Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation with Tracy Cochran 04/24/2025

Episode Date: May 2, 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 13:39.Teacher: Tracy Cochran Theme: RenewalGanesha; Madhya Pradesh, India; 11th century; sandstone; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; C2004.14.4Learn 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 Tashi Delek. Welcome, welcome to the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Arts Mindfulness Meditation Program here at New York Insight Meditation Center. We are a global hub for Himalayan art, 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 work of art from our collection, of course, and we will hear a brief talk from our teacher, Tracy Cochran. We've missed her, so glad to have you back. 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. The theme this month, some of you who've been attending this on a regular basis probably no, is renewal. One of our teacher mentioned when you forgive and let go, and there's a better renewal, new beginning as the season. I often say we don't have to, you know, when you think of death or impermanence or new beginning, we don't really have to like die and experience. Just walking around and being aware of what's around, looking at the trees with those teeny tiny

green buds coming out. All of that is a constant reminder of the evolution, right, of everything. And so each session we have an art connection. And so for today, the art connection is this beautiful sculpture of Ganesha, often also known as Ganapati. But in Tibetan word also there is a name called Sogdala. In fact, each time I see Lord Ganesh, those of you who are familiar near the base of the

spiral, we've had the opportunity to see this as well as the alcove. Often reminds me, growing up in the Tibetan refugee camp as a child, my mother, she goes to the Indian village for the fair and returns home with a calendar with the image of Ganesh. And she would say, oh, this is the deity of prosperity, good luck, and she would hang that on the wall. So it often reminds me of my childhood placed back in the Tibetan refugee camps in South India. But in the Hinduism, a very important god or deity known to be the deity of new beginning often referred to as the removal of obstacle. So Lord Ganesh is very powerful in that reference and individuals often make offerings to Ganesh

at the beginning of new endeavors to overcome any obstacles and to bring good luck. Now this is 11th century from Madhya Pradesh, India, sandstone, this is about 49 into 28 into 10 inches. And this is a beautiful sculpture. And the Ganesh with the belly, you can see maybe extra shine and darkened trunk are the result of centuries of devotees reaching out to Ganesh by hand to invoke his blessings. Ganesh is perpetually in motion, dancing to the rhythm of the drums played by two small figures. If you look all the way on the bottom, on the left, on the right, under the Ganesh knee, you can see two figures.

Let's look closely. Very easy to identify, he's often referred to as the elephant-headed god, the son of Lord Shiva and Parvati. Now, in his left hand, he's got multiple arms, but in one of his hands, he's holding the sweet laddu. So in the living tradition you will actually see how the devotees are caring and making offerings of laddu as well. Now everything that he's holding in his other arms is associated with his role as a removal of obstacle. So let's bring on a teacher for today. Our teacher is Tracy Cochran. Tracy has taught meditation and spiritual practice for many years.

She's a speaker and author whose recent book, Presence, The Art of Being at Home in Yourself, was published by Shambhala Publications in 2024. Tracy is the founder and leading teacher of the Hudson River Sangha and has taught mindfulness and mindful writing at the New York Insight and the Rubin Museum and many other venues. In addition to serving as the editorial director of the acclaimed spiritual quarterly Parabola magazine, her writings have appeared in the New York Times, New York Magazine, Psychology

Today, the best spiritual writing series, Parabola, and many other publications and anthologies. For more information about Tracy, you can visit tracycockren.org and parabola.org. Tracy, thank you so much for being here and please help me in welcoming Tracy Cochran. Thank you. Thank you. I want to start by inviting you to notice yourself to be with any part of you that feels like an obstacle right now. Anything that you might be holding some pain and some concern. And notice how it feels to let that be here.

And welcome, welcome. So I had to pick an elephant because who doesn't want a friend that looks like that? All right? I remember obstacles, big, powerful. And when I was a little girl in upstate New York, beautiful spring day, I would pretend I was on an elephant riding through a jungle in India. I wanted a bigger storey. Do you know what I mean? I didn't want to be stuck in this backyard in upstate New York.

I wanted a big story with elephants in it. And I realized it I had spent much of my blind man and the elephant, that famous story. And of course he'd heard it. And he shared it as a teaching. A king heard of all these people fighting blind, blind and blind, fighting about an elephant. And he invited them into the capital. And one who just touched the tail, the elephant's like a snake, you know the story. Another one who just touched the legs said, no, no, no, tree, it's a tree.

And the ear, it's a fan. And the side of the elephant is a wall, and they fought. And they came to blows. And the Buddha said, the Buddha in the form of his king, said, why don't you come together and talk about it? And you come together and talk about it. And what I like is that inside myself, inside yourself, we're in parts like that. This morning when I woke up I was worried about something. I was outraged at something I read. And we have so many opportunities to be outraged these days.

And I was creating a defense. And I realized I was on a train. I'm in a tusk. I'm making this sharp, like a sword of defense. I'm a part. What would it be like to be whole? What would it be like to be whole? And I realized the key to the teaching is let yourself, let myself know. Let yourself, no, just be nobody. Nobody. And notice that we're always trying to defend ourselves against pain.

What will they think of me? What it is, something that should be covered. It's a practice that invites us to uncover and rest in the most loving awareness. In some versions of the story, the Buddha brings in one person who can see, who can see the elephant. And it was teaching, it was practice. It was that person.

And he's not giving us words, but permission, permission to trust just a little bit, that if we let go of grasping to that part, and typically it's the part that hurts that seems to be an obstacle. If we can be will appear. And what seemed completely known and dark opens and becomes new. So that's it. Let's sit together and see for ourselves. And take your time. Let yourself be comfortable. Be comfortable. Feel welcome here. And notice how it feels. Let your eyes close. completely accepting, kind. just sink into sensation, into presence. And feel, have your sense how it feels to be completely acceptable. Just like this. Just come home, come home to party. to a body.

And noticing how big the body can feel.. And no cats. And notice that the step you can begin again. Begin again. Just come back. Come back. Just come back, come back to body, to sensation.. Notice an attention is here. It's kind, fast, patient... I'm glad that it's about me. And let the body appear, let the heart be open, deep, like an ocean.. And let the mind be wide like the sky... If difficult, difficult feelings come, or thoughts, or memories, let them, let them Attention, that's vast and kind.... Open your eyes. Open your eyes. Open your eyes. Notice how it feels to let everything be accepted with great kindness. if something new appears. Well, then.... No one else has a way of you to accept a life inside you. Everything... Now as you can begin again at any moment, come back to presence and find complete acceptance.

Kindness... Notice how your obstacles can call you home. Just be. Just let yourself be.... Notice how big you truly are. are connected to our Earth and sky and heart... You Thank you so much 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.