Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation with Tracy Cochran

Episode Date: February 6, 2026

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  13:06.Teacher: Tracy Cochran Theme: Loving Future Stupa; Tibet; 13th century; copper alloy; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin; C2006.66.635Learn 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 week, we offer a meditation session that draws inspiration from an artwork from the Rubin's collection and is led by a prominent meditation teacher. You can find more information about the related artwork. in the episode description. Our mindfulness meditation podcast is presented in partnership with Sharon Salzberg

and teachers from the New York Insight Meditation Center, the Interdependence Project, and supported by the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism. And now, please enjoy your practice. Welcome to the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Arts Mindfulness Meditation Program. I'm Jacqueline Smith, manager of curriculum, development, and education, and I'm delighted to be your host today. The Rubin is a global museum dedicated to presenting Himalayan art and its insights, and we are so glad to have all of you join us for our 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 for today. We will then hear a brief talk from our teacher, Tracy Cochran, and then we will have a short sit of 15 to 20 minutes for the meditation guided by her.

Now let's take a look at today's theme and artwork. The theme for the month of February is Loving Future, and the work of art that we have chosen for today is a stupa from our collection. It dates from the 13th century, and it's from Tibet. It's made of copper alloy. It's a little over eight inches tall by four inches wide and about four inches deep. Stupas are sacred sites associated with Buddhas and esteemed Buddhist teachers. The practice of circumambulating a stupa is a sign of respect and admiration for a teacher. It imbues the practitioner with the qualities of the teacher and increases their merit paving the way for a loving future.

Stupas are steeped with meaning within Buddhism. They arose from traditional funerary mounds. Stupas contain the sacred remains of revered Buddhist figures or treasured objects related to their lives. Stupas range and size, some are monumental in scale. Many Buddhist practitioners circumambulate a stupa daily while reciting mantras. This practice of circling the stupa in a clockwise direction is associated with the accumulation of merit. It cultivates the mind so that one is more receptive. to the teachings. It is also an expression of devotion. It is taught that the shape of a stupa

echoes the ushenacea or crown of the Buddha's head. Stupas are viewed as a physical representation of the enlightened mind of a Buddha. They're symbolic of the path to enlightenment and of enlightenment itself. Now let's bring on our teacher for today, Tracy Cochran. Tracy Cochran has taught meditation and spiritual practice for many years. She is a speaker and author whose most recent book, Presence, The Art of Being at Home and Yourself, was published by Shambala publications in 2024. Tracy is the founder and leading teacher of the Hudson River Sanka and has taught mindfulness and mindful writing at New York Insight, the Rubin Museum, and many other venues. In addition to serving as the editorial director of the acclaimed spiritual

quarterly magazine Parabula, her writings have appeared in many other publications and anthologies. For more about Tracy, please visit Tracy Cochran.org. And now please join me in welcoming Tracy. I'm very happy to be with you virtually today. And as I speak to you instead of getting to see your faces, I'm looking out at huge mounds of snow. Where I am, we had a big snowstorm. And it touches me to remember the word stupa literally means heap. It means heap or mound. And as Jacqueline said, it was a funeral mound or a place where very sacred relics were kept. A number of years ago, I had the great joy of going to Nepal and walking around Rama-Grama Stupa, which is a place. A place.

where an eighth of the Buddha's ashes are buried. It's a very special place because every other tomb was opened at some point and the ashes further scattered and distributed by the king Ashoka. But in this particular place, and it's a very special feeling place, it's a great mound of earth and grass with a tree growing out of and under it the tomb holding these precious ashes. In this place, Ashoka went to open the tomb and take possession of the ashes to redistribute. And a great Naga, according to legend,

a Naga is a serpent like a dragon, basically said, Ashoca, if you touch these ashes, you will be sorry. And Ashoka was so, frightened. And he never touched this place. And it has a special quality. And the gray tree growing out of it is actually four trees intertwined. And when you circle this place, you remember something we can feel today, which is the body. There's a wonderful mantra I'd like to remember and meditation, body like a mountain, heart like an ocean, mind like the sky.

When I make this simple, gentle movement of turning my attention to my body, sensing it, not explaining it or bringing words to it, but just allowing it to be felt. my life living inside me. This is a kind of stupa. It's a repository of wisdom, of compassion, a capacity to feel with others, a capacity to remember that I'm present. And when I was given the assignment to speak not just about stupa, but future happiness,

I have to confess I was really dismayed at first because I was given this assignment at a time of great challenge in this country, a time when it's hard for many people to imagine future happiness. and there is so much turmoil and strife and murder even of innocence. How can we imagine future happiness? So again, I come back to the body. I invite you to do it right now wherever you are. Let your attention come to rest on your body. and the sensation of being present without being fancy about it and thinking about it, but just present.

And noticing, noticing that you and I are having the same experience. We are here. We are here. And noticing the region of the heart within this great stupa of the body. there is a heart, there is a capacity to feel with. We can feel with others, whether it's our own loved ones or in my region right now, the people out there digging us out from the snowstorm. People in Minneapolis who are frightened and angry.

People in Iran, people all over the world. Again, without putting words to it, just allowing ourselves to feel, to sense. So how can happiness possibly be possible, given everything that's happening outside? When we turn, make that subtle turn to be with the body, be with our lives right now, we can bring an intention to be kind. Jacqueline spoke of stupas as places of reverence. We can treat our own bodies and lives as a place worthy of our respect and interest without assigning reasons, just allowing yourself to sense.

The gift of having a life right now. The gift of having a life. What is a stupa? A sacred place. Where is a stupa? And of course the riven knows about places like rama-gramma, but it's also right here. There was a wonderful story once

of the one-minute story of a monastery in Europe that was impoverished. It just couldn't make a go of it. They have no food. And the abbot was visited by the inspiration that he would treat this like a sacred place. He would let the word get out that one of the monks in this monastery was divine, a messenger of the divine.

They didn't know who it was. So everybody in that place needed to be treated as if they were potentially a messenger of the divine. And words spread, and people began to come to those. place and treat it that way is a sacred place. This is a holy place where there may be the possibility of a profound connection between heaven and earth, between body, and the divine. And in a sense, this is what we do when we sit. We're going to do in a matter. and we bring our attention to ourselves just as we are. We don't try to fix ourselves.

We simply invite ourselves to feel. Just like this. Just like this here and now. And it makes space for our hearts. And right now, for many of us, their broken hearts, fearful hearts. makes space for our minds for an attention that isn't words but a willingness to see with kindness with loving friendliness with an openness to what might be possible and as we turn and bring

that intention something opens So let's sit together instead of hearing me describe it, let's see for ourselves and wherever you are listening. Make space for yourself right now. Sacred space and allow yourself to sit up straight with your feet on the floor if that's possible for you. Or sitting on the ground with your seed firmly on the ground. and give yourself a simple gift of just feeling, just sensing, and noticing that there is an awareness inside you right now. You don't have to seek it.

A knowing that can be with this sensation, this feeling, of being present, noticing how it feels to touch the earth, to come home to the experience of being in a body, sensing, breathing, body like a mountain, body connected to earth, and notice how it feels to Just be still, knowing that stillness does not mean perfect silence, but softness, non-resisting. Just here. Just earth. Noticing the life inside the body that coming home to the body opens us to air, to air, to, to impressions, to life. And if you wish, allowing the attention to come to the heart reach and hurt like an ocean, noticing feelings, without seeking to name them, just notice feeling, feeling. noticing inside ourselves a natural capacity to feel with.

Just be still. Just rest in body. Body like a mountain, like a stupa, still. And noticing that a mind is present mind like a sky. and awareness at CUs without comment, with kindness, with letting be the open patience, accepting everything that arises, noticing how it feels to rest in stillness, in loving awareness, allowing everything to flow, to unfold, everything allowed. And noticing as we make this movement of coming home, going down into the body,

and open it to the heart and to the sky awareness, notice that we may feel a new kind of happiness, happiness of belonging, belonging to life, taking up space, being seen with great kindness. And when you find yourself lost in thought or dreams, notice that this is perfectly natural like weather. And gently come home again to the stupa of the body, the tainer of the body, container of treasures, of wisdom in words, but in sensation, feeling. Noticing how it feels to be still with yourself, with loving kindness, with reverence for this life. noticing that everything that comes up, every sound, sensation, feeling, even difficult feelings, thoughts can be met with kind awareness.

And notice that you can come home again and again to the body, to the full. to the feet on the floor, to the sensations inside the body. Body like a mountain still moving. Body like a stupa, a place of reverence. Noticing that the body holds the gift of life, of awareness, of compassion. noticing that when you don't know what to do or where to go, you can be still. Just be still.

Drop into the body and rest in loving awareness. Be still and notice that you open body, heart and mind. to presence, noticing that there's a happiness here that's not attached to any of. Noticing how it feels to rest in presence, rooted in body, resting in loving awareness. We can't stop. Thank you, Tracy, for deepening our awareness. through this practice. Thank you, Jacqueline. Thank you everyone who's listening. That concludes this week's practice. If you enjoyed this podcast or are a weekly listener,

we invite you to support this series by donating and becoming a friend of the Rubin at Rubinmuseum.org slash friends. The Rubin is a nonprofit that relies on the generous support of donors like you to create meaningful experiences with Himalayan art around the world. If you are looking for more inspiring content, check out our other podcasts, Awaken, which uses art to explore the dynamic path to enlightenment and what it means to wake up, available wherever you listen to podcasts.

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