Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation with Lavina Shamdasani 11/09/2023

Episode Date: November 17, 2023

Theme: Appreciation Artwork: Buddha Ratnasambhava with Wealth Deities; Tibet; early to mid-14th century; mineral pigments on cloth; Rubin Museum of Art; http://therubin.org/37lTeacher: Lavina Shamdasani   The 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.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. Hello, everybody. Good afternoon and Tashi Delek. Welcome to Mindfulness Meditation at the Rubin Museum of Art. I'm Tashi Chodron, Himalayan Programs and Communities Ambassador, and I'm so happy to

be your host today. We are a global hub for Himalayan art with a home base in 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. We will then hear a brief talk from our teacher, Lavina Shyamdasani, and then we will have a short sit, 15 to 20 minutes, for the meditation guided by her. Now this week, the Himalayan communities in the Fibora, especially from the Hindu culture, we are all celebrating Diwali and often greeting as Happy Diwali or Deepavali. The actual date is Sunday, November 12th. This is a Hindu festival of light. It symbolizes the spiritual victory of light over darkness,

good over evil, knowledge over ignorance. Very much needed, especially during this time. And let's take a look at today's theme and artwork. The theme this month, we are exploring on the theme of appreciation and gratitude. And the art connection for today's session which is handpicked by our teacher lavina is this beautiful thangka painting of buddha ratnasambhava along with wealth deities the connection to the theme ratnasambhava is associated with wealth and abundance becoming more aware of the present moment leads to a greater sense of appreciation and gratitude for the simple treasures of life that we often take for granted. Ratnasambhava is one of the Buddhas of the five families. Each Buddha is associated with the cardinal direction.

You can discover more about the mandala in the mandala lab on our museum's third floor gallery, which is further explained as afflictive emotion transforming into wisdom. Ratnasambhava presides over the southern direction. He's associated with overcoming pride and developing equanimity. His identifying characteristics include his golden yellow hue, his right hand is in the mudra of supreme generosity, resting his right palm on the knee, palm facing up, and his left hand holding the treasure vest and Ratnasambhava sitting in the Vajra position, which is full lotus position. This Thangka painting, dating from the early to mid-14th century, is an example of an early

Tibetan painting. Works from this time period are hierarchical in nature. Each figure is portrayed in a size that reflects its relative importance. Since Padmasambhava is the subject of this painting, he is the most prominently featured as you see him as the central figure. Ratnasambhava is a Sanskrit word. Jewel, Ratna, and Sambhava is self-generated. And in Tibetan, he's known as Rinchen Jungne. And you also see the five forms of the wealth deity Zambala are shown along the bottom of the painting. Now let's bring on our teacher for today. Our teacher is Lavina Shyam Dasani. Lavina Shyam Dasani 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. Lavina, thank you so much for being here. Please help me in welcoming Lavina Shyamdasani. Thank you. Thank you so much, Tashi. And thank you to the Rubin Museum for welcoming me back.

And thank you to all of you for choosing to be here and practice in this mindfulness meditation. It's truly an honor to be here with you today. And as Tashi mentioned, the theme is appreciation. And as we unpack appreciation, I want to share with you this line I read in one of Pema Chodron's books. Pema says, the ordinariness of our good fortune makes it hard to catch. So let me repeat that again. The ordinariness of our good fortune makes it hard to catch. And so let's unpack that together, just considering that we all had the gift of waking up this morning and experiencing this beautiful fall day. Perhaps we cared for a loved one or contributed to society through our works. And then we made the choice. We had freedom of choice to be here.

Furthermore, we walked into this beautiful room. And now just taking a moment to look around at this beautiful room, to contemplate the offering from the Rubin Museum. And maybe look at someone on your right and left and contemplate the awe, the marvel of humanity. And so these very ordinary blessings, the ones we so easily take for granted, are not available to so many, even in this moment. Contemplate the fact that these small blessings are the basis of our well-being. No amount of wealth can be enjoyed without the gift of a new day, our health, and our freedom. And so why is it so hard to pay attention to these ordinary blessings?

Well, for one thing, our brains are working against us in this regard. Our brains are tuned in to sense danger, to sense negativity. It's a way of survival, a way that we protect ourselves. And this really helped us back when we were hunters and gatherers in the jungles. But we no longer need to fear lions. In fact, our technological and social advances have outpaced our biological evolution. We need to train our mind to focus on the positive. What's more, we're constantly distracted by technology, our own creation. And furthermore, we're so busy being busy. So busy on our quest for more. So what do we need to do?

We need to train our minds to become more aware. The key is to become more aware and fully connected with the present moment, paying attention to the details of ordinary life. And we all know about gratitude journals and making lists of things we're grateful for but I'm talking about a deeper essence of gratitude that we carry with us. I'm talking about opening up

taking in the beauty around us instead of narrowing our vision with our phones opening up, taking in the beauty around us, instead of narrowing our vision with our phones or being inside our heads, listening to the nonsensical chatter of our minds. I'm talking about relishing these everyday moments of joy. And I want to point out that we're not slowing down. This is not taking away from our efficiency. This is not taking away from our goals. In fact, positive psychology research has shown that being aware of the beauty around us, being in this mode of appreciation, in fact,

the beauty around us, being in this mode of appreciation, in fact, leads to more optimism. And then we can function better. We can have more productivity. This optimistic attitude, in turn, creates feelings of well-being, promotes health, and also expands on our relationships. Moreover, this can be a great resource during times of stress. This everyday essence of noticing the little things may sound trite, but it actually takes a lot of bravery and can offer us the little restitude we need when we're combating adversity, when we're dealing with personal loss and distress. So when you're waking up in the morning, look around you.

Open. Really enjoy the little things. Even the noises on the street, the busyness of people getting to work, the beauty of a perfectly symmetrical flower in the park, the turning of fall leaves. Take pleasure even in the most mundane of tasks. While making dinner, marvel at the beauty of vegetables.

Enjoy even doing the dishes, folding the laundry. This combination of mindfulness and appreciation connects us fully with reality and can bring us joy. I'm talking about sustained joy that lies with us no matter what we go through every day. And if we can expand this appreciation to our environment, towards ourselves, towards others, we can expand this feeling of joy.

And really, this truly is the secret of everyday small moments of joy that energize us. So next time you hear the term, stop and smell the roses, know that you are not stopping. You are not taking away from anything you're doing with your day. You are just simply becoming more aware and smelling the roses as you go. So if you will join me, I will lead you in a gratitude meditation practice. And so we'll begin by finding a comfortable position. you may either lower your gaze or close your eyes

whatever you prefer and find your feet firmly rooted on the ground trust in the ground beneath us choosing a position that's comfortable but also supports alertness and awakeness. And beginning with three deep diaphragmatic breaths,

inhaling all the way in through the nose, expanding the chest and releasing through the mouth on the exhale. Two more deep breaths, inhaling and releasing. And one more. One more. And now, simply breathe in and out through your nose. And let your breath fall into its natural rhythm. Release any tension in your forehead, your shoulders, your torso, any tension in your hips, your legs, relax your fingers,

and let your body and mind settle in to this simple practice of breathing in and breathing out. Paying attention to the sensations of your breath on the inhale, the rise of your chest perhaps, the flow of the air through your nostrils, sensation of the breath on the exhale. And let's just breathe together for a minute. the breath being one of the most basic of ordinary blessings that we so easily take for granted. And if your mind wanders, gently and not aggressively, bring it back to the sensations of the breath. this is how we train the mind

to become aware by practicing in breath awareness and the mind will wander that's what the mind does gently release with kindness and compassion, notice where your mind goes. Notice the worry that comes up for you. Perhaps something on your to-do list. Yes, I see that I'm concerned about that. and release.

We're never resisting, never fighting the mind, just offering unconditional love to our thoughts, to ourselves, and releasing. And now bring your attention to your fingertips. Perhaps your hands are clasped or resting on your knees. Consider the sensation of touch. Consider the sensation of touch. How fully we feel our fingers, our own skin,

the fabric of our clothing. Offer gratitude for the sensation of touch. And now listen for the gentle sounds of our breathing, of our breathing, the power of practicing collectively together in this room. How lucky are we to be together and share in this. Bring into focus again appreciation for our sense of hearing. And now think about something that might have happened today, something that went well for you. Perhaps it was your commute to work.

Perhaps you wore your favorite piece of clothing. A small moment of ordinary life, a cup of tea, coffee, something that went well. And as you think about this something that went well for you, consider that so many people contributed to this moment of well-being. If it was your commute, someone paved those roads, drove the trains, or the bus,

cleaned the roads every morning. If it was your cup of tea or coffee, someone harvested those plants, packaged them, and someone else delivered them to the store and from there to you. Really connect with our interconnectedness. Our joys are provided by so many others. And offer appreciation to all those beings that contributed to your moment of well-being today.. .

. in the well-being of others. If those around us are happy, we can be happier. And now letting go of this visualization of your moment of well-being and connecting with the breath for one or two more minutes. And now think of something you appreciate about yourself. Perhaps your resilience, your dependability, your ability to love,

bring to mind something you appreciate about yourself. contemplate the fact that we all have this goodness within us. We all love and want to be loved. And really connecting with the sense of self-appreciation. And now thinking about a visualization of some place that brings you joy. It could be the ocean, being by the beach, a walk in the park. Really fill in the details. Fill in the details of the colors, the sights, the sounds of this moment, where you truly were yourself, fully connected with the present moment, fully connected with reality. And now honing in and appreciating the beauty of that environment, marveling about how that might have come to be.

And as we pay attention, we are reminded there are so many little, small blessings around us. All we need to do is open, notice, look up, pay attention, Notice. Look up. Pay attention. Dwelling for just one moment on the very basic Buddhist principle that nothing is permanent.

Everything is impermanent. And holding on to this truth, what might you want to do with the gift of this day? With the gift of this very moment. What is most important to you now? And now relaxing any visualizations and simply connecting with how you're feeling in the body, how you're showing up after this practice. and remembering to take a small piece of that with you for the rest of today. And when you're ready, gently open your eyes. And bring your awareness back to the room.

Tashi, you're welcome. 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 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.