Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation with Michel Pascal 05/15/2025

Episode Date: May 23, 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 22:25.Teacher: Michel Pascal Theme: Compassion Ushnishavijaya; Tibet; 18th century; ground mineral pigment on cotton; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin; C2006.66.507Learn 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. Hello everybody. Good afternoon.

At Tashi Delek, welcome. Welcome to the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Arts Mindfulness Meditation Program here at this beautiful place, New York Insight Meditation Center. I am Tashi Chodron, Himalayan Programs and Communities Ambassador, and I'm delighted to be your host today. The Rubin is a global hub dedicated to Himalayan art and its insights,

and we're so glad to have all of you join us, both in person and online, 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 have chosen today, which is handpicked by our teacher amongst a collection of art that we sent. Then we will hear a brief talk from our teacher, Michelle Pascal. He will give us a guided meditation for 15 to 20 minutes.

Let's take a look at today's theme and artwork. The theme we're exploring this month is compassion. And the artwork for today's session is this beautiful Thangka, mineral pigment on cloth of Usni Savijaya, who is sitting in the middle of this architectural structure called stupa or chaitiya. She is with three faces and eight arms. So this is origin from Tibet, dated 18th century,

mineral pigment on cloth. And this is about 51 into 38 into two and quarter inches. A beautiful thangka. And the connection to the theme for the compassion is Ushanesha Vijaya is the goddess of longevity, her merciful presence bestows protection from physical and mental afflictions. Ushanisha Vijaya, known to be the goddess of long life, she is often referred to as Sela Nam Sum, one of the three long life Buddha, often with Amitabha Buddha and the long life Buddha.

The mantra of Ushanisha Vijaya is recited with the intention of leading a healthy long life filled with Dharma activity. Now this beautiful thangka, if you look closely you see the architectural structure called stupa, pagoda like shape and in Nepalese language it's known as chaitiya and on top you can see sort of the crescent moon shape and on top is the Sun, the Sun and the Moon symbolizing the universe. Now what you see here is intricate Thangka painting commissioned by a grieving family to commemorate a deceased relative. So the lost loved one is depicted in the bottom center wearing a white robe. Along with the deceased person,

you also see the five teachers during that period, which is the 18th century. In fact, the presence of the teachers brings added merit to the deceased relative for an auspicious rebirth. Again, when a person passes away in the Buddhist tradition, there is the observation of 49 days of reciting the Bardo texts and lot of rituals that goes along,

especially on the third day after a person passes away, and then the first week, second week, third week, and all the way to the seventh week, which is the wrapping of the 49th day. Now let's bring on our teacher for today. Our teacher is Michel Pescal. Michel is a meditation teacher for 25 years and has led successful programs for prisoners which help prevent suicides and reduce reoffending. He's written about 20 books on spirituality including Meditation for Daily Stress,

10 Practices for Immediate Well-being known as The Medicine Voice. He's performed at Carnegie Hall and played at the Peace Day Conc concert in Times Square in September 2023. In December 2023, he presented his methods at the United Nations and he's done so many amazing programs and we're so fortunate to have Michelle here. Michelle, thank you so much for being here and please help me in welcoming Michelle Pascal. Pascal. Let's pray. Let's meditate. Let's calm the mind. I will sing for each of you, Om Mani

Pemeum. Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo O Omani, Pemeum. Omani, Pemeum. Oh Omani, pemeum. Omani, pemeum. Omani, pemeum. Omani, pemeum. Omani, Omani, Omani, Omani, Omani, Omani, Omani, Omani, Omani, Omani, Omani, Omani, Pemeyum Omani Pemaeum

Omani Pemaeum Omani Om mani pemeum. Om mani pemeum. It means, may all I can do today be full of love. All I can say today be full of love. All I can think today be full of love. All I can say, all I can say all I can do all I can think be full full of love Omani, Pemaeyum Omani, Pemaeyum He bemeu, omani bemeu Do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do Omani pemeo

Omani, Omani, pemeum. Omani, pemeom Omani, Omani, Omani. Pemaeyum. Omani. Pemaeyum. Omani. Pemaeyum. Omani. Pemaeyum. Omani.

Pemaeyum. Omani. Pemaeyum. Omani. Pemaeyum. Omani. Pemaeyum. Omani.

Pemaeyum. Omani. Pemaeyum. Omani. Pemaeyum. Omani. Pemaeyum. Omani. Pemaeyum. Omani pemeum Omani pemeum

Omani pemeum Omani pemeum Omani pemeum P-M-E-O-M O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O Oh Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Oh Oh Oh Pemeyom Omani Pemeyom Omani

Pemeyom Om O Manny, O Manny, O Manny, O Manny, O Manny, O Manny, O Manny, O Manny, O Manny, O Manny, I am... Thank you so much for your coming. Thank you Tashi for this beautiful tanka. Thank you Jacqueline, Jason, thank you to you. Thank you to everyone at the Rubin Museum inside meditation. What a beautiful moment today. Astashi, you were talking about the compassion, kindness. I remember one day I was giving a class at Google in Manhattan.

And a student said to me, Michelle, I overthink all the time. I cannot sleep. And a student said to me, Michelle, I overthink all the time. I cannot sleep. I cannot sleep. My brain is running all the time, all the time. Do you have a magic stick to stop that? And I say, yes.

There is a magic stick. Go downstairs in the street. Smile to an homeless. Give $1 to someone in the street who suffers. Have a kind attitude. If you are kind, immediately you will be liberated. will be liberated. When we are kind, when we say, hello, how are you? When we smile to someone, when we have a good attitude,

when we have compassion, like that, it calms the mind. We are saved. You know, my friends in our world, calming our mind, it's the only way to survive. Because we cannot have compassion. We cannot love. We cannot work. We cannot love. We cannot work. We cannot have friends. We cannot have projects

if we are stressed. But it's fascinating to see how kindness and calmness are interconnected. So at the second, we are kind, we have compassion, we have a good attitude with someone. We are liberated from the stress. Immediately we feel better. But I share with you, this is the Buddhist perspective. It's an experience. I love Buddhism because it's very scientific. Buddhism, we experiment, we compare, and we have proof. Make the experience.

Be kind with the next person that you meet. Immediately, it calms the mind. Now, to finish this talk, let's investigate what say neuroscience, what say the science on the brain. At the second you are kind, you upgrade the dopamine. Dopamine, this is a neurotransmitter of the joy, of the gratitude, of the positive mind. At the second you are kind, you upgrade the dopamine,

and you decrease the cortisol. Cortisol, this is the hormone of the stress. Cortisol damage our intestine, our stomach, our brain. This is the hormone of the stress, cortisol, damage of intestine, or stomach, or brain. You know, when we have stress in our brain, the neurons explode one by one. So it means that when we are stressed, we reduce the size of our brain every day.

And when we are kind, we extend our brain, so we become more intelligent. And it's very simple to be kind, because it is our nature. As we say in Buddhism, it was a representation of the tanka. No one loves to be unkind. Everyone will have to be kind. We love to be calm. No one will say to you in New York City, I love to be stressed.

I love to have anxiety. I love to have pity. No. No one loves to have pity. No. No one loves to have depression. I say that to you because, as Tashi was explaining, I direct the meditation for the prisoners of Los Angeles since 10 years. And we have the best result of America in mental health.

We have zero suicide since 10 years. So the program from July 1st is extended to every jail of California. Every prisoners will practice that I teach for you today. And the mayor of New York City asked me to develop this program for New York, especially for New York PD, the police of New York. They have a huge rate of suicide. Two days ago, a police officer took his life in his office. Boom!

Tomorrow, there is the funeral of Mario. Mario, this is the name of this guy. And the mayor of New York City was very affected. He said to me, Michel, you have zero suicide in LA. Bring the program for New York, for the prisoners. Just after you, I have meeting with the commissioner of the correctional system to bring this result, zero suicide, for the prisoners, for New York PD,

for the youth in Queens, in Brooklyn, who are interested to become gang member. So the mayor said to me, Michel, stay here. And I say, OK. And I signed my lease. And I moved back to New York. And it means a lot for me to see Jacqueline, Tashi, Jason, to see each of you.

It means a lot for me. So I will lead a short meditation. A short meditation that I have adapted from the bodhicitta, the good art, as we say, it's to meditate like a rose. To meditate like a rose, it's a meditation that we do with the prisoners of Los Angeles. We do this practice every day when we start the day. When I say prisoners, it's prisoners, parolees,

and lifers, the guys incarcerated for life, men and women. And we do the program in person but also by video because you know in California in every jail there is a TV, an internal TV so the program is filmed by video and broadcast. So but it's interesting to teach the program for the prisoners and for the police in the same time. And it's so beautiful that New York PD wants to learn from the prisoners of California. This is wow! And when we teach for the prisoners in LA, many times in the class, we have the sheriff, the parole officer, prisoners, and police

are in the same room. When you take out the uniform, when you take out the tattoos, and all, we are the same. So let's calm our mind. Let's meditate like a rose. And just we close our eyes. And just we close our eyes. We are sitting down in a comfortable position. We do nothing.

Just we are sitting down in a comfortable position and we put our right hand on our heart feel your heart, your heartbeat, your heart is like a rose. The color of your heart is rose. And when we meditate like a rose, we can send our compassion, our kindness like a rose with no reason, no expectation, like a rose gives her perfume. So we feel our heart in our right hand. We will breathe in the nectar of our heart, the nectar of our good heart, because every person has

a good heart. Every person has a heart. We will breathe in our compassion, our good heart. And when we will exhale, we will diffuse in this room to each of us our good energy. of us, our good energy. Breathing our compassion. Exhale our compassion. And let's send our good heart, our compassion to every cell of our body. compassion like a rose, diffuse the rose.

the peace of your heart in your stomach, the peace of your heart, the compassion of your heart in your intestine, in your back, and in this room. Let's go deeper. We will breathe in our compassion, and we will send our compassion, our good heart, to our parents, breathing like a rose. Diffuse the rose. Let's go deeper with our coworkers, our colleagues, all the people who work with us. We breathe in like a rose. Send our love to them.

to your family, children, aunties, uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins, imagine all your family make an half moon around you. And you will send your love like a rose, send a perfume with no reason, no expectation to each of your family members. Take a time to see their faces. Your brother, your sister, your niece, your nephew, your uncles, aunties, grandpa, grandma, parents, all the family, like that. Now, let's go in the street to every people in Manhattan, every people who need love, who need kindness, visualize the people in the street. Take one face, choose one person, and give all your love to this person. Shhhhhhh Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr R- And to finish, visualize, visualize unkind un't love you. People sometimes who are nasty, violent, abusive, people unkind. Visualize them.

Breathing like a rose, offer the rose to them. When we are kind, we are liberated. And we stay like that, like a rose, we can listen to the chanting of the rose, the chanting of her heart. To do. Oh When we meditate like a rose, we become a rose. And we open our eyes slowly. When we meditate like a rose, we become a rose. Thank you so much, Michelle, for that. Third rub means liberation upon hearing. 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.