Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation with Lavina Shamdasani 12/11/2025

Episode Date: December 19, 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 10:15.Teacher:  Lavina ShamdasaniTheme: WisdomManjushri; Western Tibet; 10th century; copper alloy; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; C2002.29.3Learn 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 Children. Every Thursday, we offer a meditation session at New York Inside 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 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 welcome. Welcome to the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Arts Mindfulness Meditation Program here at this beautiful space at New York Insight Meditation Center.

I'm Tashi-Churdan, Himalayan Programs and Communification. Ambassador and I'm delighted to be a host today. The Rubin is a global museum dedicated to Himalayan art and its insights and we're 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 deep look at the work of art we've chosen for today and then we will hear a brief talk from our teacher, Lavinasham Dasani. And then we will have a short sit about 15 to 20 minutes for the meditation. guided by her.

Let's take a look at today's theme and artwork. The theme for the month of December is wisdom. And the art for today's session is this sculpture of Manjou Sri, origin Western Tibet, a dated 10th century. This is a copper alloy, and it's about 9.5 into 3.5 into 1.5 inches. And it's a beautiful sculpture of Manjou.

The theme wisdom. Bodhisattva Magusuri embodies the wisdom of all awakened beings. With his sword of wisdom, he guides practitioners in separating accurate from erroneous views. Majushri is known as Jampel Young in Tibetan word, which means the gentle voice. And he's one of the great eight bodhisattvas who were. the closest disciples of Buddha and one of the most represented figures in Tibetan art. He is both a tantric bodhisattva and a deity associated with wisdom. Manjushiri is revered in all Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Although his name translates as gentle voiced or gentle glory, he bears in his right hand

the sword of wisdom with which he assists practitioners. in separating truth from illusion. As we behold, Manjushiri, let us reflect on how we can harness the wisdom of discernment in our own lives. The mantra for Manjushri is Om Aara Patsha Nadi, and that is recited by all schools of Tibetan Buddhists. And so, let's bring on a teacher for today. Our teacher is Lavinasham Dasani. Laveena 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, 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 Souljoy by lavena.com.

Lavina, thank you so much for being here and please help me in welcoming Lavina. Thank you, thank you, Tashi, for that warm welcome. Thank you everyone for joining today in this beautiful sacred space of mindfulness. Thank you to the Ruben Museum for welcoming me today. And for that beautiful description of Manjus Sri, the both of wisdom. And so we're exploring this theme of wisdom today.

And let's think of wisdom not as an idea in the mind, but as something we can connect with through awareness. Wisdom is not about having all the answers. but more about seeing clearly responding with compassion and really connecting with what truly matters

and so I'll give you three elements of wisdom the first being clarity the ability to see clearly and not motivated by our fears, not motivated by desire. Just seeing what is and what matters. So the first, clarity. And the second being,

spaciousness. So responding after giving ourselves a breath and recognizing that we don't have to respond to every impulse, every thought, every emotion.

So, we have so far clarity, spaciousness, and finally compassion. Knowing that our choices reverberate outwards and have a ripple effect. And so really choosing the compassionate response, one that minimizes suffering for our and for others.

And you can think of wisdom not as gaining something, but rather of a quality of letting go. Letting go of the stories we tell ourselves. Letting go of our attachments, our fears, And what is left is this quiet quality of knowing what really matters. And so I'll share with you a little story about a woman who was feeling a little lost. And she found her way to a river and sat on a bench. watching the leaves flow along the river stream.

And some flew swiftly down the stream, others got caught up in rocks and crevices, and others were spiraling in some current pools. And as she sat there, she noticed after a long while that eventually every leaf made its way forward. And when she stood up

her situation hadn't changed but she felt a shift. She understood that she doesn't need all the answers, that she might just need to just let go and go with the flow of the stream. And I want to add here that if the leaves had a way of navigating, steering in the right direction,

is something we can do. But letting go becomes important when our expectations are not met or when we face challenges or experience ups and downs in the journey of life. And so if you will allow me, I would love to guide a meditation to tap into this quality of wisdom

and you can feel free to lower your gaze or close your eyes finding a position that feels comfortable and supports alertness and awakeness. and taking three deep breaths to begin, to begin, letting your shoulders soften, and elongating your spine. And now just breathing naturally. Notice your thoughts as they come and go. Bringing awareness around your thoughts.

Simply letting them enter your mind and gently releasing the thought, never labeling it as good or bad, with compassion and kindness where the mind goes. In this few minutes together, you have nothing to fix, nothing to change. This is a chance to just rest. And now seeing if you can bring your attention to a quality of clarity Imagine throwing a pebble into a still pond. When the ripples settle, you can see through the water clearly. and seeing if you can settle in this way,

really easing in to yourself and the body breathing. And now bringing to mind some challenge or difficulty you're experiencing on a smaller level if you can. And asking yourself, not from the mind, but from the heart, what is the wisest response to this situation? Not what is expected of me? Not what do I fear. Thank you.

Considered asking yourself if the stories around this situation are rooted in fact or assumption? Consider asking yourself, if you indeed know everything, about this situation. Asking yourself, what supports clarity, spaciousness and compassion as a response? Thank you. Thank you.

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Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And seeing if you can't even if you can,

connect with the answer as a shift, an opening inside, a soft, a softening of sorts, resting your awareness on what truly matters in this situation. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. And seeing if you can connect, with the answer as a shift and groundedness that you might want to carry with you for the rest of the day and week ahead. and letting go of the visualization and just resting with your breath for a few minutes Connecting with wisdom as a luminous quality always accessible to us,

As we settle our thoughts and our emotions, and see clearly this wisdom is ever present in each one of us. Thank you. Thank you. and in close connecting with any spaciousness, any feelings of gratitude, the gift of the body breathing, of the sacred space

which allows us to practice in person. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. And when you're ready, gently open your eyes. Thank you so much for that beautiful session, Lavin. 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 available wherever you listen to podcasts and to learn more about the rubin museum's work around the world visit rubin museum.org thank you for listening have a mindful day