Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation with Tracy Cochran 04/11/2022

Episode Date: April 15, 2022

Theme: Healing Artwork: Padmasambhava; Tibet; 15th century; silver and gilt copper alloy with inlays of turquoise and coral; Rubin Museum of Art; C2005.16.36 (HAR 65459);[http://therubin.org/346] Teacher: Tracy CochranThe 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 15:03.  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. Hello, hello everybody. Welcome to Mindfulness Meditation Online with the Rubin Museum of Art. I'm Dawn Eshelman, so happy to be here with you today. We are a museum of Himalayan art and ideas in New York City and so glad to have you all join us for our weekly program. This is where we combine art and meditation online. And we look at a work of art from our collection that our teacher has helped us select. And today our teacher is the fantastic Tracy Cochran. We'll bring her on in just a little bit. And we look at a work of art together. We'll hear a brief talk from our teacher and then we'll sit together for a short sit, 15 to 20 minutes, guided by Tracy. So we'll look now at the artwork that we have chosen for today. And if you are wondering, yes, this is the icon, the

second Buddha himself, Padmasambhava. And that is why it's kind of an auspicious moment here that Tracy actually selected this artwork for today, Guru Rinpoche Day. So wise. for today. Guru Rinpoche Day. So wise. So this is Padmasambhava. This is from Tibet, 15th century. Silver and gilt copper alloy with inlays of turquoise and coral. And let's take a look here a little bit closer. You can see the turquoise on this hat that we can associate with Padmasambhava. It's a distinctive hat. And of course, the turquoise inlay also in his earrings there. And just the beautiful, beautiful detail and expression on this face here. So this is also, Padmasambhava is sometimes considered a reincarnation of the Medicine Buddha. So that's interesting to know. There's this connection in the healing realm there. And of course, Padmasambhava is an Indian teacher that it has been said was miraculously born inside of a lotus flower. So lotus born is what that name means and is revered, absolutely revered in all or a lion even it is said, coming into Tibet to

grapple with and tame these adversarial forces to be able to bring the light of Buddhism into the land, and really to negotiate with them and transform them into Buddhist protectors. with them and transform them into Buddhist protectors. So he is really one of the founders of Buddhism in Tibet. And you can look at the beautiful detail in the sculpture. The clothing, I think, is of particular note. The collar of detail here again that distinctive hat and all of the inlay work of coral and turquoise and then the sleeve that just cascades down so beautifully a slight sway in the body posture here brings us kind of into this immediate moment the sculpture and it's just a beautiful example of Tibetan metal craftsmanship at its best. Now I'd like to bring on our teacher today, the wonderful Tracy Cochran. And Tracy has been a

student and teacher of meditation and spiritual practice for many decades. She is the founder of the Hudson River Sangha, which is virtual and open to all. So you can find out all about her weekly meditations and all about her work at tracycochran.org. And she also has taught mindfulness meditation and mindful writing at the New York Insight Meditation Center and many other settings. She's the writer and editorial director of Parabola, a beautiful, acclaimed quarterly magazine that seeks to bring timeless spiritual wisdom to the burning questions of the day. You can find out all about that and Tracy's writings and podcasts at parabola.org. And also it's available in our shop. Tracy,

it's wonderful to have you here today. Welcome. Thank you. I'm delighted to be here today. And I'm delighted to discover that it's Guru Rinpoche Day. And Tashi attributed me with wisdom, and so did Don. And this is a perfect example of being wiser than we know, because I didn't consciously know when I picked this beautiful image that today was the day, Guru Rinpoche day. I picked the image because among other things that are attributed to this great figure is his capacity to face wild and difficult forces. And as John said, he rode into Tibet from India rode into Tibet from India in the 8th century historically it's believed and faced all kinds of wild unexpected deities as they're portrayed and demons sometimes and we can relate to this as difficult feelings, difficult reactions, sometimes welling up from the deep past. And he found a way to be with this that quelled them, that brought them peace, healing. The root of the word healing in English means to make whole. And I think of it as bringing the parts of ourselves that are in shadow or in exile into the light, into our kind awareness.

So the other thing that he's known for, and of course there's much more to the story, but just in terms of this brief talk and sitting, is that he planted teachings called termas and he hid them so that they would be found far in the future. And again, this is something that we can begin to relate to today in our own experience. And yesterday, and as John said, spring is breaking out here, but April in New York is very much like T.S. Eliot's line, April is the grueless month, because today it's beautiful and balmy, yesterday, very raw. So I happened to pass this little beach on a lake where I live, and I saw a person dressed up like an Easter Bunny spreading Easter eggs

all over the beach. They were really quite visible and for an Easter egg hunt for very little kids, you know, and I know this was true of me when I was very young. I needed those eggs to be visible to find them. But it reminded me that of course I knew it was Easter week. That there's an aspect of this practice that has to do with noticing that things change over time and that things, even things that seem so painful or so mortifying in the moment, change over time and reveal what we can truly think of as an inner teaching, a secret teaching. And if only noticing, if only actually this is something very profound, that when we face something that feels like extraordinary misfortune, or the end of the line, whether it's illness or betrayal or a breakup or the end of a job or a home or a family member, in the moment it feels like this is it.

And we tend to think that way. And we discover, looking back sometimes, that there was something else present. There was an awareness there that somehow helped us get through the storm. And that awareness isn't, it turns out, some lofty escape from our humanity. It's a knowing, a capacity to be with, to know that's very close to the body and the moment. We glimpse and literally sometimes it's not even for a moment,

but just for the briefest glimpse that there is a presence in us that doesn't depend on everything going well. There is a presence in us that's more than the story we tell in the moment. So as John said, there are all these different holidays going on this week and I won't, it's extraordinary that there's so many this year at once. But just to mention too Passover and Easter because most of us here are from the West. There's something in this reminder that a moment can be larger than we think. There can be moments that open us to a deeper reality.

And these hints in Passover, putting out a cup of wine for a stranger who might come, or saving a seat for something unknown and wonderful that might appear. Or in Easter, of course, this great story that something that seemed absolutely the end, and not just the end, but the very worst and lowest and most painful and humiliating events, turned out to give way to new life, new life to what the Buddhists would call the deathless. And what we can know

in the sitting that we're about to experience is also the unconditioned. That there is something in each of us as intricately conditioned as we are, as wounded as we are, and we all have wounds, we all have parts of our lives that are like bruises, they're so vulnerable, and time to conceal them or to fix them or to transcend them, that even when those wounds are exposed, if only to we sink into our own humanity, our own living experience, without seeking to escape, We're met not just with pain, but with a presence in us and also around us that reminds us we're more. We're more than that pain. We're more than that story. we're more than what happened to us we are also filled with love and compassion and an openness to the unknown so let's sit together and see for ourselves. For 15 or 20 minutes,

we take a comfortable seat and let our eyes close. Some people are not comfortable with closed eyes, in which case you can just gaze down. But if you can close your eyes, it's a wonderful way to just check in with yourself, with your own experience. And just notice how it feels to be here today

and just allow yourself to notice in the simplest way way without thinking about it without striving for a better state or a better seeing even just let yourself be just like this And notice that you can let everything happen to you, the thoughts you're having, sensations, even discomfort, just let it happen to you and notice that that's spacious that's gentle that's gentle Notice how it feels to welcome yourself, to be just like this. Just resting in stillness, a stillness that means being soft, not striving. Letting everything be. And notice that there is a vibrancy inside you and a liveness that has nothing to do with thinking, with controlling, with striving. And notice that when you get carried away by thought or you start to dream or sleep you can notice this with great gentleness and come home to the body to the sensation of sitting here

just that. Noticing that when you come home to sensation, you also open to life life inside and the life outside Beginning to remember that we're not alone, that we're part of life. Breathing in and breathing out, sensing, perceiving, living. And that there is inside and surrounding us a presence that sees with kindness and spaciousness Notice that this presence is healing in the deepest sense, allowing us to be whole, allowing every part, every feeling to be present without comment, without judgment, rejecting nothing. So Noticing how it feels to be open to a presence and awareness that sees with compassion, with loving acceptance with great spaciousness Thank you. Notice how it feels to be completely welcoming, compassionate, open. Thank you. Nothing to be fixed, to be rejected, to hide. zu Heiden. Just come home to the body, to the sensation of being present. Notice how it feels to open to an unknown that includes healing, love, Love. Thank you. Notice how it feels to be still nothing to fix, nothing to fear. here surrounded by an awareness that's compassionate and vast completely accepting. Thank you. Notice how it feels to welcome the whole of yourself

in to the light of an awareness that rejects nothing Thank you. Noticing how it feels to open to an awareness that's unknown and benign. Compassionate. Awakened. Thank you. Thank you. Noticing how still you are not alone. But surrounded and filled with forces of compassion and awakening. Thank you. Thank you, Tracy. 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.