Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation with Lama Aria Drolma 04/12/2021

Episode Date: April 15, 2021

Theme: Awaken Artwork: Avalokiteshvara in his Potala Pure Land; Tibet; late 18th - early 19th century; Pigments on cloth, silk brocade, cotton backing; Rubin Museum of Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin; [http://therubin.org/31k]; Teacher: Lama Aria Drolma The Rubin Museum presents a weekly online 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 a recording of the live online session and includes an opening talk and 20-minute sitting session. The guided meditation begins at 17:48. This meditation is presented in partnership with Sharon Salzberg, teachers from the NY Insight Meditation Center, the Interdependence Project, and Parabola Magazine. To attend a Mindfulness Meditation online session in the future 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, Dawn Eshelman. Every Monday 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 practice, currently held virtually. 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 Insight Meditation Center, the Interdependence Project, and Parabola Magazine. And now, please enjoy your practice. Hi, everybody. Welcome. Welcome to Mindfulness Meditation, our weekly practice. My name is Dawn Eshelman, and I'm here, of course, with the Rubin Museum of Art. And thank you for joining us for this weekly practice where we pair meditation with a look at one of the objects from our collection. one of the objects from our collection. Also this month, we're really trying to pay attention to those moments where we feel most awake, most alive, most free. And that's because we're talking about this idea of awakening, of really how we can find those moments in our everyday life, not just the kind of epic larger than life

concept of liberation awakening through the Tibetan Buddhist lens, but also taking that through different points of view as well and thinking about just the ways in which we feel very present in our lives and noticing those moments and cultivating them. Part of the reason for that is our brand new beautiful exhibition, which is up in our galleries now. It is called Awaken, a journey towards enlightenment through the lens of Tibetan Buddhism. Would love for you to come and take a peek. If you can't, you can engage with a multitude of elements online and really get a deep engagement with the exhibition that way. So for today's session, we're looking at a work of art together. We'll hear a brief talk from

our teacher, the wonderful Lama Arya Droma, who is here with us. And then we'll sit together for a short time, 15 to 20 minutes, and a guided meditation by Lama Arya Droma. So yes, this exhibition, Awaken, this is a Tibetan Buddhist journey towards enlightenment, and it explores the steps in the journey of self-knowledge and transformation. So we start at chaos, facing chaos, and move through the steps until we come to this place of awakening and, you know, explore everything in between.

So that's what we're talking about here today in mindfulness meditation. And I'll share my screen once more here and we'll look together at this beautiful object. This is Avi Lokateshvara in his pure land. This is a tanka fromvara in his Pure Land. This is a tanka from late 18th, early 19th century, made in Tibet, and pigments on cloth. It has a silk brocade around it and a cotton backing, as many of these tankas do, as they're meant to be rolled up and transported. And this is a rather large painting here. And so you can imagine standing in front of it. And you know, not only with this main deity, Avila Kuteshvara here to focus on,

but the surrounding sort of verdant landscape and the flowers above. So Avila Kuteshvara is the Bodhisattva of compassion. And here he is presiding in his, this is his celestial realm. That's what the Pure Lands are. These kind of not quite earth, really these celestial dwellings that deities and bodhisattvas can inhabit. And this one is called Potala. can inhabit. And this one is called Potala. And here is Avila Kateshvara adorned in silks and jewels with four arms, crystal rosary beads in his upper right hand, and then a lotus flower in his upper left. Of course, both of these signify a kind of purity and intent. And his other pair of hands are folded at his heart here at the very

bottom we see green Tara Patma Pani and really just are looking at this today to evoke this kind of reminder of this example here of awakening and you can see actually at the bottom you can see these rope bridges that people are using to attain access here to this pure land where it is said it's even easier to achieve awakening and enlightenment. So we'll bring on our teacher today, Lama Arya Droma, who is an ordained Buddhist teacher and trained in the Karmakagyu and Shankpakagyu traditions of Tibetan Buddhism with over a decade of monastic study and training. She was born in India and her early years she was a Hindu

and later she studied under the renowned Buddhist master for his guidance and became a graduate of the traditional three years, three months Tibetan Buddhist retreat, which she did with Palpung Thubten Choling Monastery in upstate New York. And she's also studied the Dharma Path Program of Mindfulness and Contemplation. And so she leads retreats all over the world, and we're very lucky to have her here today. Welcome, Mama Arya Droma. Hi. Hello, and welcome, everyone.

Thank you all for joining in today. I'm really, really excited about this exhibition at Rubin called Awaken. It's very close to my heart. It's my personal spiritual journey to be awakened, to be enlightened. And it's the reason that I gave up everything in my life. I was living in Manhattan. I had a wonderful job at the fashion industry. And one day I realized, you know, what is really the purpose of my life and who am I? And when I asked these two questions, I realized I need to make a transformation in my life. What I was living was just not enough for me. So I went on, I found this place where I could go and learn meditation. It was in Upper Manhattan. And it was also because I got a book called Awakening the Buddha Within by Surya Das from Rubin Museum,

which led me to the place I went to the Kagyu tradition and then to the place at the Upper West where I started my meditation practice. And then I started coming to the monastery, which was upstate and it's Papung Tupten Choling Monastery, where I did my three and a half year retreat practice with the renowned master Lamanola Rinpoche. And it was the most fulfilling, but extremely challenging. And I'm still here. I've been living here for 13 years and practicing meditation, practicing all my spiritual practices.

And so Buddha in Sanskrit means awakened one. Buddha's teachings are literally the roadmap to enlightenment so here the buddha has given you everything he's shown you the path here is the enlightenment and it's for you to practice dedicate yourself and that's what i am doing right now, dedicating myself to be enlightened, to be awakened. So to be awakened or to be enlightened is the highest potential as human beings. Awakened means being established in the highest state of human consciousness. It's experiencing the reality of your innermost self as unbound and eternal. The consciousness of an awakened or enlightened person is no longer subject to the worldly ups and downs of our negative emotions. It remains in a state of constant bliss and freedom.

Awakened means living in harmony with all nature. It means experiencing the universe as the expression of your unbound self. The Buddha thought that to become awakened or enlightened, a person must develop two qualities, two main qualities. One is wisdom and the other is compassion. What is wisdom in the Buddhist perspective? It's not the same as we understand in the Western context. Prajna in Sanskrit is often translated as wisdom in the Buddhist context, in the Buddhist perspective. It is described in the Buddhist commentaries as understanding the true nature of phenomena, realizing the true nature of reality, seeing things as they are, but not as they appear. seeing things as they are, but not as they appear.

You know, an example of that is someone, if an alien had to come and look at us, they wonder how we are surviving. They can't see the air that we're breathing in. It's similar, you know. It's seeing things as they are, but not as they appear. But in the Buddhist perspective, but not as their pure. But in the Buddhist perspective, wisdom is a direct realization of three characteristics of all things, of all phenomena. It is a realization of impermanence. It's a realization of dukkha. Dukkha is translated as dissatisfaction or suffering. It was the first noble truth.

And this is a realization, even though we at this moment, we have probably have everything we need. There's always that little dissatisfaction that this suffering that goes on within us. goes on within us. And even Prince Siddhartha, when he was born in a palace, he had everything, but there was always that little suffering as to what is really life about. And then when he crossed the palace boundaries, he saw old age, sickness, death. And then he also saw a monk who was so happy and who was practicing meditation and that's when he left the palace grounds in search of enlightenment so this is these things as impermanence, the direct realization of impermanence, suffering, non-self. These are not intellectual understanding, but it is the understanding of the direct realization through meditation. And also another very important aspect of realization is emptiness.

It's called shunyata in Sanskrit. There's nothing intrinsically substantial in all phenomena. This, of course, is now being confirmed by the physicist. For instance, take the chair you're sitting in. It seems to carry your weight. confirmed by the physicist, for instance, take the chair you're sitting in, you know, it seems to carry your weight. But if you look at it, microscopically, it's made up of atoms, neutrons, space. But to you, your body is feeling the chair, you can sit on it, it carries the weight. But if you break it all down, that's what it is.

And that's something, it's something similar like that. And secondly, the quality, the most important quality one must develop is compassion. Without it, there cannot be any awakening or enlightenment. This is because compassion is an inherent quality of enlightenment, which is inseparable from wisdom in the Buddhist perspective. And I do know that enlightenment and awakening is a very kind of a hard subject. And so today, I'm trying my best to simplify it and take as much as you can. And if you can't, just think it's a seed that's planted in your mind. One day, when you are ready, and when you have more knowledge, you'll understand all of these things that I'm talking about. And today I chose this wonderful artwork of Avalokiteshvara. It's said to be the embodiment of compassion of all Buddhas. Even in a monastery, we pray to Avalokiteshvara on a daily base. We

recite his sadhana. Sadhana means spiritual practice. And the main reason is to transform our mind to mind of compassion. It's when I lived in the city, when I started going to the meditation sessions, this is the first practice I did, the practice ofandrasi the sadhana of chandrasi and I really saw the transformation happening with me within me and I knew I had stuck gold and I was willing to dedicate my life into this practice you know the practice of gaining enlightenment you know the practice of becoming awakened because when you're awakened you can help millions of people at one time so coming back to our look at Aishwarya you know I

just saw a wonderful BBC documentary and it's called light at the edge of the world where the commentator who's a Buddhist practitioner travels practitioner travels to tibet and there he meets this old tibetan lady who's in retreat for 45 years and she's seen for the first time being interviewed so as she opens her window you can see this loving and kind lady she tells them all you know when asked what is a spiritual practice? And she says, my spiritual practice for 45 years has just been the practice of Aulokiteshvara. And that's why, you know, I chose this Thangka. And the practice that she was doing is the mantra of Aulokiteshvara, which is Om Mani Peme Hong. And Aulokiteshvara is so very powerful

because he is the embodiment of compassion of all the Buddhas. And if you dedicate yourself to his practice, you can freely find that transformation. So today, in lieu of Avalokiteshvara and his compassion self, I want to introduce you to this meditation, which is called Tongling. You know, when Dalai Lama was asked from his own experience, what is it that brings happiness to oneself? And he said he found that the greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion for others. And here we are in this modern world, we are taught how to compete with

each other. You know, when we were young, it was like sharing is caring. And then as we became older, it was like competition and to get ahead of each other. But now, you know, with the virus, coronavirus, we've seen how life is about helping one another. It's the, all those medical staff that, you know, worked unearthly hours to help us. It was neighbors who were singing to uplift people. It was children drawing rainbows on the windows to uplift people. It's about helping people. It's about loving people. And this is a very skillful meditation that I'm going to be teaching today. The outbreak of this coronavirus, it reminds us, you know, how important it was, oh well, how important it is to be compassion and how important it was to love each other, to help each other. So by recognizing the

suffering of others and having a sincere desire to elevate that suffering, we can learn to act compassionately in the world. And this practice of tongling is just amazing. So I will now introduce you to this practice of tongling, which can be very helpful. And do know there's no right or wrong way. Do your best because it's just something very new. You're not very comfortable about, you know, being, cultivating love and compassion. It's a training. So today's guided meditation, we will practice on loving kindness and compassion. And it'll be awkward at first for many people, but it has great potential in transforming your mind in terms of bringing a sense of loving kindness for all beings and oneself. So how do

we practice Tongven meditation? I will do the guided meditation. It's very simple to follow and just listen and do your best. And here are some important instructions. So as we do this practice more and more, we get better at that. Well, all of us at some point or the other have experienced unconditional love towards someone. It could have been your father, your child, your aunt, your grandparents, your friend. And you may have wanted absolute happiness for them. So when we start the meditation, bring to mind that feeling of wanting to help someone, your child, your mother, your parents, bring to your mind that feeling.

So that's very important. So the instructions are simple. As you breathe in, feel the suffering of that person and then bring into your mind that you really want to help this person and so from your heart center send a brilliant light and of peace and joy and happiness to everyone out there and just rest your mind in that essence and also important it includes yourself that white light even goes to yourself and fills you with peace and love and joy purifying yourself within and totally erasing all your negativity. And during this meditation, put your attention on your breath. And we need a anchor, we need something for our mind to anchor on. So it's going to be our breath

putting our attention. And there are two essential points when you start the meditation. Sit upright and your mind is going to be doing the meditation. So bring your mind to the present moment. You can leave all your list and of all the things you want to do. And you can go back to it after the meditation. So again, sit upright, be comfortable, and I will give you the guided meditation. And put your mind's attention on your breath, feeling each breath as it comes in and as it goes out. And breathe normally. And imagine as you breathe out, you're sending out pure loving kindness and brilliant light goes out in all direction.

It permeates the universe. You get to be an angel now. So let's start the meditation. Please sit upright again, comfortable. Inhale and exhale. Breathe normally. So let's do three breaths. One breath.

Second breath. Second breath. And third breath. Here, you're just putting your mind's attention on your breath, okay? And then as you breathe in now, please breathe in normally, sit upright, and as you breathe in, bring to your mind the feeling of suffering of others, anyone, your child, your mother, your father, your parents, any pets you have. And then in your mind, think, I want to heal them. I want to help this person. I want to help them all. So from your heart center, visualize a brilliant white light.

And as you breathe out, bring that light of unconditional love and kindness and compassion in your mind and let that light permeate the universe and just rest in that present moment of that feeling, in that essence. Let's sit in that wonderful light of joy, happiness, kindness, love to one another, and including yourself. Just rest in that present moment of awareness. Breathe in and breathe out. And as you breathe in, bring to your mind the feeling of sufferings of others. the feeling of sufferings of others. And as you breathe out, bring to mind's attention the feeling of unconditional love, kindness,

and compassion into your mind stream. And just imagine sending pure loving kindness and compassion in the form of brilliant light goes out in all direction. It permeates the universe with loving kindness and all beings are filled with happiness and joy including yourself and just rest in that present moment of awareness Thank you. When you see your mind going away into certain different thoughts, just say, thinking, and bring back your mind's attention to your breath. Again, just imagine you're sending out pure loving kindness and compassion in the form of brilliant light, and it goes out in all directions, and it permeates the universe with loving kindness and all beings just visualize

all beings are filled with happiness and joy including yourself and just rest in that present moment of awareness Thank you. Tongling practice is a very ancient Tibetan Buddhist meditation practice. And the practice is extremely, extremely important. important and it's a very simple practice of transforming your ordinary thoughts or your negative thoughts into a compassionate one and this is a training that we do every day here in the monastery this is my practice as well and i feel so joyous when i do this meditation and i see the results of my mind being more happier rather than, you know, having negative thoughts and feeling miserable. This is such a beautiful practice.

And it's the practice is called taking and sending. And again, sit upright. Breathe in and breathe out. And as you breathe in, bring to your mind's attention the feeling of suffering of others. It could be your child, an animal, or someone whom you feel close. Just bring your mind's attention to the feeling. And then as you breathe out, bring to the mind the attention, the feeling of unconditional love and kindness and compassion that you want to help that person whom you feel sorry and sad so sad and you want to be

able to help that all all of you and just imagine that very feeling you're just sending it out to everyone in the universe from you can do it slowly you can first do it to the person whom you want to help. And then you can enlarge it. You can make it into a huge feeling of sending out pure loving kindness and compassion in a form of brilliant light that goes out to the whole universe. And it permeates the universe and yourself. Yourself is very important and initially it may feel a little awkward but you'll get so good at it you can play angel all the time sending out these beautiful good vibes beautiful feeling of love and kindness to the whole universe and then just rest your mind in that present moment of awareness.

You don't have to do this every breath. You can just rest. And then when you feel comfortable again, you can do it to your next breath. Thank you. And this is a very gentle practice and while you're doing this practice when new thoughts arise do not follow them when you notice those thoughts just say thinking and just let go and bring your attention back to your breath and then when when you feel comfortable, again, feel the feeling of loving kindness, someone whom you want to help. And then send out as a form of brilliant light from your heart, send out loving kindness and compassion and love for that person. And then you can extend it from your heart to the entire universe, that the whole universe permeates with that loving kindness and compassion.

And do your best. There's no right and wrong. And you're not going to do anything wrong. It's loving kindness and compassion so don't worry do your best you pay attention to your mind do not follow the past the past is finished do not think of the future it hasn't arrived yet just rest within the present moment of awareness without distraction and it's doing it doing again and again and you'll get better and better each time. This practice, tongling, is also a very good practice, you know, when you have discord with a family member,

your friend, someone at work. And you can do this even in your own home, at your own safe place. You can visualize that person. Think of their suffering. One of the first noble truths of Buddha, that everybody has some kind of suffering within them. And you can do this practice of, you know, as you breathe in, bring to your mind's attention that person, you know, putting your breath, all your attention on your breath and sending out light of loving kindness and compassion. you can do it from the safety of your house and you you will see the transformation happening because you're in a wonderful loving kindness and compassionate space that people will enjoy being within your with your company so this is a wonderful practice. I can't emphasize more.

And the benefits of tongling meditation is one of the bravest practice that one can do. This practice is very beneficial to all kinds of negative emotions you may have in your mind. It's helped so many people deal with their pain and their fears and suffering and dying and loss. And it's really given them strength and courage. This is one of the greatest meditation jewel that offers a way for us to cultivate our own compassionate nature, bringing about positive energy to oneself and everyone around you. to oneself and everyone around you. Thank you all for joining in today. Thank you so much, Mama Arya Jolma. It was really lovely. That concludes this week's practice. If you would like to support the Ruben and this meditation series, we invite you to become a member. Thank you for listening.