Mindfulness Practice At The Rubin Museum With Tracy Cochran

The Rubin Museum of Art presents a weekly 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 recorded in front of a live audience, and includes an opening talk, a 20-minute sitting session, and a closing discussion. The guided practice begins at 20:06.

Transcript

Welcome to the Mindfulness Meditation podcast.

I'm your host,

Dawn Eshelman.

Every Wednesday at the Rubin Museum of Art in Chelsea,

We present a meditation session led by a prominent meditation teacher from the New York area.

This podcast is a recording of our weekly practice.

If you would like to join us in person,

Please visit our website at rubinmuseum.

Org slash meditation.

We are proud to be partnering with Sharon Salzberg and teachers from the New York Insight Meditation Center.

In the description for each episode,

You will find information about the theme for that week's session,

Including an image of a related artwork chosen from the Rubin Museum's permanent collection.

And now,

Please enjoy your practice.

Good afternoon,

Everybody.

Welcome to the Rubin Museum of Art and to our weekly mindfulness meditation practice.

My name is Dawn Eshelman.

I'm head of programs here.

It's great to be with you.

So nice to have you all here and also welcome to those who are joining us via podcast.

We are having a year-long conversation all about power here at the Rubin.

Are you feeling powerful today?

So we're talking about the power within us,

The power between us,

The nature of power,

Power with versus power over.

And today and this month in our mindfulness meditation practice,

We're talking about this idea of empowerment.

And from the Buddhist perspective,

This word empowerment has a very particular meaning.

It is a form of spiritual practice advancement.

It is a form of learning.

It refers to a very particular formal ritual where a student can gain empowerment from a teacher.

And I think what's really so enlightening and important to know is that from the teacher's perspective what they're doing is they are simply reminding that student of the knowledge that's already within and perhaps giving them different ways of thinking about it,

Different ways of talking about it,

But that this is simply a reminder of their true nature.

And I think from secular perspective,

There are beautiful metaphors there that we can learn from that we can gain so much from relationship,

From being in relationship with a teacher or just with each other,

Learning from each other.

But it's important to remember that we have so much of our own ability to remember who we really are.

And today I think that we'll take a look at a being here who kind of embodies that type of wisdom and in fact is the representation of wisdom.

This is Manjushri right here.

And this sculpture is from the 19th century,

Tibet,

Metal alloy.

And Manjushri is in fact the embodiment of wisdom.

And we know that both wisdom and compassion are viewed as the kind of most important tools to use in this journey towards enlightenment.

And Manjushri is seated here on his lotus throne in the lotus posture,

So seated in the lotus posture there,

Which is a nod to meditation,

And wearing his beautiful robes and the crown on his head and then a halo above that.

And then he is so powerful that he has four arms.

So in each of his hands he is holding a particular tool that cuts through ignorance and supports learning and wisdom.

So we have in his upper right hand the sword,

Right,

That's literally cutting through,

Making this very decisive action.

And then we have in his left hand and other right hand this bow and arrow.

And that represents the concentration that is needed in a meditative practice to kind of cut through,

Right,

To kind of allow those other thoughts to drift away.

And then in his most central hand,

Right over his heart he's holding,

Does anybody know what he's holding there?

Thoughts?

It is not a fancy chocolate bar.

It is a book.

It is a book of spiritual texts.

So that putting it right over his heart there is important and we're seeing here that the practice of learning is central to this idea of cutting through ignorance and really gaining wisdom.

So you might think of a book that reminded you of your own wisdom or perhaps a relationship,

Whether that was a formal teacher or someone who just had a lot to teach you that you might want to call into the room today or into your practice.

We will be talking with our teacher today,

Tracy Cochran,

All about this idea of power and empowerment.

And so nice to have you back,

Tracy,

And to hear from,

This is kind of your part two on this topic,

So we get to go deeper with you today,

Which is wonderful.

Tracy is a writer and editorial director of Parabola,

That beautiful magazine that can be found in our gift shop or you can order it online.

And it is all about wisdom traditions from around the world.

And in addition to teaching here at the Rubin,

She teaches at New York Insight and every Sunday at Hudson River Sangha in Tarrytown,

New York.

And I just want to mention that Tracy teaches writing and meditation workshops.

She'll be teaching one in Insight here in New York City,

Right?

Manhattan Insight.

And that'll be this Saturday and then in August the 24th,

Which is a Saturday,

She'll be here.

So an intensive workshop with Tracy,

It's a treat.

And Saturday,

August 24th,

Two to five,

Right Tracy?

So Tracy's writings and teaching schedule can be found online,

Parabola.

Org or Facebook,

Twitter and tracycockran.

Org.

Will you please welcome her back,

Tracy Cochran.

I think chocolate would be good in one of the hands.

But I look at this statue,

Podcast people can't see it,

But this figure looks so regal.

Doesn't he look regal?

He looks completely prepared for anything.

Who here feels that way?

Because I don't.

I don't.

And he looks and feels completely confident and spacious.

How do people get that kind of confidence?

How do they have that,

The ebony power?

I read an article,

I reread it on the train,

Where scientists now think that people with worldly power have a kind of brain damage.

This is true.

This is true that they actually,

That power intoxicates.

And so a very unattractive people can feel sexually magnetic,

For example.

Or they find truthfully that they lose the ability to picture how other people feel or their experience,

Because they are focused on their goals,

But they lose the ability to open their vision to others.

So is it possible to have a different kind of power,

A different kind of concentration?

And I think that life is our greatest teacher.

First of all,

Life is stressful,

Have you noticed?

Have you noticed?

And it's extremely unpredictable.

And we find that we live like soldiers in battle,

Even to get here.

We have to picture how to get from here to there and back again without some mishap occurring.

Everything is a mission to be accomplished.

And sometimes it works.

Sometimes we can feel like ninjas,

Like masters of life.

We can feel mindful even,

Walking in the street open to people,

Open to birdsong and everything around us.

And we can decide that life is good.

And we are good.

We belong here.

And then it comes.

A text,

A phone call,

A taxi cab hitting that black puddle of water.

Any number of things can happen.

But it can be bad news,

Typically,

That takes us in a heartbeat from a feeling of empowerment and openness to a feeling of contracting.

Like suddenly we're tiny little fortresses in a dark and scary world.

And sometimes it can be anger we're filled with and we're dazzled by our own pettiness,

Our own capacity to be enraged about some sight.

Has anyone here ever used the expression,

That's not fair?

That's not fair.

Why did this have to happen?

After everything I've done.

Everything I've given and sacrificed.

And sometimes it's fear that fills us.

Then in a heartbeat we can get taken by the undertow of fear down,

Down,

Down into our earliest stories.

Our most primal fear of abandonment,

Left behind,

Dying.

And something that always happens is that we suddenly see the ego,

The thinking mind for what it is.

It's like we're busted,

Like that searchlight outside the prison that captures the prisoner.

Posturing,

Pretending to be on top of it.

In control.

And suddenly you're busted.

And the interesting thing is that it's right at that moment,

Right then,

When you're sitting there in the wreckage of your illusions,

Your dreams,

That something new can appear.

We see that under the brain it's freaking out.

And when we freak out we can be very concentrated,

We can be completely obsessive.

And will you notice repetitive thoughts?

Right then we see that there is under that mind,

There is another mind,

Quiet,

Receptive,

And kind that just sees.

And under the body that might be giving you so much trouble,

That might be so tired and just disappointing,

There's a subtle body that is responsiveness itself,

That just does the next thing to be done.

And in spite of everything we see that seems like a shortcoming,

We can feel a courage in the root sense of the heart from the heart curve.

That's an ability to just respond,

To hold all that fear or anger or confusion and still show up.

And in that moment we begin to discover what's truly power.

It's in Buddhism when they talk about emptiness,

It's actually something very simple and very direct.

It's the capacity to be here,

No matter what shape you're in.

Something can respond.

I was on the train,

As I often am,

Coming down here one day and everybody was busy.

Have you noticed we're so busy?

And I remember Philip Ross said about iPhones,

What does everybody have to say to each other all the time?

Constant conversation and it's urgent.

And so this was happening or newspapers at work and somebody had a heart attack and collapsed.

And suddenly everything changed.

The people,

Medical people were summoned and they came running and they knelt down on this grimy floor in their beautiful clothes and they helped.

And the rest of us called 911,

I'm sure there were about 100 calls.

But it leaves bearing windows being with.

And that's what I'm talking about.

In the midst,

Right at the moment when you feel you are overwhelmed,

Another kind of mind can appear,

An essential intelligence that knows what matters and what doesn't really matter.

And the interesting thing is that we're trying to do mindfulness often so we can perform better or calm down and that's fine.

But in a moment like I'm describing,

It shows you what to do.

It shows you what matters and what your true values are.

This is wisdom.

As Helen Keller said,

Life is full of suffering but it's also full of overcoming.

These moments of opening to relate to life from our true heart,

Our true mind.

So let's sit and notice,

Just let yourself take up space,

Lots of space,

And feel regal.

Sit in the center of your life like a king or a queen and just check in how does the body feel.

Don't think,

Just feel.

And see that when you bring the attention to the body,

It starts to soften.

And as this happens,

Let the attention come to the breath.

Without seeking to change it,

Just notice in breath,

Out breath.

And the sensation of coming home to this body,

This attention that doesn't judge.

And see and feel that there's an attention here that we share.

A light of attention that doesn't judge or comment.

Let it cease.

We see that we aren't alone.

We are part of life and open to a greater attention that feels and sees.

You can always come home to the body.

To the breath.

To an attention that's greater than thinking.

That receives.

You can always come home to the breath.

To an attention that's greater than thinking.

Let everything happen and come home.

Seeing that there is no comment,

No judgment to fear.

Just an attention,

A sensation,

A presence.

A light of attention that doesn't judge or comment.

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See that there is life here of vibrancy inside and outside that stillness is opening opening to life letting go of the thinking.

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See that you can begin again anytime come home and see that you're welcome here.

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No fixing.

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See that you can come back to a light of attention that sees you with kindness that is open to a greater life.

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Feel the presence that's here inside and among us among us.

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And feel that this isn't separate from wisdom or compassion.

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It's here.

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Reviews

Wonderful every time 🌞

Thank you Tracy, it's as if you can see exactly where I feel I am at right now. Your wonderful story telling alongside your soothing voice makes the digesting of powerful messages feel effortless.

Wonderful wisdom🌸. Tracy Cochran is always amazing to me. She invariably speaks of just what I need to hear😊💕🙏🏻 in the moment. Thank you 🙏🏻

Insightful for me!!

I have so much appreciation for these Meditations & Tracy. I sometimes just shed tears because the beauty of Wisdom is simply overflowing into Love, Divinely Guided Meditations, Thank You.