Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation with Tracy Cochran 01/30/25

Episode Date: February 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 14:47. Teacher: Tracy Cochran Theme: Intention Artwork: Crowned Buddha Shakyamuni; northeastern India; 11th century; copper alloy with silver and copper inlays and traces of gilding; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; C2002.29.1 Learn 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 and welcome. Welcome to the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Arts Mindfulness Meditation Program here at New York Insight Meditation Center. I am Tashi Chodron, Himalayan Programs and Communities Ambassador, and I'm delighted to be a host today. So the Rubin is a global hub for Himalayan art, a home base here in New York, but now it's global as you know, and we are so thankful to have this partnership here where we could all come together weekly. So inspired by

our collection, we will first take a deep look at the work of art we have chosen. Actually, Tracy has handpicked amongst a selection. And then we will have a short sit about 15 to 20 minutes for the meditation guided by her. And let's take a look at today's theme and artwork. We are still exploring on the theme of intention, and you know, the first month, January, and the artwork for today's session is this beautiful crown Buddha Shakyamuni, Sanjay Shachatthupa in Tibetan word. This is origin from Northeastern India,

dated about 11th century. Copper alloy with silver and copper inlays and traces of gilding. This is about four and a half into two and a half into six and a half inches. Beautiful sculpture. The connection to the theme is as we build our conscious awareness, pure intention and motivation becomes a force that drives all of our actions and is active in everything we do. So having a pure intention and pure motivation is key to one's happiness. And now this remarkable depiction of Shakyamuni Buddha, often known as the historical Buddha.

And this is a unique sculpture because of this beautiful crown. Of course, Shakyamuni Buddha is around the 5th century BCE, but this particular object is from the 11th century, northeastern India. And you can see the crown, which is a very unique feature. And this is the robe, which is very translucent to the body. All of this is a great aesthetic

from the 11th century period. And now Buddha is sitting on the lotus throne, which symbolizes awakening. And the Shakyamuni historical Buddha's one of the most significant hand gesture is sitting in this, you know, often referred to as earth touching gesture or the mudra. Left hand, open meditation gesture, right hand, palm facing the right knee, fingers touching the earth. So when Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree and meditated and when he finally achieved enlightenment, he calls the earth to bear witness.

Now let's bring on our teacher for today. Our teacher is Tracy Cochran. Tracy has been a student and teacher of meditation and spiritual practice for decades. She is the founder of Hudson River Sangha, which is also now virtual and open to all. Tracy has taught mindfulness meditation and mindful writing at the Rubin at New York Insight Meditation, as well as in schools, corporations and other venues. Her writings, podcasts and other details can be found on her website tracycockran.org and on Parabola magazine. I hope we can carry the Parabola magazine at our small gift shop that will open here soon. So please help me in welcoming crown on purpose. The Buddha loved to address the people that of nobly born. In fact, they were farmers, they were all kinds of people. They weren't

at the top of the caste system. But he understood that inside each of us there's a queen, a king, a noble. And I invite all of us to just touch in right now with, who is here? Who's here. And there are parts of us that have been so triggered lately, shadowed. And it's like a fairy tale once upon a time. There was a land in deep shadow, and it seemed like greed, great amen. It was like an great amen. People full of hatred and fear and delusion had completely taken over, completely. And if we check inside, we can feel

like we're kind of huddled in small groups or alone. Who can we trust? Who can we turned to. And there is a great sage, Buddha, hand of, call him what you will, a source of clarity. Said, look inside. Look inside yourself and others. Notice, notice that there is a witnessing awareness inside. that's open, that's compassionate, wise, a queen, a king. Notice that there's something inside you not

in the grip of fear or delusion or rage, something else. And how do we find this part? How do we find this part? The Buddha said, look at the quality of your intention. It's so brilliant. of your intention is so brilliant. And he said there is a kind of intention he called wise. And that intention is more open.

It's not grasping. It has a kind of noble friendliness to it. It looks at things with clarity and kindness. And there is another aspect of this intention. It's intention not to harm, not to harm, but to be part of things. And I've been thinking about it, thinking about it, so many of us wonder what do we do next? What do we do next? What do we do? Notice that certain kinds of intentions lead to certain kinds of goals.

When I have a view of life, that I'm interconnected with other people, I know I belong. We mutually belong. And when I touch that just for a moment, I have an intention. I wish to belong. It's usually not like tense, like god damn it, god damn it.

It's usually not like tensed like, god damn it, god damn it. It has this quality of softness, of opening, of willingness, willingness to be present. So we begin to see that a check inside, touch inside what's here, that is also a light. I want to set you on your path to the next step. If I wish to be free, I wish to belong to life and I wish to be free. I don't have the same inner attitude that I have when I want to be right. It has that feeling, I want to be right. He doesn't have a feeling, I want to be right. We're like a fist. I want right to win, and I want it to be wrong.

But there's another goal. I wish to be free. I want to be free from fear, from hatred, from ignorance. And I want We began to see that the Buddha's emphasis on intention, what's the quality of your intention, can truly guide us. And it's true, it's a turbulent, dark moment. And the planet is burning. It needs us. But we need to touch the Earth to welcome ourselves with kind intention, friendly intention?

Can I be with my own pain and confusion and rage in a way that helps me settle down and open up? Can I be a safe place in this world? And I know my daughter works in England and called me after the election and said, people keep storming into my office and saying, are you going to work with Denmark? And she said, well, if we do, I'm on Team Denmark.

And the point is that we ourselves can become channels of light, of friendliness, of clarity, we ourselves can become safe places, sanctuaries. And we do it not by giving ourselves a bunch of orders, but by inviting ourselves to be just like this. Noticing, noticing that in the midst of our fear and our confusion and not knowing there's a queen, a king, a quiet, radiant presence that is love, presence, embodied presence. We are safe with ourselves.

And as we settle down, we can go out and help others. Be safe. Be grounded. Be here. So let's sit. Let's take our seat. Take your seat. And Welcome to here in your own gaze. Notice how it feels to let yourself be upright. As upright as you can be. Get grounded. Grounded. and grounded, grounded. And notice that there is an attention here already.

You don't have to seek it. It's here. have to seek it, it's here. Inside. It knows that it touches everything with capital N-O-S. N-O-S. And let everything be just like this. and come home to body, to rest, rest in stillness, which means softness, not striving.. Notice, notice, it still, that attention, that present is kind and also vast, open, like the sky..... When you find yourself thinking, picturing, dreaming, notice that this is natural and gently come home to body, touching the earth.. The coming hour opens us to belonging, belonging to life.... And now as we soften, as we settle, be open to a presence that accepts everything that's here with kindness, with love..... And I would have thought that forgetting dreaming is natural and acceptable. And remember to come back again Finding welcome. Loving acceptance... And you can look at this, come home, come home to body sensation and presence that sees with kindness..... And now it's our turn to open the fist of thinking, solving, to just soften and be seen, held by loving awareness.... You can't be. You can't be. You can't be.

You can't be. You can't be. You can't be. You can't be. you can't be with what's here with an attitude of kind, loving, attention, Attention, not fighting, not fleeing, but present, not clinging..... Note that this is how it feels to be completely lovingly accepted. Just like this.. Notice that you are more than fear-thinking. You are also awareness, vast, compassionate, luck-wing.. Thank you Tracy for that wonderful session. 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.