice. So I invite you now to just,

as you maybe close your eyes and arrive here, As you maybe close your eyes and arrive here, maybe sitting in a posture that's a little upright and dignified, to reflect on your intention in your life, not just in terms of meditation practice, but that's big. But the Buddha said that there are three, at least in the tradition that I've been trained in, that there are three wise intentions. They're not complicated. wise intentions. They're not complicated. This renunciation, which might seem like a lot of deprivation, but it's really giving up greed, giving up hatred, giving up delusion, confusion. So this intention to see clearly and to be generous, to be kind and friendly. So the three are renunciation, metta or friendliness, and karuna or compassion.

And so with all of the intentions that we experience in any one moment, just reflecting on our own goodness that brings us here today together to practice together. And while we might not be living a life that's as physically harrowing, subject to beating Just considering the energy and courage, the virya living our lives and choosing our actions, not just for our own benefit, not just for the benefit of our families and those closest to us, although that is wholesome and commendable and important.

But this ongoing reflection of how does my life potentially benefit all beings everywhere. And that can seem incredibly big and onerous and like a lot of doing and accomplishing. And yet it can be as simple as how do I show up in this particular conversation or relationship or action And to me at least it seems that as time goes on, certainly before the pandemic, but so clear in the pandemic, certainly before the pandemic, but so clear in the pandemic, how so closely related and dependent on each other we are. We go outside and the air is not the best quality, and all the causes and conditions from years and decades that are bringing this into our lungs on this day, right?

So this question of how do I live, how do I relate, what is practice in this moment with this person in front of me. And how does remembering and practicing give me the ground and the strength and the courage to remember what I value. To show up in these ways even when there's pushback. So as we sit together as a community and feeling along with us, practitioners from all over the globe and the lineage of practitioners throughout time. And grounded in this body, the body that's here right now,

sitting, making contact with the earth, breathing, making contact with everything. Allowing this practice to support us as we receive the earth, as we receive the breath. and as we sit connected to each other, Thank you. Nourishing this intention to be of benefit to all, to see more clearly. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Sometimes it may seem that we're waiting for better conditions. better conditions. And this story shows that any condition, any circumstance, is the right time to be generous. To be committed to non-harming. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. In a moment I'll be ringing the bell and just continuing to touch into the pure heart that we share. Perhaps an impulse, this natural impulse to be kind and generous and caring, independent of how people or life reacts to

us. How do we remember? Remember. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Elaine, for that beautiful session. Thank you. 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 two, hosted by Raveena Arora, is out now and explores the transformative power of emotions using a mandala as a guide. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. using a mandala as a guide, available wherever you listen to podcasts. And to stay up to date with the Rubin Museum's virtual and in-person offerings,

sign up for a monthly newsletter at rubinmuseum.org slash enews. I am Tashi Chodron. Thank you so much for listening. Have a mindful day.