Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation with Sharon Salzberg 06/27/2022

Episode Date: July 1, 2022

Theme: Transformation Artwork: Five-prong Bell & Dorje Set; Probable Urga or Dolonor (Mongolia); ca. late 19th century; silver, metal (Li, five metal compound); Rubin Museum of Art, Gift of Phillip J. Rudko;[http://therubin.org/34r] Teacher: Sharon SalzbergThe Rubin Museum presents a weekly online 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 a recording of the live online session and includes an opening talk and 20-minute sitting session. The guided meditation begins at 19:16.  This meditation is presented in partnership with Sharon Salzberg, teachers from the NY Insight Meditation Center, the Interdependence Project, and Parabola Magazine.  To attend a Mindfulness Meditation online session in the future 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, Dawn Eshelman. host, Dawn Eshelman. Every Monday, 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 practice, currently held virtually. 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 Insight Meditation Center, the Interdependence Project, and Parabola

Magazine. And now, please enjoy your practice. Good afternoon and welcome. That was a beautiful music that just popped up in between, which is a nice welcome. So welcome to Mindfulness Meditation Online with the Rubin Museum of Art. My name is Tasha Chodron and I'm 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 online.

Inspired from our collection, we will have a brief talk from our teacher and then we will have a short set, 15 to 20 minutes, for the meditation guided by our wonderful teacher Sharon Salzberg. We will then take just a few questions and then if you have time join us as we will take a deeper look at the art we have chosen for today. The theme is transformation transformation and today's art is the bell and the vajra, these beautiful ritual objects. So this is actually the vajra is called Dorje and the bell is called the Tilbu. So Dorje and Tilbu, the Vajra is in Sanskrit word. This is one of the most common ritual objects that is used in the Tibetan Buddhism. And the material is silver with metal. In fact, there's a specific word in Tibetan for this metal called Li in Tibetan word. In fact, it says it's five metal compounds.

And I just found out from one of our elders here in the community that Li, the five compounds, makes the sound so much more better. And so therefore, it is called Li or the five metal compounds. This particular object is a gift from Philip Rubeco. So the Vajra and the bell, Tribhu and Doje, are most important ritual objects in Tibetan Buddhism, as I mentioned, and they represent the method and wisdom. Vajra is the method, and the bell represents the wisdom. Combined together, they symbolize enlightenment

as they embody the union of all dualities, which is bliss and emptiness of compassion and wisdom. The other way of explaining is conventional truth which is bliss and emptiness of compassion and wisdom. The other way of explaining is conventional truth and ultimate truth. So the symbol of Vajra and Bell, most Vajras have five prongs and that symbolize the five wisdom that are attained through transcendence of the five kleshas or the five afflictive emotions which are the greed anger delusion pride envy together it's often referred to as the root cause is the ignorance and because of ignorance as we all saw the the court decision, which is obscured by the ignorance during all this

certain act. And so therefore, transforming of all of these negativity of the five afflictive emotions is the wisdom which leads to enlightenment. So Vajra is the Sanskrit word related to diamond-like or indestructible thunderbolt. The bell is the wisdom. And so I would like to now bring our wonderful teacher for today, Sharon Salzberg. Sharon is the co-founder of Insight Meditation Society in Bering, Massachusetts, and guided meditation retreat worldwide since 1974. Sharon's latest book is The Real Love, The Art of Mindful Connection. Sharon actually just mentioned earlier has two books coming soon and she's a weekly columnist for On Being, a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and the author of several other books including the New York Times bestseller, Real Happiness, The Power of Meditation, Faith, trusting your own deepest experience, and

loving kindness, the revolutionary art of happiness. Sharon has been a regular participant in many on-stage conversations here at the Rugen Museum. Sharon's book, Real Change, Mindfulness to Heal Ourselves and the World is now available for purchase and also at the Ruby Music gift shop. Thank you so much, Sharon, for being here. Oh, thank you. Thanks so much. So I'm delighted to be back here, here so to speak. I'm in Massachusetts and be with all of you. And to have the opportunity to

talk about transformation, which is so interesting. And I like the symbol of the Vajrayana bell, by the way, because there is, for me, in looking at those ritual objects, something so steady, so steadfast, so connected to lineage and the past that in the midst of turbulence and disruption and change and chaos and all that we live through, and all that we live through, I just have that sense of, oh, I can just touch this. And this reminds me of kind of the center in the eye of the storm, so to speak. So in a positive sense of transformation, I think about the internal states that come up for us,

that we grapple with, you know, intense fear or anxiety, intense, intense anger or resentment or bitterness, strong craving, you know, to the degree that we feel we in no way have enough or are enough. So many states that we just experience in the natural flow of events because that's life with all of its intricacies and complexities. of its intricacies and complexities. And a very big question, of course, becomes what's a skillful relationship to these mind states that we cannot seem to stop from coming, absolutely preventing them completely. Being in control in that way doesn't seem to be within our abilities. So

how do we live free nonetheless? How do we make choices and decisions? And how do we act in a way that more recollects our deeper values and what we really care about and how we want to live and, you know, when we are subject to these states just arising. And there are many possibilities, which is the beauty of the changing nature of the mind. It's the availability of access to our deeper values, to remember something, say like compassion, as we are choosing to say something or not say anything in a certain situation or move toward the situation or take a break or whatever our decision point is, what's infusing it, what is really helping mold those decisions. And we want it, of course, to be our deeper values and the things we really care about. So there we are. Let's say we're meditating in a formal sense,

sitting down to meditate for some minutes. And one of those very minds states that when we are lost in them, when we're overcome by them, when we're defined by them, they are so troublesome. If we're completely overwhelmed by anxiety, for example, or fear, clearly it has a certain nature. It has a certain quality or set of qualities or characteristics. Any of those three states I mentioned, which are very classical in Buddhist teaching of grasping aversion, anger and fear being aversion,

grasping aversion, delusion, like just numbness or confusion, you know, general overwhelm. Any one of them, when we are enveloped in them, you know, and this is such an important distinction, I just keep making it. I'm not talking about these things arising, even arising with some intensity. I'm talking about getting sucked into them, getting lost in them in some way. And ironically enough, fighting them, hating them, being ashamed of what we're feeling, it's another way of being lost in it. So we're talking about something else altogether. So when we are lost in one of these states, they function in a way to close us down. We get tunnel vision. I mean, just bring up, let's see, we can choose any one of them, right?

Let's bring up anger at yourself. Like the last time, think of the last time you were very, very angry at yourself. Just bring it back. Just bring it back. It's not a time where our minds say with some delight, oh, you know, I said that really stupid thing in the meeting, but I did 15 great things the same morning. Those 15 great things, they're gone.

Right? As our minds close down and we get that tunnel vision, it's a state of fixation. All we can think about is what we did wrong and what we said wrong and all of that. So we're not talking about trying to annihilate these states. We're talking about learning not to get enveloped in them and at the same time not hate them and hate ourselves for them and not push against them so that is really our goal and the question of course is how do we get there

because this is this is about reality this is about real life this is about dilemmas this is about wanting to be happy and you know having a sense that we really could be happy in a very different kind of way and so that's where the transformation is it's like what do you do and there are many options there are many things we do and we almost get like a kind of toolkit and a range of skills. Sometimes we apply perspective. You know, it's almost like applying an antidote. Like we know we have a habit of anxiety, for one example. And so we try certain tools, the ways of breathing, for example, which we've talked about in the past, which are, you know, there's a lot of research these days on them. And it's

very interesting where basically the fundamental principle is pretty simple. There are many more elaborate manifestations of it, but the fundamental principle is that if your out-breath is longer than your in-breath, then the parasympathetic nervous system will start to take over from the sympathetic nervous system, and very likely your blood pressure will go down. Your nervous system will just start to chill. And you'll feel that effect. That's one tool. There are tools of perspective. I've talked also, I know, in this class in the past about my friend, my colleague, in this class in the past about my friend, my colleague, Sylvia Boorstein, who describes herself as a recovering catastrophizer. Interestingly enough, it's not an issue, she says, and I believe when there's a real problem, she said, if something's gone wrong, she's as steady as a rock. But it's her imagination. It's her anticipation. She said if something's gone wrong, she's as steady as a rock. But it's her imagination.

It's her anticipation. She's 85 years old right now. So her children are actually in their 60s. And she says, I'm the kind of person who will call one of my adult children and they don't answer the phone. So I know the worst must have happened. my adult children, and they don't answer the phone. So I know the worst must have happened. She said, never curse to me they're taking a shower. Or they fell in love, they don't feel like talking to their mother. So she got into meditation practice because she was so haunted and oppressed by those thoughts.

And now I believe, not perhaps to the same degree or intensity or frequency, but still those thoughts may well come up. But now she has so much more perspective. She just laughs at herself. So she said to me not long ago, she has a new mantra that she uses, which is not every bus is going to end up in a ditch. You know, so sometimes you realize I'm falling into an old pattern. I actually don't need to go there. I know its consequences are not that helpful. It's not going to help me if something really is wrong, as an example.

So I'm going to create a different kind of relationship to it, not taking it so to heart, not believing it so utterly, not condemning myself to an unchanging future, feeling only this, all these things we do. We apply some perspective. Not every bus ends up in a ditch, actually. One of my favorite things to say to myself in the same kind of mood or mode would be, why are you rehearsing that? Why rehearse that? It would be bad enough if it happens, and I have to summon the strength or the inner resource to live through it and get through it.

But why live through it in anticipation when it may not even happen um so these things are very freeing and and quite wonderful it's not being down on yourself for what you're feeling and it's not judging yourself for what you're feeling uh it's realizing I spent a lot of years there. I don't need to go back there, actually, as a sort of dwelling place. Can't stop these things from coming up. That's okay. I can be with it in a different way.

So one mode of transformation is kind of reaching for the perspective we actually genuinely have, just from living a life and seeing change and learning how to let go and things like that. And then fundamentally, what we're doing in meditation practice is we're in a way creating a different holding environment. We can't control the thoughts and feelings. You can't insist successfully, well, I'll never be afraid again, feelings. You can't insist successfully, well, I'll never be afraid again, or I've grieved long enough, you know, I'm done. We can change conditions for sure to affect the intensity, the frequency, the duration even of what we feel. We may know, for example, if we don't sleep at

night, we're going to be very vulnerable to being overwhelmed by some pretty difficult states. So we work with that. We do work with conditions and circumstance, but fundamentally, we always have to remember that no matter what comes up, we have the capacity to be with it in a different way. We can be present. We can be more balanced. We can be kinder to ourselves, whatever we may be experiencing. And so that's the sort of broader understanding of transformation because whatever we are experiencing will transform itself if we can create that kind of atmosphere.

And so that's our work. That's what mindfulness is. We're present with maybe something like the feeling of the breath as the home base that's like our chosen object. Other things come up for sure. We practice recognizing them with greater calm and presence. So this is what's happening right now. We learn how to let go and come back to that original object and we keep strengthening all of that, all of those aspects, all of that power of awareness.

This is how we engage in transformation. Okay. So let's do some meditation together. You can sit comfortably. See if your back can be straight without being strained or overarched. You can close your eyes or not, whether it's the sounds of my voice or other sounds. It just started raining here. You may hear the rain.

It's a way of relaxing deep inside, allowing our experience to come and go. Of course we like certain sounds and we don't like others. But we don't have to chase after them to hold on or push away. Just let the sound wash through you. Bring your attention to the feeling of your body sitting, whatever sensations you discover. See if you can feel the earth supporting you. And feel space touching you. Space is always touching us.

We just need to your hands. And make the shift from the more conceptual level, like our fingers, to the worlds of direct sensation, picking up pulsing, warmth, coolness, whatever it might be. You don't have to name these things, but feel them. And bring your attention to the feeling of your breath, just the normal, natural breath, on this same level of feeling sensations. Maybe the breath is strongest for you or clearest for you at the nostrils

or the chest or the abdomen. Wherever that place is, you can bring your attention there and just rest. See if you can feel one breath. Thank you. If you like, you can use a quiet mental notation of in, out, or rising, falling to help support the awareness of the breath, but very quiet. So your attention is going to feeling the breath, one breath at a time. If sounds or images or sensations or emotions should arise, but they're not very strong, if you can stay connected to the feeling of the breath, just let them flow on by.

You're breathing. It's just one breath. If they are strong, you get really pulled away from the breath. Spend a few moments just recognizing, oh, this is what's happening right now. There's joy, or there's sadness. There's thinking. Whatever it might be. It's just an act of recognition.

This is what's happening right now. You don't have to judge yourself, try to push anything away. But after a few moments, see if you can let go and return your attention to the feeling of the breath. For all those many times perhaps you are just gone. Completely lost in thought. Spun out in a fantasy. Where you fall asleep.

Truly don't worry about it. You can recognize that. See if you can let go. And simply begin again. Bring your attention back to the feeling of the breath. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. When you feel ready, you can open your eyes or lift your gaze, and we'll end the meditation session so thank you so much for that thank you thank you Sharon thanks so much for that wonderful awakening session that concludes this week's practice if you'd like to support the Rubin and this meditation series we invite you to

become a member. If you're looking for more inspiring content, please check out our new podcast, Awaken, hosted by Laurie Anderson. The 10-part series features personal stories that explore the dynamic path to enlightenment and what it means to wake up. Now available wherever you listen to podcasts. Thank you for listening, and thank you for practicing with us.