Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation with Elaine Retholtz 09/25/2025

Episode Date: October 3, 2025

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 10:00.Teacher: Elaine RetholtzTheme: Change Peaceful and Wrathful Deities of the Bardo; Tibet; 18th century; pigments on cloth; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin; C2006.66.17Learn 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 Thursday, we offer a meditation session at New York Inside Meditation Center that draws inspiration from an artwork from the Rubin's collection. and is led by a prominent meditation teacher. This podcast is a recording of our weekly in-person practice. The description of each episode includes information about the theme for that week's session and 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, good afternoon, and Tashi Delak. Welcome to the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Arts Mindfulness Meditation Program here at this beautiful space at New York Insight Meditation Center.

And I'm Tashi Churdan, Himalayan, Programmes and Communities Ambassador, and I'm delighted to be your host today. So 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 this 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 today, and then we'll hear a brief talk from our teacher, Elaine Retholtz, so wonderful, to have you back. Then we'll have guided meditation for 10 to 15 minutes by our teacher. Let's take a look at the art connection for today's session. It's this beautiful

tanka of peaceful and wrathful deities of the Pardo. In Tibetan word, it's called Shihra, peaceful and wrathful. And Pardo stands for intermediate stage or in between. This is origin from Tibet, dated 18th century, mineral pigments on cloth. The theme for September is changed. I wanted to share that theme is so fitting in the Jewish tradition. Today is the beginning of a new year. So some of you may be familiar, Rojasana was just celebrated. And I understand that in some country, it is celebrated for one day and in other two days. So it's really beautiful to understand that every culture celebrates the new year in slightly different ways, which itself is beautiful understanding.

And then our perception of change is a reflection of our state of consciousness, according to the Buddhist teaching. And this particular art, the Shito Peaceful, Rathful Deity, which is 100 deities, 42 peaceful and 58 Rathes, deathful deities. In this bigger circle, as I look closely, this is the wrathful deities. And then here is the peaceful deities, the 42 peaceful deities. So these are basically emphasizing on the true nature, especially the peaceful one. But the teaching says that at the moment of death, according to Buddhist belief, we have an opportunity to attain an enlightened state of mind.

However, due to our own karma, which brings up various visions, including terrifying ones, which is the wrathful deities. So if we do not recognize them as mere projections of our own mind, we cannot reach the enlightened state or a good rebirth. So this painting depicts the deities described in 14th century texts, the peaceful and wrathful deities, the profound teachings of sin. self-liberated wisdom mind, which is known as the Pardot third rule in Tibetan word. These are known as Dharma, which means during the 8th century great master Padma Sambava, who founded the Vajuriana Tibetan Buddhism.

He and Yishishishishishoja, the Dakhine, they hid many treasures, and the treasures were revealed by treasure revealers different period to benefit beings from that and onwards. So this particular Pardo thirdial text was revealed by the 14th century treasure revealer known as Karma Lingpa and so it is used even to this day. That's how the treasure revealers were born and revealed different treasures to benefit beings. And I understand that the Tibetan Book of the Dead is translated in English sometime in the 1920s in the West and it has benefited so many beings. So this is the full image of the peaceful, wrathful, Shito Thanka, the pigment.

Okay, so now let's bring on our teacher for today. Our teacher is Elaine Rethalds. Elaine has been studying and practicing Dharma since 1988. In addition to teaching Dharma at New York Inside, she's 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 has been a great teacher. So thank you so much, Ellen, for being here. And please help me in welcoming Elaine Rethals. So thank you so much, and it's so great to be here with all of you today. I really love this, first of all, the topic of change and impermanence. The Buddha many times said that we should cultivate the perception of impermanence as a means of liberation. And it's interesting, I was going to speak about how these wrathful and peaceful deities are not just something that we encounter in our passing from one life to another, but that every moment, beginnings and endings are happening in this idea of consternship.

change from moment to moment to moment. And how many times in a day do you counter those wrathful, fearful deities that present as our thoughts, our images, our fears are manifested through anger, through ill will? And we often notice those more than we actually notice our encounter with peaceful deities, moments of calm and patience and general. generosity and compassion and connection and kindness. And so that cultivating a mind that is paying attention to beginnings and endings and able to pause and choose how we want to move into the next moment

is a way of strengthening those peaceful deities and weakening through weakening our belief in them and our reactivity to them and are manifesting of them because how many times do we in the way we are relating in our lives become that wrathful deity to somebody else and in turn become a peaceful deity to somebody else. So I wanted to read something from Damapata. It's the very first chapter on dichotomies. And this is really about how we cultivate a mind and heart that's more prone to invite those peaceful deities in to make their home. So the Buddha said, all experiences preceded by mind, led by mind, made by mind, speak or act with a corrupted mind, and suffering follows as the wagon wheel follows the hoof of the ox.

All experiences preceded by mind, led by mind, made by mind, speak or act with a peaceful mind, and happiness follows like a never-departing shadow. Quote, he abused me, attacked me, defeated me, robbed me. For those carrying on like this, hatred does not end. She abused me, attacked me, defeated me, robbed me. for those not caring unlike this hatred ends hatred never ends through hatred

by non-hate alone does it end this is an ancient truth many do not realize that we here must die for those who realize this quarrels end so I think you know that's that's all I wanted to read from the Damapata but just the sense of how we can cultivate a mind and heart that puts an end to hatred and how we don't have to wait to the

barto between our physical lives to make a home for the peaceful deities. So let's sit for a while coming into a comfortable but dignified posture if your feet are like mine and don't rest firmly on the floor, you might want to take a cushion to support yourself. If it's comfortable for you, you can gently close your eyes or else a soft gaze. I'm just pausing and receiving the body and the posture that it's in. making any adjustments that will bring some ease and meditation is

both active and receptive and so taking a moment to receive the body and to receive the experience of this body breathing When we ground in the body in this way, the Buddha's first foundation of mindfulness, when we ground in the actual in the actual, of the body sitting, body breathing. Brain studies show that it actually quiets the part of the mind that is habitually engaged

in narrative making the story of me and the story of others. So training our attention to really receive the body. change is happening from moment to moment. It could be the easiest to just notice the change in an in-breath, reaching the end of the in-breath and all of the different sensations along the way. The turning point, maybe there's a pause here, and then the sensations of an exhalation. How this repeats, the speed may change, the depth may change. The experience of the breath, whether it's smooth or rough,

all of this is changing and can be known from moment to moment to moment. Of course, we often notice how our attention has shifted. How often the attention lies away from the bodily felt sounds to some habit of the mind or heart. some opinion about how comfortable the chair is perhaps or the sound system or something you're planning on doing later or just so many things and this can often be a place where the wrathful deities show up anger and patience judging and yet the Buddha said to cultivate perception of impermanence, and here's like knowing change, knowing this unruly nature of the attention of an untrained mind.

There's no, here's the habit this mind has, cultivating, inviting impatience, compassion, clear seeing and also perhaps noticing the effect of however the engagement of the mind that thing we call mind wandering the effect it's had on our experience this is also important to see and as you're ready

if you've lost awareness of the body and coming home to the body. This body breathing itself. Thank you. Thank you. This sense of, in any more than any more. moment where a habit of anger and judgment, impatience, frustration may arise, discomfort, and dissatisfaction with the discomfort, here's a choice.

What are we going to cultivate? Just seeing from moment to moment to moment, even in a short practice period, how hatred doesn't cease by hatred, by judgment, by anger. It amplifies. A struggle can amplify. By love alone, does it cease?

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Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your practice. Thank you so much for that beautiful session. That concludes this week's practice. To support the Rubin and this meditation series,

we invite you to become a friend of the Rubin at Rubinmuseum.org slash friends. If you are looking for more inspiring content, check out our other podcasts Awaken, which uses art to explore the dynamic paths 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, visit Rubenmuseum.org. Thank you for listening. Have a mindful day. Thank you.