Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation with Kimberly Brown

Episode Date: May 8, 2026

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 08:06.Teacher: Kimberly Brown Theme: Awakening Lotus Goddess, Lakshmi; Nepal; 17th century; wood with pigments and gilt repoussé; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, formerly of Joe Gelpey collection; C2008.1a-bLearn 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 week, we offer a meditation session that draws inspiration from an artwork from the Rubin's collection and is led by a prominent meditation teacher. You can find more information about the related artwork. in the episode description. Our mindfulness meditation podcast is presented in partnership with Sharon Salzberg

and teachers from the New York Insight Meditation Center, the Interdependence Project, and supported by the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism. And now, please enjoy your practice. Hello everybody, Tashi Delak. Welcome to the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Arts Mindfulness Meditation Program. I am Tashi Churdan, Himalayan Programs and Communities Ambassador, and I'm delighted to be a host today. 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 our 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 have chosen for today. We will then hear a brief talk from our team. teacher Kimberly Brown, 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 is this beautiful sculpture, Lotus Goddess Lakshmi, origin Nepal dated 17th century,

and the medium is wood with pigments and gilt reposet, and the size is about 24 quarter into 20-quarter into eight quarter inches. So the theme for the month of May is awakening. And in the month of May, we also celebrate AAPI, that is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. And we celebrate Mother's Day. So it's perfect to have Lakshmi for this month and for today's session. So this intricately carved sculpture portrays Lakshmi as a lotus goddess.

Lakshmi is often associated with lotuses. The lotus flower has a significant symbolic meaning within Hindu and Buddhist practice. You often find Buddhas and Bodhisattvas standing or sitting on lotus thrones, and you will also find Hindu god and goddesses sitting or standing on lotuses. So the lotus grow out of muddy, murky water and emerge as beautiful flower. this serves as a metaphor for our own process of transformation. It speaks to our ability to transcend arduous circumstances. Lotuses grow immediately after the monsoon rain,

and they blossom in autumn when rice is being harvested. Thus, lotus are associated with abundance and the harvest, besides purity and awakening. Lakshmi's throne, pedestal, and tiara are all associated. adorned with lotuses. The motive of the lotus in this sculpture of Lakshmi is a potent visual reminder of our potential to blossom and flourish despite difficult circumstances. Now let's bring on our teacher for today. Our teacher is Kimberly Brown. Kimberly 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 Inside 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 earlier this year. You can learn more about Kimberly on her website, meditation with heart.com. Kimberly, thank you so much for being here.

So you know this month, it's May, and our theme is awakening. And we chose this artwork, a lotus goddess Lakshmi, because the lotus flower is really a super common metaphor for meditation and enlightenment, awakening. It's usually expressed that the lotus flower, it grows in mud, and the mud symbolizes our own struggles, our own mud and confusion, and how we could use our own suffering and struggles to grow and to bloom and awaken just as the lotus flower does. and there are other qualities that we can use as metaphors from this lotus plant because, you know, the truth of this actual plant is, it's very resilient. It's very adaptable. You know, you can see the flower of the plant of the lotus, and you can see when it just rests on the water and, If it's wavy or stormy or rainy or if it's calm, you know, it's very flexible. It's very free. It moves with the waves without breaking.

You know, it adapts. And yet, it is very firm. You know, it doesn't just float away. Okay. And this is a really important way to consider our own mind and our own mind and our own body. That we want to be able to have a body and a mind that's flexible, that's free, that's not rigid and tight and constricted, right?

We want to be resilient. And this lotus, in order to do that, it's not just floating on the surface, it has this really strong stem. and it leads down to powerful roots that are in the earth, right? So it's very steady. And that's the way we can think of our own practice and our own body and mind. Because, you know, a lot of people kind of get confused. And they think that meditation or Buddhist practice is going to kind of bring them out of this,

human realm. And yet, we cannot transcend our humanness. We are embodied creatures. We live here in this realm, in this incarnation. And this idea that we can somehow practice our way up and out of this body, mind, that's a confusion. like the lotus plant, we can get down and in into our body, into our steady minds, into our open, resilient nature, and our heart.

And we can root ourselves so we can awaken and be free. So today's practice, I'm going to ask you if it's possible for you to sit up. I know sometimes we lay down or, you know, take a more relaxed posture, but today, if it's possible for you, to sit, take a seat where your feet are on the floor. If you're someone who can sit, you know, cross-legged, you can go ahead and do that. But sitting in a chair with your feet on the floor is perfect posture for today. And if you struggle to do that, take the posture that's best for you. Use your wisdom. Today we're going to use our concentration to help us connect with our own lotus, our beautiful flower mind,

our very strong and steady stem, our body, and our roots, our roots here into the earth, part of the earth we all are. and as always, place your device out of reach. You can listen to me without looking at anything. Close your eyes. Place a hand on your heart and on your belly. And really, if possible for you, considering to bring all of your attention, energy,

down, down to your heart, to your belly. not around your head, your brain, down to your heart, down to your belly. And one useful way to develop concentration is to count your breaths. Now, I'm going to ask you today to bring your attention to your hand on your belly. So you feel your breath in your belly, not in your nose or your mouth. You don't have to make anything happen. Let your body breathe for you. And I'd like you to count backwards from nine.

So the first inhale and exhale at your own natural pace, that's nine. The next at your own natural pace is eight. And counting until you get to one, starting again at nine. If you get mixed up, start again at nine. And we'll just do this for a minute or two. You don't have to make anything happen. Resting on the breath, counting each full, inhale, and exhale.

You can stop counting your breath, bringing your attention to your hand on your belly and your hand on your heart. bringing this energy down out of your head, out of figuring anything out, just to this moment, this felt experience of your body and your mind. And from your heart, like you to imagine, to connect with a couple of people that you are close to and that care about you, not complicated people, not difficult people. easy people, aunts, uncles, grandparents, therapists, old friends, pets. Bring a few of them here.

Maybe you have one. Maybe you have four. Bring those beings here with you. Really connect with them. Imagine them. And hear them say to you, may you awaken and be free. May you awaken and be free. may you awaken and be free. Allowing yourself to hear this repeated to you just for a minute or so, as you keep that metaphor in mind, your body, strong, flexible mind connected to the earth. Hearing these beings say to you, may you awaken and be free.

Where is your attention? Bring it back. this connection with these beings, hearing them say to you, may you awaken and be free, feeling your breath, your body, your connection with the earth, and now also connecting with yourself. Just feel this organism, this you, saying to yourself, may I awaken and be free.

May I awaken and be free Like the lobes May I awaken and be free And repeating that Keeping your feet firm Repeating that phrase Just for a minute or two Just checking in

Coming back again and again Using your concentration If you've gotten lost drifted away Come back to your root your steadiness, may I awaken and be free and continue saying this to yourself, keeping this connection just for another minute. May all of us, may everyone, may we awaken and be free, all beings, Sabes sata, may all awaken and be free. May all awaken and be free. May all

awaken and be free. May we awaken and be free? Can stop saying the phrases as you keep your attention and your energy in your torso and your heart center, your belly, your legs, your feet. The teacher at Sharon Salzberg, she says, the essence of practice is to begin again. and that's what we're doing. Each time we come back, right, like the lotus, we're not drifting all over that pond, come back to our roots and our strong stem. And this allows us so much freedom in our mind,

so much clarity as we connect with our body, we come into this human presence, That's when we can access the deep truth of our nature, of our being, of our spaciousness. So when you're ready to conclude the meditation, please thank yourself. I thank you. Peace, peace, peace, everyone. Thank you so much for that, Kim. And thank you all for listening.

Tashidele. That concludes this week's practice. If you enjoyed this podcast or are a weekly listener, we invite you to support this series by donating and becoming a friend of the Rubin at Ruben Museum.org slash friends. The Rubin is a non-profit that relies on the generous support of donors like you to create meaningful experiences with Himalayan art around the world. If you are looking for more inspiring content, check out our other podcasts,

awaken, which uses art to explore the dynamic path 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, sign up for our newsletter at Rubinmuseum.org slash newsletter. Thank you for listening. Have a mindful day.