Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation with Rebecca Li 05/18/2023

Episode Date: May 26, 2023

Theme: Change Artwork: Machik Labdron; Kham Province, Eastern Tibet; 19th century; Pigments on cloth; Rubin Museum of Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin;http://therubin.org/36sTeacher: Rebecca Li  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.The guided meditation begins at 15:42. 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 Med 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. Tashi Delek. Welcome. Welcome to the return of in-person mindfulness meditation with the Rubin Museum of Art. I am Tashi Chodron, Himalayan Programs and Communities Ambassador, and I'm so happy to be your host today.

We are a museum of Himalayan art and ideas in New York City, and we are so glad to have all of you join us for our weekly program where we combine art and meditation. Inspired from our collection, we will first take a look at work of art from our collection. We will then hear a brief talk from our teacher, and today we're so happy to have our teacher Rebecca Lee back, and then we will have a short sit 15 to 20 minutes for the meditation guided by her. Now let's take a look at today's theme and artwork. The theme this month is change. This theme is inspired from our newest exhibition death is not the end. This exhibition is a cross-cultural exhibition that explores notions of death and life after through the art of Tibetan

Buddhism and Christianity, the change from this life to next life. So the art connection for today's session is this beautiful thangka of Machik Labdron. The thangka is a scroll painting, mineral pigments on cloth framed in silk border. This is a 19th century thangka is a scroll painting, mineral pigments on cloth framed in silk border. This is a 19th century Thangka from Cham, eastern Tibet. The central figure is Machik Labdun, a renowned 11th century Tibetan Tantric Buddhist practitioner, teacher, and a yogini, who was famous for her mastery of Vajrayana practice of Chut. And Chut means cutting through ego, to severe the ego, and cutting through all dualistic fixation, which is the essence in Prajnaparamita. Machik is perhaps the most famous female saint in Tibetan Buddhism,

and she is shown adorned in bone ornaments, dancing to the sounds of her drum, which is Damaru, the two-faced drum, and the bell she holds. To her left are dakinis, especially the one here is Vajrayogini, and then those are often known as Khandroma. Closest translation is Sky Gore, Dancing with Her. And then to the right, a tantric master, possibly Machik's teacher, the Pa Tabasange, who also appeared or came around the 11th century,

and he's blowing into a leg bone trumpet. This personification of a perfection of wisdom, the deity Prajnaparamita is above her among the Buddhas. In fact, you can see the Shakyamuni Buddha, the historical Buddha, immediately above Machik, and then above that is the Prajnaparamita Deity symbolizing that the realization of the empty nature of reality is what frees us from the attachment to self, the root cause of all suffering. Chut practitioners intentionally visualize in their mind's eye their own bodies are offerings to the gods and spirits. And let's bring on our teacher for today. Our teacher is Rebecca Lee. Dr. Rebecca Lee, a Dharma heir in the lineage of Chan master

Shen Yen, is the founder and guiding teacher of Chan Dharma community. Her talks and writings can be found at rebeccalee.org. She's a sociology professor at the College of New Jersey, where she also serves as faculty director of the Alan Dowdy Center for the Study of Social Justice. Rebecca, thank you so much for being here. Good to be here practicing with all of you today. So I find today's artwork particularly intriguing because of the teaching that it's sharing, talking about how the realization of the empty nature of reality

is what frees one from the attachment to self, which is the root cause of suffering. And I want to speak on this a little bit. Oftentimes when people hear about the self being empty, it sounds scary. It sounds as if it's saying that we don't really exist. There is no self. And those are actually incorrect understanding of this crucial Buddhist teaching. And the teaching presented by the artwork today, it is centered on the teaching of wisdom, which focuses on the teaching of emptiness, of the true nature of reality. Emptiness is the common English word used to translate this Sanskrit term sunyata. And emptiness, there's really no good word. So just if you find sunyata, a foreign sounding word, easier, you might want to stay with that.

Because oftentimes for folks, emptiness may invoke a sense of like there is nothing, that we don't exist, which is not what it means. Really, it is to point to us to reconnect with ourselves as we truly exist, which is every moment of our existence is the coming together of constantly changing causes and conditions. So emptiness does not mean that nothing exists, does not mean that we don't exist, does not mean the self does not exist. In fact, everything exists. We are all here. The room is full of all of us here, feeling the presence of everyone here.

And of course, in our presence here, we brought the presence of everyone, everything in the universe into this room right here, right now. The entire universe exists right here through us in this space and time. It's because what is pointing to this teaching of Sunyata points to the fact that every moment, every moment is the coming together of constantly changing causes and conditions. And all you need to do is to take a moment to just reflect on how the air in our lungs, when we enter the room, it's now already in the lungs of someone else, and we have taken in different air in our lungs. And not to mention the thoughts and ideas and physical sensations and sound we have heard constantly changing, constantly changing. teaching of the true nature of reality being impermanent, anicca, referring to the fact that the true nature of our existence is really like a flow.

It is not a moment that's fixed and now that's it. It doesn't change anymore. So if we allow ourselves to experience it, we can actually connect with it quite easily. So when we talk about the realization of the true nature of reality or the self, it may seem like something that we have to go to someplace very far away or study some very difficult text in order to realize. But actually, right here, right now, we can reconnect with it, that allowing ourselves to experience our bodily sensations moment after moment.

And these bodily sensations are from the interaction between ourselves and the environment. You can feel the temperature and humidity in the air and the sound you're hearing coming from the microphone here. And of course, that also includes the ideas and memory that might be invoked as you hear different ideas. And of course, all the beliefs, even very, very subtle ones and habitual tendencies, the way we tend to interpret what's going on, and then react automatically, fuse automatically, all those things that can be directly experienced moment to moment. moment. I often like to think of what I've observed when I go to take a walk by a river in New Jersey, because I live in New Jersey, in this very beautiful place. There's this river and then I would see as the water flow and there will be occasionally

some water bubble and then the because of air um there's this this part of the water molecule forms a bubble and flow and flow and flow and then and then like meander around and then there's no more bubble and then you flow is joins back with every other water molecules the water bubble means like oh like you know i'm bubble, you know, I'm just going to be a water bubble forever. And oh, no, I'm not a water bubble anymore. It's like, it's just happily flowing around with the river, with every other water molecule. And that we can live our life that way as well. And that is what meditative practice can allow us to do. We learn to use the meditation method to allow us to stay with the present moment experience of this body and mind in this space, moment after moment. Then we allow ourselves to be directly experienced as it is

and allow ourselves to realize that, oh, wow, there is not a fixed independently existing entity that's like moving from place to place per se, but every moment I'm here. I'm here as I am right now. And by relaxing into each emerging present moment of this body-mind here right now, we are allowing ourselves to be as it is right here, right now. And all we need to do is to maintain this gentle contact with the meditation method that gently anchors us to the present moment.

So whatever is happening, well, if there's a busy mind, if there are a lot of thoughts going through, not a problem. It's only a problem when we think that the mind is supposed to be a fixed way, like always calm and no thought. Right now, busy mind, no problem. And if we feel like a little tired, the tired sensation, not a problem. Well, maybe we found, you know, working a lot, or maybe we have been dealing with some physical ailment, and it creates the sensations that we call tired. It's only a problem when we think, I'm not supposed to feel this way. In fact, there's a perfectly good reason for the body to feel a little tired. And sometimes there might be certain thoughts that pass through the mind, and oh, it's just a thought. But we can turn it into a problem if we think that,

oh, I'm not the kind of person that have this kind of thought. Well, thought is not you. It's just surpassing by visiting and it's leaving. And so, but like if we can unlearn the habits of identifying with the thought as who we are forever, then it's just a thought, like a bubble. And now it's not a bubble, not a problem. And so this is how meditation can help us reconnect with ourselves as we truly are. And when we can be with it all as it is. See ourselves that each moment is truly the coming together of constantly changing causes and conditions. What that means is that when we allow the present moment of self to be experienced as it is, as part of a flow,

then we can release the urge to grasp a moment. Think of like this water bubble on the river, and turn it into a fixed entity to, I like it, hold on to it. Or like, oh, I don't like it, I hate it, and we try to get rid of it. It's just like right here, right now, as it is, moment after moment.

In this way, we can be truly at peace regardless of what is going on. That is how realizing the true nature of our existence, sunyata, can free us from suffering. So what it is, is that it does not mean that we dissociate from our experience. It does not mean that we pretend that what is going on is not happening. In fact, we're clearly aware of what is going on moment to moment and clearly aware that it is the coming together of constantly changing causes and conditions. And I'm right here fully experiencing life as it is. So it is living a fully engaged life. We are fully alive. And because of this clarity, we can see what needs to be done in the moment as it emerges and respond

appropriately. And so this is why the teaching of Sunyata is so central in our cultivation of wisdom and compassion in living an engaged life. So let's give it a try as we do our meditation together. So I'd like to invite you to situate your body in a posture that's conducive to relaxation. You might find it helpful to sit closer to the front of your chair, allowing the lower back to fall into its natural curvature you can give that a try and i take you through and whole body relaxation and we begin and feel the relaxation of the top of the head directly experience the subtle sensations of the top of the head. Directly experience the subtle sensations

as the scalp relaxes. And feel the relaxation spread to the forehead. Check to see if we hold tension in the area between our eyebrows by habit. And allow, allow the tension to melt away. to melt away. And feel the relaxation spread to the eyeballs and eye muscles.

We often hold a lot of tension in these muscles in our daily life. From all the analyzing, comparing, judging, planning, right here, right now. There's no need to do that, and we can give these muscles a vacation and allow the tension to melt away.

And feel the relaxation spread to the facial muscles. Check to see if we hold tension in some part of our face by habit. Perhaps from holding a certain facial expression for others to see. Right here, right now. There is no need to do that. We can give these muscles a vacation and allow, allow the tension to melt away. And feel the relaxation spread to the entire head. And feel the relaxation spread down to the neck and shoulder muscles.

and shoulder muscles. Directly experience the subtle sensations of these muscles softening like melting butter as we allow the tension to melt away. And feel the relaxation spread down the arms to the forearms. to the forearms, all the way down to the fingertips. And feel the relaxation spread to the chest area. Check to see

if we hold tension in this area by habit. Maybe from anxiety, sadness, grief, fear. Right here, right now,

we can give them a rest and allow, allow the tension to melt away. And feel the relaxation spread down the torso, and all the way down to the lower abdomen. Trust that the skeletal structure can hold up the body. We don't need to hold so much tension in these muscles.

And allow, allow the tension to melt away. And feel the relaxation spread to the upper back. Directly experience the subtle sensations of these muscles softening as we allow allow the tension to melt away and feel the relaxation spread down the back. All the way down to the lower back.

And to the buttock. Where we feel the sensations of the body's weight on the seat. And feel the relaxation spread to the thigh muscles and down the legs and all the way down to the toes. And feel the relaxation of the entire body sitting right here right now moment after moment with this wakeful clear mind clear mind.

And as we do so, you'll notice the subtle changing sensations as the body breathes. Subtle expansion and contraction of our ribcage that also moves the body slightly. Rest your attention gently on the subtle changing sensations as the body breathes, allowing the body to breathe on its own. The body knows how to breathe.

It's been doing so since the moment we were born. And you may notice sometimes the mind may drift off, disconnected from the subtle changing sensations of the body breathing not a problem make use of that as an opportunity

to practice remembering to come back to gently reconnect with the direct experience of the subtle changing sensations of the body breathing. It doesn't matter how often

or how long the mind drifts off. As long as you find your way back, you are practicing well. And if you notice thoughts in the form of memory or images, fragments of conversation passing through, not a problem, allow them to come through. They're already part of the present moment. There's no need to talk back at them and chase them away. Allow them to be fully felt and seen and heard.

and seen, and heard. That it's part of the present moment experience of the self here, right now. And when it's ready to move on, allow it to move on, on its own, moment after moment. Maintain this clear awareness of the body-mind sitting in this space Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Maintain this clear awareness as we transition from stillness to motion. We move our fingers one by one. Rotate our body from small circle into bigger and bigger circles in one direction.

Stay with the changing sensations as the body moves, moment after moment, and change direction. Notice the urge to allow the mind to scatter just because the formal meditation period has ended but why would we want to stop being clearly aware just because the formal practice period has ended. Take good care of this transition and you can bring the stability and clarity cultivated in meditation into your life-lived emotion.

Thank you. Thank you so much for that beautiful session, Rebecca. Thank you, Rebecca. That concludes this week's practice. To support the Rubin and this meditation series, we invite you to become a member at rubinmuseum.org membership.

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 2, hosted by Raveena Arora, is out now and explores the transformative power of emotions using a mandala as a guide. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. 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 enews. I am Tashi Chodron. Thank you so much for

listening. Have a mindful day.