Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation with Kalu Rinpoche 05/04/2023

Episode Date: May 12, 2023

Theme: Change Artwork: Human Cranium Prayer Beads; Tibet; 18th or 19th century; Cranium and stone; Rubin Museum of Art, Gift of Anne Breckenridge Dorsey; http://therubin.org/36p Teacher: Kalu RinpocheThe 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 21:52. 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. Good afternoon again, Tashi Delek, and welcome. Welcome to the Return of Mindfulness Meditation with Rubin Museum of Art. I'm Tashi Chardun, and Himalayan Programs and Communities Ambassador, and I'm so happy

to be your host today. Those of you who are first time, we are a museum of Himalayan art and ideas in New York City, and we are 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 are so honored and so happy to have Kalu Rumbuche here. It's Rumbuche's first time at the Rubin Museum. I have Kalu Rumbuche here. It's Rumbuche's first time at the Rubin Museum.

And then we will hear about 15 to 20 minutes of the teaching for the meditation guided by him. Let's look at the art connection for today. The theme for this month is change and transformation. And the art connection for today is this beautiful mala called Cheng Hua in Tibetan word. this beautiful mala called chengwa in Tibetan word, and this is a human cranium prayer beads origin from Tibet, about 18th or 19th century, about nine and a half into one and a half into quarter inches. So the connection to the theme is, as you see here, the impermanence change from one that leads to this object. Buddhists consider skulls reminders of impermanence that help remove attachment to one's self and body. And the malas are used as meditation tool

with which to contemplate the meaning of life and death. And in traditional Buddhism, malas made of skull-shaped beads are carved out of these craniums, as you see here. And this one is along with the stone. And often you will find counter beads, those who accumulate hundreds of thousands of certain mantras. Then the prayer beads come with the counter. Let's bring on our teacher for today. Our teacher is Kalu Rinpoche. His eminence,

Kalu Rinpoche, is the lineage holder of Shangpa Kaju tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. He was born in 1990 and recognized by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and His Holiness the Chamgun Sittai Sittu Rinpoche as the reincarnate Turku of the previous Kalu Rumbuche in 1905 to 1989. Some of you, I've heard you saying you've received teachings and empowerments from previous Kalu Rumbuche. That's amazing. And I've had the great honor of hosting this present Kalu Rumbuche's enthronement in San Francisco when he was maybe four or five years old then. And Kalu Rumbuche completed his traditional three years retreat back in the 2004 to 2008.

And Rumbuche now teaches Niguma Yoga around the world to cultivate awareness and to promote physical and mental well-being. Rumbuche, thank you so much for being here. Please help me in welcoming Rumbuji, thank you so much for being here please help me in welcoming Rumbuji first of all Tashi Dilig and thank you very much for being here and thank you very much for the beautiful introduction and thank you for the Reuven Museum for inviting

me over here and with all the beautiful explanation that is given over here, I will try all my best to live up to that expectation and enlighten you instantly. So as the prayer, you know, the mala, chengma in Tibetan, we call it the prayer beads. And of course, it has like 21 beads, 108 beads, and also made out of different material as well. And of course, here, it represents the meaning of impermanence, the skull.

It doesn't mean the Buddhist people are metalhead. So, the meaning of impermanence, I think it's very important to understand and where you reflect in your mind. understand and where you reflect in your mind. Many of us, when we enter the Buddhism, of course, maybe some kind of a tragic happened in our life, maybe some sort of a suffering that we had to endure. And if we seek questions, we have doubt, we want to overcome our negative energy, if you want to call it, or obstacle, if you like to call it, our obstacle, if you like to call it,

our temporary barrier, you know, if you call that. So, of course, we seek spirituality. Some of us, we become Hindu. Some of us, we become Christian. Some of us, we become Buddhist. And then within the Buddhist branches, some of us, we Buddhist, and then within the Buddhist branches some of us we become Zen meditation practitioner, some of us we become a Tibetan Buddhist practitioner, some of us we become Theravada Buddhist practitioner. Before I begin with the Buddhist explanation about the meaning of

impermanence that relates to the the skeleton beads behind me we have to understand that taravada and mahayana and vajrayana all are the teachings of the lord buddha and of course different branches of the buddhism has their own interpretation but all leads to the 84 000 teachings of the lord buddha and that is a common foundation that we need to understand to begin with that's number one number two is that how you reflect to the meaning of impermanence is very important. Some people, when they reflect to the meaning of impermanence, there's so much sadness, so much some sort of despair, hopelessness. But that should not be the perception of the meaning of impermanence.

When you understand and when you analyze the meaning of impermanence in a spiritual sense, you have to be more joyful, right? Because the meaning of impermanence, the whole purpose of understanding the meaning of impermanence is to overcome our illusion of our own mind and is to overcome our fixation of our own mind. That is the whole purpose. Thinking so much about the meaning of impermanence doesn't lead you anywhere. Every successful business people, they think about impermanence all the time.

They have a lot of paranoia. They have a lot of concern. Who will betray them next? Who will align with them next? Where's the advantage? Where's the disadvantage? Every opportunistic individual thinks about impermanence because the meaning of impermanence is about constant change, isn't it?

So if you have this kind of a very first layer of understanding of meaning of impermanence as that everything is sad, everything is death, and everything is miserable, I think at a certain point it's good in the beginning. But eventually you need to progress from it So where you reflect to the meaning of impermanence Prior to this very moment Before I used to have a very much strong fixation Lack of understanding of the meaning of impermanence So now I discover the meaning of impermanence

Thanks to the ultimate truth Thanks to the teachings of the Buddha. You know, so the way you reflect like that is very, very important. It gives you more sense of joy, more optimistic point of view in your spiritual journey. You see, and that is very important because if you go to be happy, you know, whether you're looking for a worthy happiness or whether you're looking for the ultimate happiness, either way, you have to overcome the illusion of your own attachment. If you cannot overcome the illusion of your attachment, then you cannot really bring the result of thinking of the meaning of impermanence. You know, so you have to overcome the illusion of the attachment. The illusion of the attachment doesn't mean that you become delusional either. Many people, they think, oh, you're a Buddhist, so now you're delusional.

You're so passive. I can take advantage of you. Absolutely not. You have to be hard as a stone, you know, as a person. You have to be realistic. The world is not made out of bubble. The world is not made out of angels and, you know, passive people all the time. You will always encounter so many different individuals who will continuously take advantage of you no matter where you stand in life.

You have to be realistic. You should not bring the idea, oh, now I'm a Buddhist practitioner, I have to bring the Dharma into my life. That is a very beautiful fantasy that you have built. But that is not very beneficial, because you cannot bring a Dharma into your life. Imagine you have a car problem. You can't bring a Dharma text to fix your car, can you? So you can't bring a dharma into your life. Imagine you have an argument with your partner. She wins the argument or he wins the argument and you bring the dharma text in between. That doesn't solve any problem. You cannot

bring the dharma into your life unless you practice it. If you practice it thoroughly, and then the quality will influence your judgment, your perception of the reality, how and what kind of influence that is appearing externally, what kind of a conflict that is bringing inside your mind, and then you can have a much more clear judgment. Clear judgment brings the absence from the illusion. Absence from the illusion creates more sense of solitude mindset and sense of mindfulness attitude as well. You cannot grasp into the idea of mindfulness. Oh, I'm a Buddhist practitioner. I have to be mindful. It doesn't work like that.

You cannot be just mindful just because somebody told you to be without the solitude retreat. Long story short, that's the sad story. The sad good story is that you need to do the solitude retreat. Solitude doesn't mean that you have to do three years and pretend to be like somebody else, you know, like going up in the mountain, disappearing from your family. You don't have to do any of that. Solitude means that you can stay with your family, close the door. Nobody cares when you watch Netflix for hours, does it?

So nobody should care when you're doing practice for hours. So you close the door and, you know, find the 45 minutes or hour or two for yourself, starting from 15 minutes to 20 minutes to begin with. Don't aim for, I need to practice the big one, the secret one, the highest one. That's all illusion. Because so many people throughout the history have received the big one, the secret one, the great one from the great master and the great teaching,

the secret teaching, tantric teaching, all of it. But if you don't practice it, it doesn't mean anything. It is only boosting your ego to show that you are more unique and special than other people in the name of so-called Buddhist practitioner. So receiving the secret and the highest and the best from this and that doesn't develop anything if you don't practice it. And definition of practicing it comes down to the foundation. And that foundation comes down to recognizing your distraction.

Recognizing your distraction, it doesn't mean that every time you are distracted, you have to feel guilty. But as this practitioner, being guilty is not part of our spiritual journey. You know, many people, they call themselves spiritual, religious practitioner, and they love to feel guilty.

You know, and they love, I don't know, they go to this kind of a weird trip in their mind. Oh, I have guilt. Oh, I have to do the Vajrasattva practice. I have so have guilt. Oh, I have to do the Vajrasattva practice. I have so much guilt. It's so much sadness, my goodness, as if the world is not sad enough for you.

And then you go to the path of Buddha and then you become more sad. That is not the approach. Because like an example, the path of the purification in the spiritual journey comes down to the mindfulness of our own body, speech, and mind. If you have awareness of the body, speech, and mind, that is the foundation of the purification. If you don't have the awareness of the body, speech, and mind, regardless of whichever the purification you may be doing,

you may be doing in a cultural aspect like your mother did, your father did. So you're doing it on the sake of the culture, but not in a sense of faith from the bottom of your heart. So long as that you have a continuation of awareness of the body, speech, and mind combined together, regardless of the length of the practice or the title of the practice, that is the beginning of your spiritual journey, and that is the beginning of your progress. And now when it comes to the progress and the definition of the practice, that is the beginning of your spiritual journey and that is the beginning of your progress. And now when it comes to the progress and the definition of the practice, it comes down to recognizing the distraction. Distraction doesn't mean that you should feel guilty every time you're listening to a podcast

with the music, with the science fiction, whatever the categories of the things that you're listening. It doesn't mean that you have to feel guilty every time you find a distraction. Like an example, you have a whole day of work in your office. Maybe you had a big argument with your colleague. You're coming back with a terrible mood. And all you want is just a glass of wine and listen to jazz music and chill. And then the Buddhist idea in your mind kicks in, telling yourself, you are distracted, you are terrible, you are lazy.

You don't have to be that. If you want to explore and have a little bit of experience in your life, have it. But when you are practicing, make sure that it's 100% being able to detect the definition of the distraction. So don't bring so much judgment into your life. Live the life that you want. Let the Dharma influence you by itself.

A little bit like a medicine. Dharma is like a medicine. People nowadays, they want to eat medicine. They want to get the result instantly. You have to let the medicine work for you. So that combines two different things. Teaching is one thing as a medicine. And your discipline from your mindset is another. As a vase to receive the nectar, to receive that purification,

or like the water to overcome your thirst from your suffering, right? So your body and your mind is like the vase, the dharma and the teachings of the Buddha and the ultimate truth is like a nectar, like a medicine. To make it work combined together, it doesn't just require the beautiful teaching but also the foundation from your side. And the foundation of your side as a practitioner, you have to recognize the subtle distraction and the ordinary distraction. Like an example, the ordinary distraction is that when somebody is making a noise, and then I said, you know, okay, who's that making? You know, what kind of a noise they're making? What kind of a topic they are discussing? And I have this eager wanting to know. That is the ordinary distraction. Subtle distraction is that you are chanting, you are meditating, but you have the absence of the clarity in your mind. That is the subtle distraction that you have to notice. If you

can maintain that recognition of awareness beyond this too, then whatever the practice that you may be doing, there will be immense result. And then if you can maintain like that, you know, by recognizing the subtle distraction and ordinary distraction, that means you are very much aware of your own self-fixation. When you have a more awareness of your own self-fixation over the time again and again by creating the absence from the self-fixation, and then you can develop the compassion naturally. Many Buddhist people, they call themselves,

I am a Buddhist practitioner, I have to be compassionate. It doesn't work. I tried that many times. It doesn't work. So the way to be compassionate is to break away from the cycle of self-fixation. If you can overcome your self-fixation and the illusion of the state of mind first, and then you can be truly compassionate to all the sentient beings.

But prior to that, practicing upon yourself is very important. And that is not made up by me trying to sound more American and modern to you. It is in the traditional teaching. It says, first, you need to develop your own quality. Then you can benefit all the sentient beings. So the first to develop your own quality comes down to solitude, recognizing the ordinary distraction and the subtle distraction, not bringing too much judgment into your life.

Make the distinction between the practice time and your life in the beginning as the practice takes over because the practice is not just sitting down and reading. When you gradually practice, you will find the beauty of the solitude, you will find the joy in it, and then that sense of joy takes over the importance and the power and the strength of the ordinary distraction. importance and the power and the strength of the ordinary distraction. You just need time for that, you know, and you need to let the practice does its own effect by itself over the time and a little bit of element from your side as well. Does it make sense?

You know, so you should have. And then also we are here right now at the, you know, Buddhist museum, isn't it? So all of us, when we enter Buddhism, we seek, I need to find a teacher, I need to find a guru, as if that you need to find a partner. Don't do that. You know, like an example, His Holiness Dalai Lama, you know, he received a teaching from many different traditions. Dalai Lama, you know, he received the teachings from many different traditions, whether it's a Nyingma tradition, whether it's a Satchar tradition, whether it's a Giluk tradition, whether it's a Khaju tradition, whether it's Chona or Shampa, doesn't matter. He has the sense of openness, isn't it? He doesn't have that fixation, oh, he is my guru, you know. So, don't rush into this idea

of the guru. Just practice the Dharma if you can, if you want. If that is too complex for you, start with the calm abiding meditation and analytical meditation and receive the teachings of His Holiness Dalai Lama, which is so much there throughout the internet. And then on the top of that, when you have a sense of awareness over the time, when you see the top of that, when you have a sense of awareness over the time, when you see the illusion of oneself, then you see the cause of suffering and the reality of the suffering and of the self-fixation. When you see that, then you see the reality of the suffering of all the sentient beings.

When you see the reality of the suffering of all others, then the compassion arises by itself even you don't want at that stage. You understand? So compassion is not the idea that you should grab. It's not an emotion that you can catch, that you like to use. It is a state of realization.

In the beginning, you can start with a good faith, good heart, loving kindness, as His Holiness Dalai Lama always says, loving kindness, loving kindness. We are all one human. There's many religions, but the key essence is to be in harmony. So, therefore, we have to understand that that as in foundation, and then eventually, yes, one second. and then eventually yes one second

so then eventually we need to understand that finding the guru is not the priority the priority is maintain your spiritual faith in the teachings of the Dharma

overcome your basic struggle and the challenges and the appreciation to the great different teachers, it will come eventually. Don't rush it. The moment you grasp into the idea of, I need to find a guru, you're asking for a problem. You look for that, you will find just like that.

You know? So therefore, keep your mindset open, whether it's Mahayana, whether it's Theravada, whether it's Vajrayana. Keep the teaching to your heart. Keep your practice simple. Don't try to show that you're a Buddhist practitioner to other people because it's not worth it. You don't need to show it.

If you have it, people will sense it. If you don't have it, then you have to start the game of pretending things. So that's that. So I have five minutes to give you the meditation teaching. So let's make the five minutes use out of it. Can you imagine back in the days where you say, Guru, I have only five minutes. And then let's learn the meditation in five minutes.

But here at the Board of Directors, they were saying that all of you have to go back to your engagement and your responsibility. And it's due to that. But some of us do, some of us don't. So we have's due to that. But some of us do, some of us don't. So we have to understand to everybody, you know. And I'm not going to disappear after that also, you know.

We're going to keep in touch anyway. Yeah. So this Mahamudra teaching, meditation teaching, Mahamudra teaching is written by the Dakini called Sukhasiddhi. Sukhasiddhi, she is a great angel, a great enlightened realized being. She is one of the origin of our Shampa lineage. Like an example in the Tibetan Buddhist history, there's a four major branch, like the Nyingma, Satcha, Kaju, Gelug. And then there's also other eight branches that has an origin link to India. So all of that has a link to India.

And then the Shangpa lineage is one of the eight branches that also has a link to India. And then the Shankpa lineage is one of the eight branches that also has a link to India. So one of them is a Niguma. The Niguma, she is also another female, great, highly realized being. And then the second one is a Sukhasiddhi. And nowadays, people have a little bit of realization and they publish books every year. Back in the days, all the great masters, they practiced whole life and they produced one page.

So, out of one page, in five minutes, I'm going to read a few sentences. All right. namkaa rime tongpaa rikjii sange tsaawachun, tsaawachun la rang so shio, kereem dab an zobo taa, yuunpe kutsul inga sha, iyeepe kutsul dzubdhyn sha, zidwa nime minyebe namke kee do chee ge taa rikbaa ngaate wangko do, shirab khutung lu shantrim, long ya chungze, song chee la rangke taawara aje go, uman na jisang. namka pa yewa de chunye dwa dhan trawa taa, semye dwa dhan trawa taa, dwa dhan ngaage ngaanyado maa chwe So, whether you are doing a shamatha meditation, whether you are doing a deity practice meditation, at the end of that practice, whichever the practice you may be doing,

or it can be like a hatha yoga, you are doing your health reason, you be like a hatha yoga, right? You're doing your health reason, you're doing your own regular yoga practice, you're doing a meditation practice, whichever the practice you may be doing. I have no judgment towards it, don't worry. At the end of that practice, what you can do is that, based on her teaching, as you sit in the meditation posture, meditation posture, it means keeping your body straight. Leg doesn't matter whether you keep a cross leg or not. Just keep it neutral.

The most important is keep your back straight, not too stiff. If you keep back too stiff, then you are using your mind too much to concentrate on the physical aspect. That is unnecessary. So keeping your body straight, that's number one. Number two is to understand that when you keep your body straight, the channel within you becomes straight. When the channel within you becomes straight,

the air that you breathe within the body becomes more accessible. As the air becomes more accessible, the mind becomes more in the state of the clarity. So that is the aspect of the physical principle. So whether you're keeping your hand on your kneecap or whether you're keeping your hands together like this, that is your own preference. Now, physical aspect is explained.

okay now physical aspect is explained so she had mentioned the sky the mind is like a sky like a blue sky but the sky does not have a consciousness. We have a consciousness. You look at your own consciousness without any sense of desire, not even the slightest subtle desire wanting to add, wanting to remove, wanting to alter, wanting to add more. None of it. Absent from it. But in a state of the clarity. So that is her statement about the nature of the mind.

Now, in order to bring that into a practical use, is that as you sit in the meditation posture at the end of the sequence of whichever the session that you may be doing with the different traditions, as you're sitting in a meditation posture, visualize a central channel through your crown, into your heart, and visualize the A, empty letter, you know, the Tibetan letter or the English letter, doesn't matter. Ah, in the center of your heart. As you focus into the ah for a few moments, and at the same time, you do exhale, inhale. Like an example, keeping your hand like this on the kneecap.

When you inhale, you know, as you inhale, I will demonstrate, you take a look. And as you inhale like this, and then keep your air into your diaphragm for a few seconds, like one or two seconds, and then as you stretch your four fingers, and then exhale your breath. The most important is to keep the air going in and out through your nose, not from your mouth. Okay, so exhaling like this I will demonstrate to you. Just observe it. Then you inhale. Exhale. Inhale. And then by the third time, and then come back to the normal pace of breathing, make sure that your mind is following the sensation of the breath from your nose, from the strong sensation to the small sensation of the breath that is going to exhale.

And then as you inhale, keeping your mind on the sensation of the breath, avoid the idea of counting. And then as you are in this very gentle state of mind, and then you visualize the AH, you know, AH, And then you visualize the R, you know, A-H or Tibetan letter R without the R under, just simple R, with a crystal like R transmitting through the central channel, through your crown, and then entering into a space, as it enters into a space, you focus your mind into that state of the R. And that R itself, from the very big size exiting from your crown to very small size as it goes further and further. As it goes further and further, you keep your mind into that syllable on and on, on and on, on and on, on and on. And after a few seconds later, maybe 10 seconds later, don't count the second. And as the R goes into the space, as it goes smaller and smaller with

your mind, maintaining your visualization and your awareness. And then, finally, R dissolving into the state of the emptiness. As it dissolves into the state of non-duality, then simply meditate your mind in that state. Don't think about where the R went, how the R went, where it should go, where it should go, how it should go. None of it.

Just simply dissolving the hour as it goes further and further and further and further and further as it dissolves into the space and then your mind being in the state of emptiness, being in the state of the clarity. You know? Then you can repeat again. Exhale, inhale three times, and then repeating the R visualization,

and then transmitting to the state of the, you know, into the space, as it gets smaller and smaller, maintaining with your visualization, that sort of thing. Okay? And then at the end you say, I dedicate all this positivity to all the sentient beings and let them find joy and happiness at the end. And if that is difficult for you, and then try to focus on the sound-based meditation or object-based meditation. Okay, don't feel disappointed in yourself. Spiritual journey is never meant to be perfect. It's always a bumpy road. Be prepared for that. Okay, all right. Keep your practice simple.

Have an openness to all the different traditions. And that is the most important. And I wish you all the best for your spiritual journey. And many Tashi Delek to Rubin Museum and all the Dharma Brothers and Sisters here. Thank you very much. Thank you so much, Rinpoche, for that wonderful session. And thank you for the Sukhasiddhi transmission. We are so fortunate. Thank you so much, Rumbhicharya, for that wonderful session. And thank you for the Sukhasiddhi transmission. We are so fortunate.

Thank you, everyone. Thank you. That concludes this week's practice. To support the Ruben and this meditation series, we invite you to become a member at rubenmuseum.org slash membership. 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. 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.