Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation with Elaine Retholtz 07/18/2024

Episode Date: July 26, 2024

The Rubin Museum 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 7:33. Teacher: Elaine RetholtzTheme: RebirthArtwork: Butter Lamp; Tibet; 18th–20th century; Silver, turquoise; Rubin Museum of Art;This program is presented in partnership with Sharon Salzberg and teachers from the New York Insight Meditation Center, the Interdependence Project, and Parabola Magazine and supported by the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism.Learn more about the Rubin Museum’s work around the world at rubinmuseum.org.

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, everybody. Tashi Delek. And welcome. Welcome to Mindfulness Meditation at the Rubin Museum of Art. Please enjoy your practice. Hello, everybody. Tashi Delek. And welcome. Welcome to Mindfulness Meditation at the Rubin Museum of Art.

I'm Tashi Chodron, Himalayan Programs and Communities Ambassador. And I'm delighted to be your host today. We are a global hub for Himalayan art with a home base in Chelsea, New York City. And we are 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 look at work of art. We will then hear a brief talk from our teacher Elaine Retholds, 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, which is handpicked by our teacher today, is this beautiful butter lamp. In Tibetan, it's known as karme or chutme. This

butter lamp is origin from Tibet, dated 18th to 20th century, silver with turquoise inlay, and it's about five and a half into four, one eighth into four inches. This is a ritual object, and the theme this month is rebirth. So the connection to the theme is this month we invite all of you to reflect on how we can integrate change, transformation and renewal into our lives and blossom into new form. Butter lamps can be found in virtually any Tibetan Buddhist temple and monasteries or in any sacred site. This ornate example of a butter lamp is made of silver and contains turquoise. Butter lamps have an important role in daily offerings. The offering of butter lamp is the offering of wisdom and light of knowledge to eradicate darkness or ignorance. to eradicate darkness or ignorance. The physical darkness symbolizes the inner darkness of ignorance and the butter lamp symbolizes the inner light of wisdom and knowledge. Butter lamps are also intended to focus the mind and aid meditation. Traditionally,

yak butter was burned inside of butter lamps. Today, especially in other parts of the world where yak butter isn't readily available, vegetable oil or ghee is often used. The light itself serves as a metaphor for eliminating awareness, just as meditation practice dispels the darkness of ignorance and leads to better rebirth. The Butter Lamb is a dedication offered as a dedication to the dead or deceased in order to guide them through the Pardo by wisdom light. Now let's bring on our teacher for today. Our teacher is Elaine Rethels. Elaine Rethels 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. Elaine, thank you so much for being here and please help me in welcoming Elaine Rathaus.

Thank you. Hello. me in welcoming Elaine Rathold. Hello, thank you for coming out. It's kind of cooler today, isn't it? It's lovely. Yeah, so the butter lamp and rebirth. This idea of rebirth can be very perplexing to many of us, especially since the Buddha taught that there's no enduring self. Then this question of, you know, so what is it that gets reborn? And the metaphor of a butter lamp or the actuality of a butter lamp I think is really great because I've heard it said that it's like

taking the flame from one candle and lighting another candle and it's passed on to the other candle the original candle burns out and yet the flame stays, so it's not the same candle but it was

transmitted and And yet the flame stays, so it's not the same candle but it was transmitted. And so the question is, well, what does that mean? And my understanding is that what is transmitted is our karma, our habits, the fruits of our actions, from lifetime to lifetime or even actually from moment to moment, whether or not you believe in rebirth from one life to another, we have certainly experienced in our own lives the result of acts of generosity and kindness and support, and the residue, you know, the good residue that comes from that, and equally the residue often that we have to mop up a lot of when we're angry and afraid and lash out at people, right? Or even the residue when our thoughts are really full of judgment and ill will

and the residue on the next moments. So I mean the butter lamp, the ghee is purified. You can burn other substances and the flame will not, it'll be smoky, it won't be as beautiful and pure. And so in my understanding of practice, that our task, the cultivation, is how do we purify our thoughts and actions and behaviors and our intentions so that from moment to moment what we're giving birth to in the next moment or perhaps in the next life is purified. So I thought we could sit a little bit with some guidance around that. And so you can close your eyes or just taking

You can close your eyes or just taking a pause as you, I see people shifting, coming into a meditative posture. And just in this pause it can be fruitful from time to time to just reflect on what is your aspiration in practice? What is it that you hope for that you're trying to cultivate not just in formal practice but in your life. And as you drop that question into your mind and heart right now, just having the opportunity resonance in the heart and in the body.

And there may be something actual that you're in touch with, or it might be some stirring in the heart that you can't actually name, but it's like, oh yes, yes. And this aspiration of what might be possible for us in this very life, perhaps we have the faith that with practice and cultivation we can attain complete awakening in this life. Perhaps there's just the intention and aspiration to do less harm to ourselves, to others, or to cultivate more joy and connection. Bringing this intention, this aspiration into this practice period, allowing it to be the atmosphere in which we practice. Perhaps grounding in the breath, feeling the breath moving through the heart

center. from moment to moment to awareness of what is right now. It's interesting that this setting of an intention, a connection to aspiration, that in some ways we do it and then we release it. Trusting. Because it's a funny thing that we set this aspiration and oftentimes what we encounter in our minds and hearts is quite the opposite. Encountering perhaps ill will or jealousy, doubt, and perhaps we think that something is wrong, but actually this aspiration for freedom and non-harming is actually cultivated in the midst of these other energies. What is practice here?

Can I remember my deepest intention in the midst of these habitual energies. So pausing over and over again, remembering, and just connecting to this moment through the breath, through the heart. We strengthen our confidence in the practice, in the path, in our capacity to do the wholesome. Thank you. In every moment when habitual thoughts of doubt or things we don't like or things we think we have to do arise and we're not reactive. We go, oh, yeah, here's this habit. And we respond to ourselves in practice with kindness and compassion, a sense of, oh, here's this human mind with its tendencies towards greed and ill will, tendency towards confusion, and yet we're aware of it and we recognize it. That's a moment of the pure flame of awareness being passed to the next moment, igniting the next moment, lighting it. Thank you. And in all those moments, whether in our formal practice period or in our day-to-day encounters,

we recognize impulses for generosity and kindness and compassion and we actually act out of it. We can recognize the moments when the flame is passed and ignites perhaps somebody else's heart and mind and illuminates the next moment. Thank you. Thank you. And in those moments where there is doubt, whether it's in our own capacities, our own innate goodness, or as we look around the world, a sense of despair. We could remember those who inspire us, who are part of our lineage, whether it's a spiritual lineage or perhaps a relative or friend who embodies the qualities that we aspire to. And we can reflect on ways that our own hearts have been warmed and illuminated

by contact with other beings, sometimes strangers. This transmission, this actually day-to-day, sometimes very ordinary transmission of light and goodness. Thank you. Thank you. And of course there are times in our own lives, in our formal practice, in our daily lives, in the world around us when it can be very difficult to be with what's stirring. There could be doubt or confusion or ill will or loneliness, grief. And I think here the image of the flame is also really important in the way that the flame also burns off impurities.

And just part of our practice is asking ourselves, can I be with this as it is right now? And if it is, then right now. And if it is, then just staying, oh, it's grief, this is what grief is like, to have it be a cause for the arising of compassion, a cause for the arising of confidence and courage. And noticing moments when there's more peacefulness and calm. Thank you. Thank you. Teksting av Nicolai Winther So this idea of really contemplating our intention and aspiration and using it kind of as a north star to guide us and check in with us, ourselves. Both as a way for our own purification, but as an inspiration of the way that we can affect those around us just by the way we are in the world. I think it's really, really an important contemplation

to think of why am I practicing? And to take it as like a laboratory. I mean, our whole life is a laboratory of well i did this and that's the way it worked out and maybe there's some adjustment needed not as a self-improvement project but just learning about how our actions and words and thoughts actually create and have an effect on the next moment. You know, I was gifted with this t-shirt that says, Be the reason someone believes in the goodness of people. Be a reason that someone believes in the goodness of people.

And I have to admit that whenever I look at it, I have to think, can I wear this today? Because you don't want to be a jerk, right? And wear that T-shirt. But it's kind of like having that T-shirt in your heart. Right? And it's like like can I wear this can I manifest this today in my life life and I don't want to kind of be

that that jerk towards myself either so it's it's a little bit of a motivation so I hope these reflections in the practice are useful to you. And I encourage you to really think about your aspiration, not in a far-off way. I mean, it can be, yes, this is the highest I want, but what does that mean right now in this moment, in this interaction right here, right now? And see how it gives birth.

What's reborn in the next moment. So thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you so much for that beautiful session, Elaine. That concludes this week's practice. To support the Ruben and this meditation series, we invite you to become a member at rubinmuseum.org slash membership.

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.