Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation with Jon Aaron 08/15/2024

Episode Date: August 23, 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 11:34. Teacher: Jon AaronTheme: InterconnectednessArtwork: Water Bowl; Tibet; 20th century; silver; 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. Good afternoon, everyone. Tashi Delek. And welcome.

Welcome to the 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 museum of Himalayan art with home base in Chelsea, 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 by our collection, we will first take a look at work of art. We will hear a brief talk from our teacher, John Aaron, and then we'll have a short sit, about 10 to 15 minutes for the meditation guided by him. And this month, some of you who've been attending

regularly, you probably know, we've been exploring on the theme of interdependence and interconnectedness. And the art that is handpicked by our teacher is this beautiful silver bowl. So this is a water bowl, origin Tibet, about three, one, three-fourth into three, three-fourth into three, three-fourth. That's the size. And this is part of a seven bowls water offering. Sometimes you might see eight bowls as well. And the connection to the theme is offering water is a meritorious act believed to benefit both the practitioner and to all sentient beings, thereby reinforcing the interconnectedness of all life. Now, this water bowl is part of the seven bowls, and making offerings to deities is an integral part of Buddhist practice. Water offerings are actually probably the most common, all over the Himalayas. And now the Tibetan Buddhism spread all over the world.

So you might find that in practitioners home as well. So this is you see the water bowls that comes slightly different shapes as well and you will it will be arranged from the right side of the shrine to the other side which would be from our left towards the right this is from the dhrupa dharma center in queens so that's um and offering bowls um is considered very meritorious to making offerings so So offerings of flowers, offerings of water, offerings, candle, butter lamp, all of that is considered very meritorious. And that's the offering of material substance, right? And then the coming together like this for mindfulness, contemplative meditation is sort of the offerings of, you know, Dharma practice.

And then there are prostrations that practitioners do, reciting mantras and chanting. That is the offerings of veneration. So regardless of whether you do an offering of like three minutes to a short period to and any object to a very valuable or three, four days of practice, the most important thing in the Tibetan Buddhist practice is to dedicate the merit and good karma to all sentient beings benefit. And this is how one can invoke or give rise to the basic goodness, the wisdom, the true nature that is within each of us. And when you give rise to that wisdom, then we become happier, better person, wear the

butterfly effect to your immediate partners, families, and community. And that is the interconnectedness and interdependence. So now let's bring on our teacher for today. Our teacher is John Aaron. John Aaron is well known as a teacher of mindfulness-based stress reduction, MBSR, as well as a trainer of new teachers of this seminal eight-week curriculum. Among his primary interests are the use of meditation and somatic work in healing trauma and working with individuals with chronic pain and grief. When the pandemic hit, along with his partner, he co-founded Space to Meditate, an online community of meditators

that is still going strong six days a week. John, thank you so much for being here, and please help me in welcoming John Owen. Thank you all. Lovely to be here. I always forget to mention that I'm also a teacher at New York Insight Meditation Center. Insight Meditation Center, although I'll be leaving New York in a month, less than a month, three weeks for a while. And so I'm happy to be here now before the space is no longer available.

And so Tashi spoke about the Tibetan tradition around water. And in the earlier traditions, I want to talk about the water as an element of connection. But also mention that it's interesting. I was on retreat in 2022 with one of my teachers, Ajaan Suchito, who comes from the forest tradition. And this was at the Forest Refuge. It was a month-long retreat. And in their pujas every day, normally they would light an incense. So incense, as you know, it spreads a perfumey scent around the space. It also takes up the space, but they're not allowed to have open flames of that nature,

although he did light candles, but people are sensitive to scents. So they don't use scents at the Insight Meditation Center. They don't use incense or any sort of perfumey kind of thing. So instead he used, to replace the incense, he actually used a bowl of water, which he would fill every morning. With the notion that water in itself spreads and connects people.

So there's that aspect of connection. As it evaporates, it's being absorbed by everybody in the room in one form or another. And also in the early tradition, there's a major practice around the four elements of earth, water, air, and fire. There's also a six element practice which adds on space and consciousness. But today I just want to talk a little bit about the water element. If we think about the water element, our bodies are something like 80% water of one sort or another. As we are sitting here now, there is plenty of water in this body in various forms

it's part of our blood, it's part of our urine it's part of all the fluids in our body we obviously drink water and that water passes through us so whereas the earth element of course takes a long time to pass through us for the most part, I mean our bones although some of the food passes through us clearly

the water element passes through more quickly and it although some of the food passes through us clearly. The water element passes through more quickly and it goes back to the earth in one form or another, so it connects us in that way. And water itself as an element, of course, takes on various forms, you know, whether it's vapor, liquid, or ice. So it's both solid and fluid and gaseous. It fills the space that it's in. So it connects all sides of that space. Regardless of what that space is, it fills that space. In a way, it's like

this body filling the space that it's in right now, but it's also, you know, if we think about the spaciousness of mind, it just continually expands and water will expand to fill the space that it's in as well. And then there's another aspect of water which is related to this poem I'm going to read, which is a poem by the wonderful Zen master Dogen. Unfortunately, I forgot to check who translated this particular poem it's called Moon is a Dew Drop Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. The moon does not get wet

nor is the water broken although its light is wide and great, the moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide. The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass. So it's like that dewdrop is like a mirror in a jewel in Indra's net, which, you know, one jewel reflects another jewel. So if you think of a lawn, you know, in the morning with a drop of dew on each grass, blade of grass, all reflecting itself in each other, That's kind of a magical image, right? And it's this notion that everyone is reflecting everybody else, right? The goodness in me is reflected in the goodness of you, et cetera. So if we take that image with us, you know, that's really an image of that sharing of the merit that was just spoken about,

which I'll talk about a little bit later as well. So let's practice for a bit. And I invite you to find a comfortable, upright posture, posture that's balanced. Find a comfortable upright posture, posture that's balanced. Taking a few very deep and deliberate breaths. And then letting the body find the breath that it needs. and receiving each breath with gratitude. Receiving each breath as an opportunity to wake up. Resting the attention for now on this breath or on the body just sitting here breathing. Thank you. And as the mind settles, think about these elements, these elements which are both internal and external. The element of earth we take in through our solid food intake, it's converted into bones and muscle and that which isn't needed by the body is passed through the body, of course,

finds its way back to the earth. And eventually we all find our way back to the earth, one way or the other. And the water element comes in externally through the water we drink, through the water in the various foods that we eat. Feel the water element even as we sit in various parts of the body, whether it's the saliva in the mouth or the tears in the eyes, the pulsing of blood, sweat, all aspects of the water element. Sweat, of course, evaporates, becomes water vapor vapor somewhere along the line this lands somewhere else The water passing through the body

Passes through his urine finds its way back to the earth or to some other body of water to the earth or to some other body of water. This continual flow of experience, continual flow of elements through this body. Of course, air is continually flowing through the body, supporting as it leaves the body as carbon dioxide supporting plants continual interchange interdependence The fire element of energy and heat, electrical currents passing through the body, into the the earth, the air, the water, to the sun, to each other. Thank you. As we sit, we simply open to this changing nature of the body, these elements continually flowing through, Thank you. And maybe if it's helpful just visualizing a body of water and its reflective nature

or just that dewdrop referred to in the Dogen. Thank you. This water element that makes up a big part of this body. The mantra for the element practice goes, this water element is not me, I am not it, it does not belong to me. As is the case with all the elements. Simply Simply passing through, continually changing as this body continually changes, continually connecting us with the world around. Thank you. Thank you. You can also reflect on the fluid nature of mind, fluid nature of this heart, receiving whatever is arising. The mind is fluid and open, receptive, not resistant. What creates this capacity for equanimity, care? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And just considering the nature of each of us being like a dewdrop, reflecting each other. Continually connecting with each other knowingly or unknowingly. Continually being interdependent knowingly or unknowingly. So as we close this meditation period and this practice together, you can consider the fact that most of us don't know each other.

Here we are sitting together, practicing together, reflecting each other in this practice, sharing this practice. And all the merit that we gain from sitting here, practicing together, we take out into the world, whether we realize it or not. And that has an impact on those we are in contact with. It continues to radiate out in all directions. So can we open to the possibility that all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering?

Free from fear and the causes of fear. That all beings be free, and that all beings find peace. Thank you all. Be well. Thank you so much, John, for that wonderful session. That concludes this week's practice. To support the Rubin 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. I am Tashi Chodron. Thank you so much for listening. Have a mindful day.