Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation with Lama Aria Drolma 07/20/2023

Episode Date: July 28, 2023

Theme: CompassionArtwork: Unidentified Religious Master; Tibet; 16th century-17th century; Parcel-gilt silver, pigment; repoussé; Rubin Museum of Art;http://therubin.org/371 Teacher: Lama Aria DrolmaThe 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 13:01. 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 and Tashi Belek. Welcome to Mindfulness Meditation at the Rubin Museum of Art. I'm Tashi Chodron, Himalayan Programs and Communities Ambassador,

and I'm happy to be your host today. We are a global hub for Himalayan art in Chelsea, New York City, 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 look at work of art from our collection. We will then hear a brief talk from our teacher, Lama Arya Droma, and then we will have a short set, 15 to 20 minutes, for the meditation guided by her. Now let's take a look at today's theme and artwork. The theme this month is compassion and the artwork for today's art connection is this unidentified

spiritual master teacher on view in the fifth floor. The connection to the theme, the 14th Dalai Lama, born on July 6th, is not only a revered spiritual leader, but also an embodiment of compassion. We have included this artwork in July's artwork selection to honor His Holiness. His Holiness always says compassion as the source of happiness. The purpose of life is to be happy. Compassionate human affection is really important. The more compassionate our mind is, the better our brain functions. If our mind develops fear and anger, our brain functions more poorly. Therefore, compassion and affection help the brain to function more smoothly. Secondarily, compassion gives us inner strength, it gives us self-confidence, and that reduces fear, which in turn keeps our mind calm.

Now this sculpture's subject is an unknown lama. His sleeveless vest suggests his Tibetan identity, as it is not part of Indic monastic dress. Sculptural portraits of such commanding dimensions were produced to commemorate only the highest spiritual teachers. The quality of this sculpture is evident in the decoration of the robe. of the robe. The robe decoration features many auspicious symbols ranging from the Chinese character for longevity to auspicious flowers and cloud motifs. The master's hands are positioned in one of the best known mudra, that is the hand gesture, commonly associated with Shakyamuni Buddha, the historical Buddha. His right hand is pointing downward towards the earth, calling upon the earth as witness to his enlightenment. His left hand is an open meditation gesture.

Now let's bring on our teacher for today. Our teacher is Lama Aryadroma. Lama Aryadroma is an ordained Buddhist teacher in the Karmakarju tradition of Tibetan Buddhism who has completed over a decade of monastic study and meditation training. She emphasizes Vajrayana Buddhism and Buddhist principles, making them relevant in our everyday lives, helping us to cultivate loving-kindness and compassion, and bringing about a transformation of contentment and a genuine sense of well-being.

Lama Arya Dromala, thank you so much for being here. Please help me in welcoming Lama Arya Droma. Hello and welcome everyone and thank you Tashi for the introduction. And so as Tashi mentioned, today we are honoring His Holiness Dalai Lama and this month is his birthday and he turns 88 years old and he is an embodiment of absolute compassion. And he is an embodiment of absolute compassion. We view him as the Lord of compassion. And that is the Lord Chandrashe or Avalokiteshvara. And all these Buddhist teachings is all about transformation of your mind.

So it's a very intellectual, spiritual path, and people who have a lot of questions and want intellectual answers, Buddhism will really appeal to you. Buddhism will really appeal to you. And I saw some newcomers here. And welcome. Thank you for coming. Thank you for spending this afternoon here with us. And the meditation, the guided meditation, is very easy to follow. So if you're an advanced practitioner or if you're a beginner,

it is absolutely suitable for you. And talking about compassion, compassion is in the Buddhist practice, it is a practice that I have now been a monastic ordained nun for more than 10 years. And I've been living in the monastery for like 15 years. Some of the pictures you saw right now, the monasteries, it is a monastery similar like that in upstate New York. And so we practice compassion as a practice. And that practice is called Tonglen. And it's a very ancient practice.

And we practice compassion. Why? Because we have Buddha nature within us. We are all goodness and purity inside. And when we practice compassion, it's just to bring forth, bring up those innate nature that we have. You know, most of us, when we tell, you know, what happens to us, we are really affected when we suffer, when we have anxiety, when we have stress. It's very stressful on us. And what do we do? We always look outwards to get rid of that suffering. For example,

you know, some people probably love to go to a music club, or some people would probably go out to see the sunset, or whatever you do, you know, to feel happy. But in the Buddhist view, all these outward ways we find happiness is called compounded phenomena, which means, say, you know, you want to be happy and you're going to see a musical today. So we, in the Buddhist view, it's called compounded phenomena because it takes so many beings to come together. You need an artist, you need an audience, you need musical instruments,

you need so many things for you to be happy, you know, to go and to see a music concert. And that's called a compounded phenomena. And that's always impermanent. Okay. Let's talk about even watching the sunset sometimes, you know, that makes you happy. Even that, you know, it has to be a proper condition. You know, there has to be no clouds towards the sunset. So even in nature, we call that a compounded phenomena because there's so many things that come together to make you feel happy watching a sunset. Now, most of us forget that everything we seek are inward. We can be perfectly happy and contented. If we want everlasting contentment and happiness, all we have to look is inward. And one of the best ways to find contentment and happiness is with meditation.

So today I'm going to teach you a very simple technique, but don't be fooled because this technique is more than 2,500 years ago. They've been practicing. And it's called Shinne, which means calm, abiding meditation. So I will give you a guided meditation. And this is how it goes. So let's all center ourselves. Let's all center ourselves. And I'll ring the bell

and I'll give you instructions okay so when we start the meditation session there are two aspects one is your body and the second one is your mind so for your body it's always nice to move back from leaning against the chair and then just sit upright comfortably, okay? And then there are seven aspects of your body posture, but today I'll just simplify it and I'll give you the main aspects, okay? So the first is keep your spine straight and then slightly tilt your chin. Your eyes can be closed or it can be half open. You can pick a spot in front of you and just slightly put your gaze there. Don't study what it is, the color, it's faded. Just put your gaze there.

And the second aspect is, all you have to do is observe your breath going in and going out. So that is the posture for your body. And the second aspect is your mind. Right now, you may be here, but your mind may be somewhere else in the office, or you may be wanting to make a grocery list, or you may be thinking, what should I make for dinner? So let's bring our mind's attention to the present moment. Being right here. And so this is the only time you will take three deep breaths. This is the

instruction. You will breathe in deeply. And as you breathe out, just let out all your worry and anxiety. And this is how it goes. One breath. Let go of all your stress and anxiety. And then the second breath, just breathe in deeply. Breathe in. And now third breath. Breathe in.

Let go of all your anxiety and stress. And now you breathe normally at your own pace. And we'll start the meditation now. Again, make sure you're sitting upright but comfortably. And you can keep your eyes closed or you can lower your gaze. And your hands can be like this. You can watch me. Placed on your knees like this comfortably.

And just inhale and exhale breathe normally and as you exhale just visualize your breath filling this room and just rest in that present moment of awareness. And let's sit like this for a few minutes. Thank you. Breathe in and breathe out. Breathe naturally at your own pace. And just relax. Keep your mind's attention.

Just observe your breath. Be the observer. Breathing in and breathing out.... And if your mind has wandered off into some thought, that's okay. Just label it as thinking. Don't follow your thoughts. And come back again, putting your mind's attention on your breath. Breathing in and breathing out. Thank you. Keep your mind's attention on your breath. Just observe, breathing in and breathing out. Thank you. Again, if your mind has wandered off to some thoughts, just label it as thinking and then bring your mind's attention back to your breath, breathing in and breathe out and totally relax. Thank you. And if you feel like moving in your chair, you can do so.

Adjust yourself. Relax. And it's totally all right to relax or to adjust yourself. Or if you feel like coughing, being kind to yourself. Try to keep your spine straight. And again, bring your mind's attention back to your breath. Breathe in and breathe out. And be in the present moment. And if your mind has wandered off again to some thought, that's okay.

Label it as thinking, and then again bring your mind's attention on your breath, breathing in and breathing out. Thank you. Inhale and exhale. Breathe normally at your own pace. And just rest in that present moment of awareness. Again, if your mind has wandered off, you catch yourself thinking. Again, label it as thinking and bring your mind's attention back to your breath. Breathing in and breathing out. Thank you. And for the last few moments, let's keep ourselves really still. Keep your back straight, your eyes closed or gazing downward and we really put our mind's attention on our breath. Breathe in and as you breathe out, totally relax and just let go of all your stress and

anxiety and rest in that present moment of awareness. You can relax now. Well, did a great job. Fabulous. I know some of you all did not fall asleep, and that's okay. Thank you so much for that, Lama Riyadroma. That concludes this week's practice. To support the Rubin and this meditation series, we invite you to become a member at rubinmuseum.org 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 to 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.