Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation with Sharon Salzberg 10/30/2025

Episode Date: November 7, 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 16:11.Teacher: Sharon SalzbergTheme: FluidityShiva Vishavarupa, Universal form with Consort; Nepal; mid 19th century; pigments on cotton; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; C2003.20.2Learn 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. Good afternoon, and Tashi Del Lake. So welcome, welcome to the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Arts Mindfulness Meditation Program here at this beautiful space at New York Inside Meditation Center.

I'm Tashi Churdan, Himalayan Programs and Communities Ambassador. and I'm delighted to be a host today. So the Rubin is a global museum dedicated to Himalayan art and its insights, and we are 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 today. We will then hear a brief talk from our teacher, Sharon Salzberg, who is joining us live. And then we will have a short sit, 15 to 20 minutes.

for the meditation guided by her. We are celebrating 500th episode of the Mindfulness Meditation Podcasts. We are hoping, wishing that many people benefited from each of these podcasts, not just coming in person, but listening to it all over the world. So we are very excited about that. And we are so grateful to you for joining us for this very important. milestone. So let's take a look at today's theme and artwork. The artwork for today's session is this beautiful painting of Shiva Wishwarupa. And Shiva Wishwurupa is in the universal

form with his concert. This is origin from Nepal, dated 19th century, mineral pigments on cloth. And this is about 63.5 into 38th one eighth inches. Now, in terms of the aesthetic, how you can identify that this is a Nepalese art is when you see that red on red. So this month, we are exploring on the theme of fluidity. And this painting depicts Shiva and his concert Shakti. Also, in many different names, but one of the most popular and common. is Parvati as well. The interplay of creation of destruction

serves as a reminder of the constant fluidity of the universe. Looking at the Shiva's form, the fluidity of dancing form in the center. And Shiva is one of the Hinduism's major deities. He takes many forms, including as an ascetic, destroyer, conquer of death, and then cosmic dance.

This painting presents him as Vishwārupa, which means universal form or form of the world. There are a seemingly infinite number of Shiva's on the canvas and multiple hands and many heads, conveying the principle that the entire world is in motion in an eternal cosmic dance. Shiva embraces his female concert, Parvati, also known as Shia. Shakti, who is in complete harmony with him, both have a multitude of heads and arms indicating their infinite vision and reach. One connection I wanted to highlight is that Shiva is known in this very powerful form. In Tibetan, he's known as La Chen or La Wangchuk Chempo.

Placin means Mahadev, and he's also known as Mahadev in the Hinduism. and in Sanskrit name as well, and the most cosmologically significant protector deity in the entire Tibetan Buddhist pantheon. So I do recall in the prayers, especially in the eight noble auspicious prayers, Shiva's name is recited for power and for protection. So with that, let's bring on our teacher for today.

Our teacher is Sharon Salzberg, co-founder of the Inside Meditation Society in Barry, Massachusetts, has guided meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. Her latest books are real life, The Journey from Isolation to Openness and Freedom and Finding Your Way, Meditations, Thoughts, and Wisdom for Living an Authentic Life. 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, real change, mindfulness to heal ourselves and the world, faith, trusting your own deepest experience, and loving kindness, the revolutionary art of happiness. And then I have a big news, just found out that her new book for children,

Kind Carl, A Little Crocodile with Big Feelings, It'll be launched on New News. December 9th. So please help me in welcoming Sharon Salzberg. Sharon, thank you so much for being here. Hey, thank you so much. And it's a great delight to be helping celebrate the 500th session. It's just kind of amazing, isn't it, the passage of time? And I'm going to talk a little bit about fluidity, and often it's opposite.

And then we're going to get a chance to sit together, which is just delightful. It's pouring rain, as you know, those of you who have been out in New York City in it. And there's something going on in my hallway that's very noisy. So we're just going to be fluid and see what evolves. So often, you know, in my Buddhist training. you could say, in my education within Buddhism, when we're trying to understand something that's positive, that's aspirational, that's a possibility for us,

you actually start with looking at the obstacle. And some people find that discouraging or depressing, but I always enjoyed it because I thought that's what's real. You know, if we're talking about different states of insight or experience in meditation and you're just falling asleep all the time, I preferred someone to be talking about sleepiness because then I felt included and it was important. And part of that understanding is that when we look at the obstacle honestly and we relate to it differently than the thing we want, the thing we want,

the thing we dream of, the thing we yearn for, will appear all by itself. So it's not a question of manufacturing something or forcing something, but let's look at the barriers, help them dissolve, and then we're there. And so when I think of fluidity, the first thing I think of actually is what holds me back. When do I feel stuck? When does the challenge that I'm facing feel most? most oppressive, most solid, most real. And that is often because of the kind of our old favorites of reactivity,

grasping aversion and delusion. When we grasp, we hold on, we also, in a way, solidify the thing we're holding on, too, right? if I can stay in control, if I can seize it, it will be here forever. And yet, of course, nothing is forever. It has the very nature of dissolution, of change, of movement. But we're not kind of allowing ourselves to see that as we grasp, as we hold on. When we're full of aversion, which is anger and fear, anger or fear, you know, we're striking out against what's happening,

almost another kind of strange control thing. Like, if I can push it away enough, it's not going to be here. It's going to disappear. It will never have been here. It will be gone. I will have annihilated it. And we push and we push.

And as we push, whatever we're facing gets more solid, more intense, more, of a kind of, we would call it an enemy. You know, it's got contours that we can't see the changing nature. We can't see the transparency and so on. And then there's delusion, which is one way of understanding delusion is disconnection.

Something happens, something arises, an emotion, a thought, a situation, a conversation, and we just want to shut down, right? In effect, we want to take a nap. You know, it's like, let me just protect myself from facing, acknowledging what is actually going on. And in doing that, the challenge, the conversation, the situation actually starts to seem more and more solid, unchanging, impermeable, oppressive,

live, right, more of a problem. And so one of my meditation teachers named Sonny Rimbichay, he once said, the thoughts that arise are not the problem, it's the glue. Right? They're very beautiful images within the Tibetan tradition, like the thoughts and feelings that come up in your mind are like clouds moving through the sky. Some are kind of light and fluffy.

Some are kind of ominous looking, but they're all just this sort of transitory movement. It's the flow of life, right? And we have different experiences at different times, but it's all in this kind of constantly changing panorama of experiences. But when we glue, we hold on, we grasp, or a version, which is its own kind of grasping. like, I can't stand this. I have to push this away. That's not how we're perceiving our experience, right? That's why it becomes burdensome.

And we don't need to judge our thoughts, our feelings, our reactions even. Because if we can relate differently to them, then there's no glue. So rather than, say, being appalled at yourself because something came up in your mind, I mean, you're sitting there as we're about to do, minding your own business, you know, nobody's bothering you about anything. And then the scenario comes up in your mind and you're kind of haunted by it and it's terrible. You didn't ask for it. You can't control it. You don't have to be ashamed of it.

You don't have to freak out about it. Let's relate differently to what has come up so that we can see that kind of changing nature, the flow. right and once we see the changing nature of something there's of course a poignancy to that there's plenty we want to hold on to but it's not going to last but it's also in tuning into change in a fluid way we're also opening the door to creativity to what these days people call responsiveness rather than reactivity to possibility because of everything is static and unyielding and fixed, we're sunk, right? Once we can tune into change, we're actually tuning into life itself, and we feel the force of that in all the sense of doors opening and possibility that happens. So rather than feeling we have to kind of reach for something that we can't quite sense is happening, it's relating differently

to what is happening and Tashi mentioned kind Carl it inspired me which is the children's book coming out in December inspired me to read you a passage

it's got really really cute illustrations but I can't explain them so Carl is a crocodile and he's kind of grumpy, as one might expect. And then he learns to deal with his thoughts differently and also learns loving kindness. So he goes through some experience at school.

It's kind of unpleasant. And then it says, back home, Carl felt pretty deflated. Nobody likes me, he thought, I'm stupid, he thought. Crocodiles just can't be kind, he thought. But then he paused. Where did those thoughts come from? Those ideas weren't true. I had three friends show up for my birthday party.

I can do fractions standing on my head. And I help my mom brush her teeth every night. As Carl noticed this, he pictured the thoughts drifting away on clouds. And you see these clouds. I'm stupid. Nobody likes me. Crocodiles can't be kind. Difting away.

Just picturing this made Carl feel better. After that, Carl started to question more thoughts in his mind, and he decided to be a little kinder to himself. And then it just kind of goes on from there. So that's sort of the point. You know, everything will arise in our minds, just like in our lives. We can relate differently. And that is our entree into openness, fluidity, change, creativity, deciding, you know, that's an old pattern. not that helpful. Let me let it float away and come back to what I really sense is most important.

Okay, let's practice together. You can sit comfortably, close your eyes or not. We're going to use the feeling or the sensation of the breath as a resting place. You can find the place where your breath is clearest for you or strongest for you. Maybe the nostrils, the chest, or the abdomen. Bring your attention there and just rest. See if you can feel one breath. Without concern for what's already gone by, without leaning forward for even the very next breath. Just this one.

And if you like, you can use a quiet mental notation and like in, out, or rising, falling to help support the awareness of the breath, but very quiet. So your attention is really going to feel. feeling the breath, one breath at a time. 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. This thoughts come in. go, feelings come and go, sensations come and go. Remember, you don't have to hold on to them, build a whole self-image around them.

Judge them. Allow them to rise and pass away. and if you find yourself lost in thought all tangled up in a fantasy or you fall asleep truly you don't have to worry about that you can recognize that that's a moment where we have the opportunity to gently let go and shepherd our attention back to the feeling of the breath If you have to let go and begin again, lots of times, it's perfectly fine. Thank you. Thank you.

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Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And when you feel ready, you can open your eyes. or lift your gaze and we'll end to meditation.

Thank you. beautiful session, Sharon. I had a smile on my face when you spoke about the different clouds and the fluffy ones and whatnot because we have this rain with the very different sky here. Yeah.

Thank you. That concludes this week's practice. To support the Rubin and this meditation series, we invite you to begin. become a friend of the Rubin at rubinmuseum.org slash friends. If you are looking for more inspiring content, please check out our other podcasts, 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 Rubenmuseum.org. Thank you for listening. listening, have a mindful day.