Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation with Venerable Losang Gendun 09/19/2024

Episode Date: September 27, 2024

The Rubin Museum 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 12:35. Teacher: Venerable Losang GendunTheme: TransformationArtwork: Durga Killing the Buffalo Demon (Durga Mahisasuramardini); Nepal; 12th”“13th century; gilt copper alloy; Rubin Museum of Art; C2005.16.11 (HAR 65433)This program 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.Learn more about the Rubin Museum’s work around the world at rubinmuseum.org. 

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, Tashi Chodron. Every Thursday, 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 in-person practice. 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 Inside Meditation Center, The Interdependence Project, and Parabola Magazine, and supported by the Frederic P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism. And now, please enjoy your practice. Hello, everyone.

Welcome to mindfulness meditation here at the Rubin Museum of Art. I'm Tim McHenry, Deputy Executive Director and a founding staff member of this global hub for Himalayan art. We're so glad to welcome all of you and our friends at the Shantideva Center here for this weekly program that combines art and meditation. So inspired by a collection, we first take a look at a work of art, and then we have a brief talk by our guest teacher, the Venerable Losang Gendun, and a short sit will follow, about 15 to 20 minutes for the guided meditation by him.

So we promised you a work of art, let's look at it. And our theme is transformation. And this is an image of Durga killing the buffalo demon. Now this is the story of how Durga transforms malevolence into righteousness. And here we see the Hindu goddess Durga overcoming the demigod Mahisha, who is endangering the world order and is disguised as a strong man, as a bull, but proves to be totally hollow within. And here we see her at the moment of victory, because as she chops the bull's head off, Durga pulls the body of the demigod from the animal,

from the bull, by the hair and stabs him even before he can draw his sword. His two companions kneeling before her, you see their arms drop to their sides in defeat and they have a vajra and a disc embedded in their chests. However, Durga's serene expression reveals the triumph of good over the transformation of chaos into order.

And she can be witnessed on the fifth floor of this museum. So now it's time to meet our teacher for today. Venerable Losangendun has practiced Buddhism for nearly four decades and has been a bhikshu, a Buddhist monk, in the Tibetan tradition for the past 18 of those years. But before ordination, he worked in palliative care, tech, refugee organizations, and commercial management. He's a multitasker just as much as Durga is. He studied Buddhist philosophy and practiced for 10 years before spending the over four years in retreat,

training in Tibetan sutra and tantra, as well as in the Burmese Theravada forest tradition. The past 15 years, Venerable Gundun has been teaching Buddhist philosophy, psychology and meditation around the world. And in 2023, he founded the Buddha Project for the long-term guidance of Buddhist meditators, scientific research, art projects and intercontemplative social engagement. And it is indeed at the International Society for Contemplative Research

in Padua this past June that we met and we forged this plan to host him here at the Ruben before the building closes. So we're really honored and delighted, Venerable Gündön, that you could join us today and share your wisdom and your experience with us on the subject of transformation. Venerable Losang Guenther. So first of all, what a joy to be finally here, actually. I've been in New York a few times before. Confrontationally, the last time was actually straight after September 11.

I spent some time in the Middle East, coming out of the Middle East. I was spending time with friends and saw on television the second plane flying into the World Trade Center. on television, the second plane flying into the World Trade Center. To come back here, when I came back here, that was the third time I was here. That was, of course, very almost traumatizing. As you see, as I saw it, a city that was trying to find its footing again.

Dust had been moved up into the air, and no one really knew anymore where they were. It's a pleasure to see that New York to some extent has normalized, although if you would read the newspapers you would never realize that. But when you walk through its cities, through its streets, New York has turned back to being New York, I guess. New York has turned back to being New York, I guess. So, the importance of the... There's much importance in that image of Durga. But the tension in that image is the serenity of her face and the forcefulness of her actions.

One of the questions that I get a lot is how do we deal with the enormous challenges that we face in the 21st century? We face political problems, enormous polarization of our societies, environmental destruction, war. I'm a European. It's for the first time since the Second World War that we have a major conflict going on in the heart of the place where we had collectively decided never to do that again after 60 million dead people. And here we are.

And here we are. To act in the world, we need that serenity as well. And that is one of the profound aspects of many spiritual traditions that take center stage in Buddhist practice. We need to find something within ourselves that is always and surprisingly manifestly there. The Pali Sutras is described as that our minds are luminous and free from adventitious things. This phrase from the Pali Canon, which is still often recited in Theravada countries, is very important to the tradition, especially in the Tibetan tradition and in the Chinese tradition about us having Buddha nature.

We have already an awakened aspect to our mind that is simply overlooked. A way that I myself like to think about it is actually about one of, in the context of one of my favorite buildings, and that's a cathedral in middle France. Next to Paris, you have a tiny town with a cathedral that contains more stone than the entire town around it.

It's called Chateau. When you walk into that cathedral, the first thing, as we always are, you are impressed by the artwork, by the stone masonry, and so on and so forth. Until someone makes a sound. And then you realize all of a sudden there is something else to the church which is even more impressive, and that is silence. That space, that open space that the church creates is so vast that all sound is drowned out inside of it.

In a very similar way, our minds are very object-oriented. And our minds are pretty utilitarian. They are always questioning, like, what can this object or what can this person do for me? And when you look deeply within what happens when we do so, is that it always creates like a narrowing of the mind. It gives you a sort of claustrophobic experience. But as with the church, we can be obsessed with the sound

and complain about that someone makes the sound in a sacred space. Or we can enjoy the fact that that sound actually makes the silence of the church audible to us. That aspect I would like to explore with you in the meditation that is coming. This is used again in both Theravada and Tibetan Buddhism, it's used in the practice of Dzogchen and Mahamudra. It's where we use the objects that are coming and going in the mind, not to over focalize on them, but to realize that they make the spaciousness visible that is

inherent to the mind itself. And that the spaciousness is not a blank canvas. As I said, I use very deliberately the word instrumentalizing our minds, and that is an aspect of what Buddhists call our ignorance. Our ignorance divides the world into me's and others, and into objects that I want to use, or objects that I prefer not to use, and so on and so forth. These are all narrowing minds. When you observe what happens

when the mind does so, it's that our tranquility, our spaciousness, and our wisdom leaves us. The female in Buddhism is a representation of wisdom. It is something that we need to invite, or to put it better, it is present, but we need to clear space for it. Because that calm, serene wisdom will also allow us to perform skillful acts, to stand up where we need to, and to be able to sustain that.

Because otherwise we quickly become deflated when we meet resistance, as all our unskillful states of mind have a habit of doing. They are exhausting. unskillful states of mind have a habit of doing. They are exhausting. But when in the challenges of life we can find and locate that spaciousness and the wisdom and calm that it brings, then you may find that the resources that you have to engage the world are infinite.

The Buddha did not change the world. We're still here trying to make an effort. But within that spaciousness we become places of refuge to each other. I always think that it took two people to bring me into this world.

So if we could, if our life has an effect that we are confident that we might have led two people to bring me into this world. So if we could, you know, if our life has an effect that we are confident that we might have led two people out of suffering, then we have fulfilled our promise. But before talking about this, I always think that it is more important to look at it. These things are easy to say But if they were easy to realize then I will be filled with centers full of Buddhas The first thing of meditation is to find a comfortable position Yeah

In my perspective Finding a comfortable position starts with creating space for the body. Not as an object of utilization as it is so often in our modern society, but as an object of gratitude. For outside of the purview of most of our consciousness, it performs millions of tasks in every moment to make this human life possible. And as to all living things, our body flourishes in appreciation and acknowledgement. Which is why being mindful of the body, inviting it to support us,

is calming and restorative. Thus creating a safe space for the mind. So let that awareness grow until you have a sense from your toes to your fingers, to the tip of your head. Thank you. Being fully aware of the body not only reminds us that we are embodied beings, but through our senses it also reminds us that we are embedded in the world. With our skins, we touch the air, the seat, the person next to us To our ears we are aware the fluctuations in the air. Thank you. And equally we see, much creators of the world as we are created by it.

As all these sensory experiences arise in relation, in meeting. Thank you. When we gently zoom out and we let go of our focus, we may become aware that there is yet another aspect to our experience. It is with the cathedral, the hearing of sound actually implies the silence of the mind. For if the mind would be noisy, it would not be able to hear anything. The mind creates space for colors and forms, tactile sensations, tastes and smells, thoughts, feelings and emotions. Thank you.. That silent empty spaciousness of the mind is immaculate. is knowing deeply. It's receptiveness, gentle, kind and caring and when released from its constraints of almost infinite power. Let's take a few moments to simply rest here, at home. Thank you. Thank you. When we have the taste, found the taste of this silence, this open-endedness of the mind. You can end this meditation by inviting each other and the world at large back in. But remaining aware that this spaciousness is where we have truly footing, balance and freedom. Thank you.

Thank you. Nice to see that you wanted to stay in this space as well. That's a good start. especially that you wanted to stay in the space as well. That's a good start. So much, Venam Gendun, for inviting us into this room without corners that is noise-free and yet resonates deeply. Thank you. That concludes this week's practice. To support the Rubin and this meditation series, we invite you to become a member at rubinmuseum.org slash membership.

And to stay up to date with the Rubin Museum's virtual and in-person offerings, sign up for a monthly newsletter at rubinmuseum.org slash e-news. I am Tashi Chodron. Thank you so much for listening. Have a mindful day.