Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation with Lavina Shamdasani 04/10/25

Episode Date: April 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 14:21.Teacher: Lavina ShamdasaniTheme: Renewal Maitreya, Buddha of the Future; Mongolia; 19th century; gilt copper alloy with pigment; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; C2006.25.1a-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 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.

Tashi Delek and welcome. Welcome to the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Arts Mindfulness Meditation Program here at New York Insight Meditation Center. I am Tashi Chodden, Himalayan Programs and Communities Ambassador. And I'm delighted to be your host today. So the Rubin is a global hub for Himalayan art, and we're so glad to have all of you join us

for this weekly program. Those of you who are first time, this is a 45 minute session inspired by our collection. We will first take a deep look at work of art that our teacher has chosen for today's session. We will then hear a brief talk from our teacher for a short sit for 15 to 20 minutes for the meditation guided by her. And this is our teacher is Lavina Shamdasani. So wonderful to have Lavina back. So let's take a look at today's theme and artwork. This month we are exploring on the theme of renewal,

as we all know, the spring and change in leaves and all of that. And the artwork for today's session is this beautiful sculpture of Maitreya, the future Buddha, known as Champa in Tibetan word, which translates as love, often referred as Jechun Champa Gombo in Tibetan. Origin, Mongolia dated 19th century. This is a gilded copper alloy with mineral pigment

and about 10 inch tall into three into one and a half inches. And the connection to the theme, Maitreya Buddha is both the future of Buddha as well as the Bodhisattva of loving kindness. Maitreya is associated with the renewal in his role as the future Buddha. He represents our collective yearning for a harmonious world. So it is prophesied that Maitreya will usher in a golden age of peace and harmony. Maitreya is said to currently reside in Tushita heaven.

He will arrive on earth during an age when the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha have been largely forgotten and herald a new era for all sentient beings to bring peace and harmony. Now if you are wondering when that is going to happen, it feels like the degeneration time is happening nowadays, you know, with so much uncertainty and all of that. But I do understand from some of the great masters is that the time that is sometime 10,000 years after the passing of Shakyamuni Buddha,

the historical Buddha. So I think we've been talking about 2,600 years ago. So there seems like there is still going to be so much more time, all the more reason for us all to take care of the environment and all of that. So the gesture here is Vitharka Mudra, which is the gesture of wisdom and discourse, as you see the right hand. And now if you look closely, you can also see Matriya can be recognized with the stupa in his hair right above the crown. This sculpture was modeled on a famous statue made by the exceptional Mongolian artist Zanabazar.

Zanabazar lived from 1635 until 1723. He was Mongolia's first reincarnate lama, student of great pension lama and the fifth great Dalai Lama. So he was sent back to Mongolia to teach Buddhism as well as he founded the Zenobazar style where you can also see a beautiful the lotus throne translucent drapery, sort of pouch-like lips. So these are some of the symbolic, signature aesthetic of Zanah Bazar. So let's bring on a teacher for today.

Our teacher is Lavina Shyamdasani. Lavina is a certified compassion teacher through the Compassion Institute and Stanford University. She has taught programs focused on mindfulness, compassion, joy, and gratitude, and led book club discussions and meditations for over many years. Lavina studied positive psychology coaching at the Whole Being Institute and helps clients transform their lives and meet their personal and professional goals. Find Lavina at SolveJoy by Lavina.com. Lavina, thank you so much for being here and please help

me in welcoming Lavina Shambhasani. Thank you, Tashi, for that beautiful, warm welcome. And thank you to all of you. I see a few familiar faces. Thank you for joining us in this moment of mindfulness. Happy to be here with you. To talk about this beautiful theme of renewal? And Tashi, that was a beautiful description of Maitreya, the future Buddha, the Bodhisattva of loving-kindness. Really one of my favorites. And as we think about renewal, what is renewal about?

It's about embracing the new, setting new intentions, cultivating a new path filled with hope and purpose. And if we think about it, we're presented with this opportunity for renewal every moment, every hour, every day. It doesn't just have to be on January 1, right? But do we take advantage of this opportunity moment to moment? We're often weighed down by habitual patterns that cause self-harm. If not, we're ruminating in the past, dwelling over some hurt, some injustice that we've experienced.

Or we're having a difficult time just forgiving ourselves for mistakes we've made in the past. And so whatever the case may be, these patterns tend to displace the opportunity for renewal. And so before we can let the love, joy, hope, light of renewal enter, we need to shed, let go of these patterns that don't serve us. And that's the key, letting go. I remember just discussing with my husband this past weekend that I need to come to terms with the situation in my life, and he said, well, you just need to let go. And I thought, well, it's not that easy.

And so before letting go, there's acceptance. Acceptance of what we've been through, acceptance of who we've been through, acceptance of who we are, and the key is acceptance with loving-kindness. No change ever comes from clinging or aversion. And if you will, I'll share with you a story about acceptance. We're going back to the time when the enlightened one lived in North India in a little town called Shravati.

And there was a woman, a very frail woman called Kosami, who was born in the same town. She came from very humble beginnings, a very poor family. But she was married into a wealthier family, but didn't really enjoy the life of a wealthier woman because she was always taunted from having come from poor beginnings. And to make matters more difficult, she was childless for many years. And then one day she had a beautiful boy. And the boy brought along with him some sense of respect

from her family. He was sort of her trump card to some love from the family. And one day she was walking along with her three-year-old boy and he tripped and fell. He tripped over a branch and fell and lay motionless on the ground. And Kusami ran to the boy and unfortunately he had passed just from tripping and falling. But she wouldn't believe that that was the truth. he had passed just from tripping and falling. But she wouldn't believe that that was the truth. She wasn't able to accept that.

She went from household to household, asking friends and family to find a doctor or some sort of medicine that could rejuvenate her child, bring him back, knocking door to door, rejuvenate her child, bring him back. Knocking door to door and people saw what was going on. They knew that he was passed any medicine. But they couldn't get through to her and so they just had to say, I'm sorry we don't have the medicine you're looking for. And then someone said to say, I'm sorry, we don't have the medicine you're looking for.

And then someone said to her, you should visit the Buddha, the enlightened one. So she goes up to meet the Buddha with her boy in her arms. And right away he says, he sees what's going on, takes stock of the situation and says to her, I have a cure for you. But first, you need to get me a handful of mustard seeds from a home where no one has passed. From a home where no one has lost a loved one. She thought mustard seeds are easy to come by,

I'm sure I can do this, she said okay, and went on her mission, knocking from door to door. And they were like, sure, we'll give you some mustard seeds. But she asked, have you ever lost a loved one? The answer was yes. Has anyone ever died in this home? And the answer was yes. And she couldn't find mustard seeds from a home that was untouched by the loss of a loved one.

And as she went back to the Buddha, she realized that this really was a lesson for her to learn, that sometimes things like this happen. Unfortunate situations happen and no one is spared from great loss and suffering. And once she accepted that, she was invited to join the Buddha and herself was ordained as a nun to help people overcome their suffering. And I was very touched by the story of acceptance.

And so today, I would love to guide you through a meditation on this kindness that you might offer yourself, allowing yourself to accept something that you want to let go of. And in doing so, opening new doors for renewal, new doors and windows to let in love, light, joy and hope. So when you're ready, you can shift around for a bit before assuming a posture that is comfortable and yet supports alertness and I invite you to lower your eyes, lower your gaze or close your eyes, whatever you prefer.

Resting your palms on your lap, whatever feels comfortable for you and bringing your attention just to the natural rhythms of your breath. Don't change any part of your breath. Simply notice the beautiful gift of the breath on your exhale noticing how the temperature of your breath has shifted ever so slightly. And if your mind wanders, as the mind will wander, simply let the thought go with Maitreya, with loving-kindness. And now bring to mind some element that you know deep down within is not serving you. Whether it's negative self-talk about something you regret doing in the past, or perhaps it's some hurt, some pain, And breathing in and breathing out, connecting with a part of you that's ready to accept. Remembering that accepting is not about giving up.

Acceptance is about releasing, letting go.. Acceptance is about feeling the pain a little bit less each time you think of it. Think about breathing in love, breathing in kindness. And as you breathe out, see if you can release and let go just a little bit with each breath... Breathing in light and on the exhale releasing and letting go. With each breath, slowly replacing the hurt, the loss, the disappointment. light, hope and joy. You can try placing your hand at your heart center. And if that feels good, letting it rest at your heart center. And with each inhale, bring in renewal. Let go.... Remembering as you release, that as you let go, ask yourself, if I could be anything I wanted to, What would that be? Or if I could offer something to this world, what would that be?.. And as we bring this practice to a close, really rest and savor in this new possibility, really savoring the moment for renewal. Thank you... . . . Thank you. Thank you so much for that, Lavina.

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.