Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation with Kimberly Brown 07/10/2025

Episode Date: July 18, 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 13:23.Teacher: Kimberly BrownTheme: JoyFifth Dalai Lama Statue; Tibet; 17th Century; Wood with pigments; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; LTL2022.1.1, Loaned by Dr. Tanpa Thondup and FamilyLearn 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 Churden. Every Thursday, we offer a meditation session at New York Insight 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 Insight 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 and Tashi Delek. Welcome to the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Arts Mindfulness Meditation Program here at this beautiful space at New York Insight Meditation Center.

I'm Tashi Chodron, Himalayan Programs and Communities Ambassador, and I'm delighted to be a host today. The Rubin is a global museum dedicated to Himalayan art and its insight, and we're so glad to have all of you join us in person and online 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 by our teacher, Kimberly Brown. And then we will have a short set about 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 is this beautiful sculpture of the fifth Dalai Lama Ngawang Lopsang Gyatso, dated 1682, an origin from Tibet.

This is a 17th century wood with mineral pigment about 11 into 9 and a half into 5 and 7, 8 inches. Our theme for the month is joy. The July month is joy. I think some of you who came last session, Sharon spoke about the sympathetic joy. And we can think of gratitude gratitude joy and many other methods so this work of art is portrait of the great fifth Dalai Lama the birth month of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama invites us to reflect on the nature of joy as a resilient quality cultivated through wisdom, compassion, and spiritual discipline.

Now in this most recent reincarnate, which is the 14th reincarnation, and His Holiness Dalai Lama's commitment to exploring the question of how we find joy in the face of life's inevitable sufferings. Now the 14th Dalai Lama has very specifically emphasized about four principle commitments that are promotion of basic human values,

compassion, loving, kindness, all of that. And then promotion of religious harmony, preservation of Tibetan culture and environment, and then a revival of ancient Indian wisdom. So those are some of the four principal commitments of this present 14th Dalai Lama. Now here we have the great fifth Dalai Lama. He's addressed as the great fifth.

He was a visionary leader who unified Tibet and commissioned sacred architecture and art that endure as symbols of harmony and spiritual flourishing. His meditations on visual culture reminds us joy arises when we recognize the impermanence nature of everything, especially when we are going through tumultuous chaotic time as we see right now. But to understand that this too shall pass, that this is not permanent, then it can give us some hope. And now here's a close-up of the great fifth Dalai Lama.

You see the left hand in open meditation gesture, and the right hand, the mudra of teaching, known as dhyana mudra in Sanskrit, thumb and index finger form the wheel of life, an intellectual gesture as well that's holding the stem of the lotus flower and you can see the lotus sprouting on his right shoulder. Often we have seen deities sitting on lotus throne but here the great fifth is sitting on a cushion like box. So what I understand is that this sculpture may have been created or made while the fifth Dalai Lama was

still alive asking him to live long. So lately, last week, you know, there has been so much celebration all over the world, celebrating His Holiness turning 90 on July 6. But in the Tibetan calendar, his real birthday falls on the fifth month of the fifth day of Tibetan lunar calendar. So guess what? Today is the 15th day of the 5th month in Tibetan calendar, even though it's July 10th, isn't it? And it's called Zamling Kyi Sang, or Zamling Kyi Sang, Universal Incense Offering Day, or Universal Well-being. So considering what's happening, I think all the more we can all pray for the

wellbeing and the peace of the universe. So it's so beautiful to see so many of you coming together on this very auspicious day with our teacher Kimberly Brown. Millions of people are celebrating His Holiness Dalai Lama's 90th birthday. I just wanted to mention that international campaign for Tibet, the ICT in DC, has quoted this 2025 as compassion arising. They're doing a world tour and His Holiness Dalai Lama says, you want to be happy, practice compassion. You want others to be happy, practice compassion. So on that note, let's bring on our teacher for today. Our teacher is Kimberly Brown. Kimberly Brown is a meditation teacher

and author. She leads classes and retreats that emphasize the power of compassion and kindness meditation to reconnect us to ourselves and others. She studies in both the Tibetan and Insight schools of Buddhism and is a certified mindfulness instructor. Her latest book, Happy Relationships, 25 Buddhist Practices to Transform Your Connection with Your Partner, Family and Friends was released this week. You can learn more about Kimberly on our website at MeditationWithHeart.com. Kimberly, thank you so much for being here and please help me in welcoming Kimberly Brown. You can learn more about Kimberly on our website at MeditationWithHeart.com. Kimberly, thank you so much for being here and please help me in welcoming Kimberly Brown.

Applause Hello everyone. The fifth Dalai Lama, who I'd never heard of until about six weeks ago. When, maybe less than that, about a month ago, I was on retreat with a Tibetan teacher who I'd heard about, you know, for a long time. She doesn't often teach here, and I watched her online, and her name is Khandro-la, which goes by Khandro-la Rinpoche. And she had a weekend teaching upstate.

So I was there, and she spoke about His Holiness the Fifth Dalai Lama, the Great Fifth, and how she had a connection to him. And he was called the great unifier because he brought together, you know, his country, which wasn't a quote unquote country at the time, but he brought together his people. So that's why I chose him. I had forgotten it would also be His Holiness the Dalai Lama the 14th birthday. So here we are. If you watch that and you felt any sort of gladness while you were experiencing mudita, sympathetic or appreciative joy, joy for others. And then there's another definition of joy, P-T-P-I-T-I, I believe that's both Pali and Sanskrit. And it's considered a factor of awakening in this tradition, you know, that as you awaken,

you'll experience joy. And this sort of joy, this is a kind of, you know, it's said that happiness, one way to think of it is freedom from suffering. And joy is thought of as kind of an energetic kind of excitement towards what's beneficial, towards what is cultivating wholesomeness or good. Okay? And not because we should do it or are obligated to do it, but because we can feel, you know, that this is the way to go. So when I was with this teacher, Khandro-la, she said,

as you're practicing, if you start to notice this sense of joy, to use that as a motivation on the path. And she said was you can you can say to yourself hey I like this I want more of this I'm going to commit myself you know on this path that requires discipline it requires diligence, it requires mindfulness, it requires restraint. So we know it's not an easy path, and yet it is joyful. And Buddhists will often talk about a quality of virya that's necessary,

this sense of discipline, this sense of diligence, right? But it's also translated as enthusiasm. And there you can get a sense of this joyful quality. And before I was on this path, I kind of thought of any effort as either something I had to do out of obligation, or it was gonna be really hard and tiring,

or it was gonna be drudgery. That was kind of what I was taught about effort and work. And so this is a real invitation, a real reorienting to approach your path with enthusiasm, with joy, and to use that power and energy to direct your words and your thoughts and your deeds and your thoughts and your deeds in ways that benefit and in ways that don't harm. And so certainly His Holiness the Dalai Lama, if you're ever fortunate to either watch him online

or go to a teaching, I don't know if he travels anymore, but you'll see that he has a spontaneous sense of joy. And all of my teachers in all of my teachers, and all of the traditions, the ones that are the most masterful, they also have this sense of delight. Right, and that comes through, it shines through in their practice. They are not doing it because,

oh, I gotta go to work. Okay? And so, to approach our whole life like this with this opportunity, Tashi Chodron said, have joy even in the difficulty, even in the sorrows, even in the pain. What is that sort of joy? Well, that is the joy in knowing that you can always

orient your mind towards the good, towards the beneficial. I like this. I like this. I want more of it. I'm going to commit my heart and my mind to it. So let's do a little practice together. And as you're coming to a certain kind of stillness,

take a moment. You don't have to start doing anything. Maybe don't do anything right now. Don't meditate. Don't not meditate. Let yourself experience your own presence. There's a big sense that we should be doing something, always doing something. But meditation from this tradition is an undoing.

Each of us have clarity, compassion, wisdom, a nature of openness. And we just have to let that be. If you'd like, you can place a hand on your heart and a hand on your belly, and you might be able to sense your own loving presence this way. You certainly can sense your own loving presence this way. You certainly can sense your own breath, your beautiful body, your oldest friend, your body. Always supporting you. And perhaps sensing the value and the wisdom and the pleasure of this path and of your

presence. Maybe you can say to yourself your own version of, I like this. I want more of this. I'm committed to a path that connects me to this, my presence, my value, my appreciation, my wisdom. Bringing your attention to your breath that you can feel with your hands or maybe you feel it in your body. You can sense your body in space. Space above.

All around you. Allowing sound to mean your thoughts. So right now, connecting with the non-thought part of you, the part that knows that you're thinking and can see it, the part that's silent and aware. And it might be that your beautiful presence seems very far away from you. Maybe your mind is very, very busy. Maybe you're in physical or emotional pain. It's okay acknowledging your experience, allowing whatever is arising to arise, abide, and go... And I'd like you to connect now with someone who has encouraged you in your most beautiful qualities. This could be an old friend, teacher, grandparent. It could be someone you've never met who's inspiring to you like the Dalai Lama, like

Sharon Salzberg. You can connect with them by imagining they're here with you or feeling their presence, and receiving their wisdom, hearing them say to you, May you have good luck and prosperity. May your joy never cease. May your joy never cease. May you have good luck and prosperity. May your joy never cease. May you have good luck and prosperity. May your joy never cease. And we're just two or three minutes here letting yourself receive these blessings, hearing

them repeated to you from this benefactor..... And just for 30 more seconds, receiving these blessings, may you have good luck in prosperity. May your joy never cease.. May you have good luck and prosperity. May your joy never cease. And you can keep this connection with this encouraging being, and now connecting with yourself, too. And saying this to yourself, giving yourself this gift, may I have good luck and prosperity. May my joy never cease. May I have good luck and prosperity. May my joy never cease.

May I have good luck and prosperity. May my joy never cease. Just for a minute or two, giving yourself these blessings, this wisdom..... May I have good luck and prosperity, and may my joy never cease. And just taking a minute to consider all living beings, wealthy humans who are suffering from lack, and the ordinary people living our lives. May we have good luck and prosperity. May our joy never cease. May all beings everywhere sabbe sata. May all have good luck and prosperity, and may our joy never cease. You can let go of this technique and these words, resting here, saying yes to this experience, this moment of humanness. for your joyful efforts, for your wisdom, your good sense. In a moment I will invite the bell to ring. Please stay still until you can no longer hear it.

And if you'd like, at that time you can offer yourself a bow of gratitude. Thank you so much for that beautiful session, Kimberly. 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, 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 4, hosted by Isabella Rossellini, delves into the Buddhist concept of attachment and explores how the practice of letting go can transform our experience of the world.

Available wherever you listen to podcasts. And to learn more about the Rubin Museum's work around the world, visit rubinmuseum.org. Thank you for listening. Have a mindful day.