Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation with Lavina Shamdasani 04/18/2024

Episode Date: April 26, 2024

Theme: Reimagine Artwork: Red Avalokiteshvara; Tibet; 19th century; pigments on cloth; Rubin Museum of Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin; C2006.66.549 (HAR 1028);http://therubin.org/38a Teacher: Lavina ShamdasaniThe 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 12:57. 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, everyone. Tashi delek. Well, today is a very auspicious day. In the Tibetan calendar, today is the third month and the tenth day.

So in the Himalayas, practitioners will be going to the monastery to receive blessing and healing and transformation. So this is our mandala of weekly pilgrimage, isn't it? So welcome. Welcome to Mindfulness Meditation at the Rubin Museum of Art. My name is Tashi Chodron, Himalayan Programs and Communities Ambassador. And I'm so happy to be your host today. So happy Guru Rumpuche Day! 10th day is Guru Rumpuche Day, and those of you who are new, we are a global hub for Himalayan art with a home base in New York City, and we are so glad to have all of you join us for this

weekly program where we combine art and meditation. Inspired by our collection, we will first take a look at work of art. We will then hear a brief talk from our teacher, Lavina Shyamdasani, and then she will guide us for about 15 to 20 minutes. And let's take a look at today's theme and artwork. This month is Reimagine, and the artwork for today's session is this beautiful Thangka scroll painting of Red Avalokiteshvara, origin from Tibet, dated 19th century, mineral pigments on cloth, and about 41.5 x 23.25 a quarter into three, eight inches. And this is a beautiful Thangka painting. And the connection to the theme is the theme of re-imagine.

This month, we invite all of you to re-imagine your state of being. And let's reawaken the wisdom, the true nature that is within each of us, and the Thangka, to share a little description, this intricate Thangka Tibetan scroll painting depicts Avalokiteshvara right here in the center, the Bodhisattva of compassion who has vowed to remain in the cycle of rebirth, the samsara, throughout time to work for the benefit of all beings. And now in this Thangka painting, Avalokiteshvara in this beautiful palace, the Pure Land, and on top here is the treasure revealer Pemaling Lingpa and then you see figures of different teachers on the Avalokiteshvara's left and right as well as some more teachers figure here and this is a fierce wrathful deity protector and another Avalokiteshvara on

the bottom here. So Avalokiteshvara is known to be the patron deity of Tibet. Avalokiteshvara appears in many forms, in two arms, four arms, one thousand arms and eyes, with eleven headed, in peaceful and wrathful fierce form. And in this particular one, Avalokiteshvara, in his simplest form, in the two arms, in a state of divine union with the goddess Tara, the female counterpart, Bodhisattvas display determination and self-sacrifice, vowing not to pass into the blissful state of nirvana until all sentient beings are liberated. The mantra for Avalokiteshvara is the six-syllable mantra, which is Om Mani Padme Hum. So now let's bring on our teacher for today. Our teacher is Lavina Shyamdasani.

Lavina Shyamdasani 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 five years. Lavina studied positive psychology coaching at the Whole Being Institute and helps clients transform their lives and meet their personal and professional goals. You can find Lavina at souljoybylavina.com. Lavina, thank you so much for being here and please help me welcoming Lavina. Thank you. Thank you so much, Tashi, for that very warm welcome. And thank you to the Rubin Museum for welcoming me back today. And thank you to all of you for joining in this practice of mindfulness meditation.

It's an honor to be here with you today. In the spirit of reimagining, let's transform our perspective on life, the lens with which we walk through this journey. And again, being in the spirit of reimagine, let's also transform our perspective on relationships and the heartbreak that they sometimes bring. So human beings are social creatures. We thrive on connection. We are biologically wired to proactively seek and cultivate relationships.

Ideally, these relationships uplift us, bring us optimism and positivity. But sometimes they can cause hurt and pain. So let's build community. Anyone experience hurt and pain through relationships? Okay. So that's the first thing to know that, you know, you're not alone. You're not alone on this journey, you know, with loved ones. And you see this thing called love cannot be controlled, managed, or commanded.

I used to love to be able to say about a friend of mine, she is mine, or my children, they are mine. But my new perspective on relationships is that they are like flowers in Central Park. I love my nature walks. And as I walk through nature, I am delighted by what I find with openness and no expectation. I receive joy from not one, but many flowers. Sometimes it can be the cherry blossoms that most of us might have seen. And on other days, freesia branches, a newly budding leaf. and on other days, freesia branches, a newly budding leaf. To me, these flowers are like loved ones in my life, and I look to them to receive joy with openness and without expectation.

If I were to call any of these mine and bring them home with me, they would perish in a few days. But over time, unfortunately, expectation sets in and we start to feel hurt and pain. This emotional pain is an alarm sign, a signal that our boundaries have been crossed. Bring spaciousness and acceptance to this pain. Bring spaciousness and acceptance to this pain. Ask yourself, does your loved one simply need room to grow on their journey of life and their pursuit of happiness? Ask yourself, have you perhaps inflicted the same on another one of your loved ones unknowingly? Search for intention. And if you find this is just a small sort of occurrence, forgive and forget quickly. Let it go. Don't even let it enter

your soul power. However, sometimes boundaries are really crossed over and over again. What starts out as a healthy relationship may change over time. People change, we change, situations change. And if we can bring kindness, compassion, and strength to share our hurt experiences, to share our hurt experiences, we may well strengthen our bonds. Remember that it takes courage to respond to someone who is hurt and acknowledge our mistakes. But maintaining boundaries and making sure you're not sacrificing too much of yourself is healthy, not just for oneself, but for others in the relationship. Let me repeat that. Crossed boundaries eventually lead to resentment and conflict.

So bring attention to crossed boundaries and make sure that you yourself are not sacrificing too much in order to please a loved one. But sometimes, despite a kind and compassionate response, relationships need to take a different course. But ending a relationship is always messy and unresolved. is always messy and unresolved. In an ideal world, people will go their separate ways gradually and mutually over time. But often, endings come with anger, abandonment. Sometimes there are no endings at all, and someone is left dealing with hurt, pain, wondering what went wrong.

And in moments like these, in the spirit of re-imagine, we need to transform this feeling of anger. Holding on to anger in the face of abandonment, hurt and pain only hurts ourselves. In situations like this, we need to sit and offer ourselves closure. From here, we can accept what has happened and then possibly move on, let go, and move on. So let us all practice in this path of first accepting and then letting go. This can be applied to any heartbreak that we might be experiencing in a given moment. Transforming our perspective and offering gratitude to the relationship for the good times that were experienced, for what we may have learned about the world through this relationship, for what we may have discovered about ourselves through this relationship.

So in reimagining, let's change the narrative. Let's transform anger into appreciation. Let's reimagine the narrative. Don't focus on what could have been and should have been. Don't focus on what could have been and should have been. Think about the new, what might be, what joy awaits us, perhaps an undiscovered flower in Central Park. And from here we can accept not just what happened to us, but completely ourselves as well. We are complete just the way that we are. And from this place, we can let go and transform hurt.

So if you'll join me in a meditation on acceptance and letting go. You can either lower your gaze or close your eyes, whatever feels comfortable for you. And find your position in your chair, feeling your body supported, held by the chair you're sitting on, your feet firmly planted on the ground. And feel your body rising up. Slight uplift. As you sit comfortably. Direct. direct.

And now bring your attention to your breath. Wherever you feel the sensations of your breath, noticing the belly rise and fall gently. Noticing the air inhaling through your nostrils, the warm air on the exhale. Just let the sensations of your breath, the task, the concern. with spaciousness. The worry, the task, the concern, the to-do list. Honor the thought and gently, ever so gently,

release. Let the breath help you feel your consciousness, your presence. In this moment you have nowhere else to be, nowhere else to go. Allow yourself this gift of silence and spaciousness. See what comes up for you in this moment. noticing any tightness your forehead, your jaw any pain you might be experiencing or perhaps you're finding a moment of peace here as we practice together. Meet whatever comes up with unconditional love, kindness and

acceptance. Perhaps offer yourself a moment of comfort. If it feels comfortable, try placing your hand on your heart and give yourself the gentleness of touch, warmth, touch, warmth. Acknowledge your wholeness and your wish to be free from pain and suffering.

And bring to mind a moment of suffering, a moment of heartbreak, disappointment. and offer yourself some gentle kindness. Silently say to yourself, may I be free from suffering. May I find peace and joy. And as you sit here in your completeness, know that you are enough. You are complete. Exactly the way that you are. You can be your own best friend, cheerleader, healer. And you can offer yourself some warmth, acceptance, and kindness in the face of your hardship. And now letting go of the narrative, simply say to yourself, May I be peace and joy. And now just resting for two minutes in the sense of unconditional self-kindness, self-acceptance,

self-compassion. Thank you.... . . . . . . .

. . .. Know that sometimes we push away unpleasant events, people, situations that we think were unfair or should have gone differently. We fight the things we don't want. But in doing this, we get tangled suffering. If we can start with acceptance, it gives us some space, a moment. And from here, we can respond with wisdom and awareness and from a deeper place of understanding.

Sometimes we may indeed need to take action, but giving ourselves this moment of acceptance allows us to do it from a place of spaciousness, kindness, and awareness. And so sitting here with yourself, take a moment to offer yourself closure on anything that you might be struggling with. Take a moment to accept. You are still whole.

You are still loved. Remembering that as one door closes, many more will open. Thank you. Noticing any release tension, expansion and spaciousness. This practice may have brought you. And remembering to hold on to that spaciousness. That you offered yourself in this short mindfulness meditation. Thank you.ご視聴ありがとうございました Thank you so much for that, Laveena. Thank you. Thank you for reminding us about when one door closes, many more will open. That concludes this week's practice. To support the Rubin and this meditation

series, we invite you to become a member at rubinmuseum.org slash membership. 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 e-news. I am Tashi Chodron. Thank you so much for listening. Have a mindful day.