Mindfulness Meditation With Tracy Cochran 05/23/2024

The Rubin Museum of Art presents a weekly meditation session led by a meditation teacher from the area, with each session focusing on a specific work of art. This podcast is a recording of a Mindfulness Meditation in-person session, a 20-minute sitting session, and a closing discussion.

The guided practice begins at 15:07.

Transcript

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 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.

Good afternoon,

Everyone and Tashi Delek.

So today is a very special day.

It is Vesak and Sakadawa,

Both falls on the same day.

It often falls on like a week or two difference or a month,

Depending on the lunar calendar.

This year,

It is extra auspicious because it falls on the same day.

The Vesak is,

You know,

The Theravada and Mahayana and general Buddhist calendar celebrating Buddha's birth,

Enlightenment and Mahaparinirvana,

The passing away.

And Sakadawa is specifically on the Vajrayana Tibetan Buddhist calendar.

And today is the 15th day of the fourth month.

And the fourth month is called Sakadawa,

The Bhumjurdawa,

Which means one good merit is multiplied a hundred million times.

So this one trip together is like a hundred million times,

Isn't that something?

And so I often say that we all come together at certain time on a certain day.

It is the ripening of our own karmic connection.

It's not,

You know,

Coincidence or anything.

And so it is so special to be here with all of you today.

My name is Tashi Chodron,

Himalayan Programs and Communities Ambassador,

And I'm so happy to be your host.

We are a global hub for Himalayan art with the home base in Chelsea,

New York City.

And we're so glad to have all of you join us for this weekly program where we combine art and meditation.

So inspired by our collection,

We will first take a look at work of art.

We will then hear a brief talk from our wonderful teacher,

Tracy Cochran.

And it's so auspicious for us to have this good fortune to be with Tracy.

And then we will have a short set,

About 15 to 20 minutes for the meditation guided by Tracy.

And so this month,

May,

It's celebrating Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month in New York City,

But also in the Tibetan calendar for the Merit Month,

Sakadawa.

We have a theme,

It's balance or equanimity.

And then the art connection for today's session is this beautiful sculpture of Manjushri.

In Sanskrit word,

Manjushri or Manjushri Gaba.

It's dated 19th century metal alloy,

About 38 and a quarter into 30 and a half into 19 by three eighth inches and a beautiful sculpture.

This month,

We invite all of you to reflect on how we can create a greater sense of harmony in our lives through mindfulness practice.

By cultivating balance,

We move forward on the path towards peace and contentment.

And so this sculpture is the Manjushri in Sanskrit and in Tibetan,

He's known as Jampel Yang,

We translate as a melodious bodhisattva.

He's one of the eight bodhisattvas and how you can identify that he's a bodhisattva is you look at these beautiful necklaces,

Armlets,

Anklets,

Crown,

Bracelet,

All of this are some of the iconography that you understand it's a bodhisattva.

Manjushri is also the embodiment of the knowledge and wisdom of all the Buddhas traditionally depicted with his sword in the right hand,

Which is to cut ignorance.

With ignorance,

Not knowing,

We create so much disharmony and suffering.

And so then this is a very unique and a special Manjushri that has forearm and holding the bow and the arrow.

And in this left hand,

This is a textbook like a rectangle Buddhist textbook,

Which symbolizes wisdom.

So the wisdom and skillful means together is awakening or liberation.

And now let's bring on our teacher for today.

Our teacher is Tracy Cochran.

Tracy is the founder of Hudson River Sangha,

Which is now virtual and is open to all.

Tracy has taught mindfulness meditation and mindful writing at the Rubin Museum of Art and the New York Insight Meditation,

As well as in schools,

Corporations and other venues worldwide.

She's also a writer and the editorial director of Parabola,

An acclaimed quarterly magazine that seeks to bring timeless spiritual wisdom to the burning questions of the day.

Her new book presents the art of being at home in yourself.

It's available in the gift shop upstairs.

So let's bring on Tracy.

Please help me in welcoming Tracy Cochran.

I'm really honored to be here on this extremely auspicious day,

As Tashi told us today,

Commemorates the birth,

The enlightenment and the death of the Buddha.

And so this sitting,

Even if it's just a moment of connection that we undertake together in just a few minutes,

Will be multiplied a hundred million times,

Hundred million times,

Which is really good news,

Because it can seem like there's such a gap between ourselves and a Bodhisattva.

And I don't know about you,

But have you had any moments,

Even today,

Of feeling annoyed or having your feelings hurt or feeling like,

Oh no,

It's pouring out?

What am I going to do?

Or feeling misunderstood or not have met somehow?

This is the way most of us live,

Moment by moment by moment,

Trying to recover our balance.

And as I was preparing for today,

I came to the conclusion that the difference between my ordinary experience and a Bodhisattva who lives for the sake of all beings,

All of us,

Is a question of the quality of presence.

To me,

And one reason why I love having it as the title of my book,

Presence is attention itself,

Embodied attention.

And when we go through our days,

Our lives,

And we notice that we're tumbling from one hurt to another anger,

To another fear,

To another illness,

To another disappointment,

Seeking to right ourselves,

Seeking for some hope outside,

Some reassurance,

Some relationship or job or something that will set us right,

Sometimes in spaces like this we have a chance to remember,

There's that word again,

Remember not to forget,

Not tomes,

But the promise that there's another possibility for balance,

For wholeness,

Right here,

Right now.

So,

No matter what you came in the room with,

No matter what's unfinished,

Unsolved,

Confusing in your life,

There's an invitation to just drop that and be here.

And notice that this balance that leads to wholeness,

To freedom,

To a state where you could be spacious enough to not be thinking mostly about yourself,

Begins by touching the earth,

Coming back to the body right now,

Even before we start,

Notice that you can have a sensation of feet on the floor,

Being present in a body,

Right now,

Bring that into your space.

And in the body,

Notice right now there's sensation,

You can feel air on the skin,

You can feel breath,

Breathing,

Perception.

So,

Bring that into your space,

Right now,

Not in some perfect,

Out there moment,

Right now.

And make space for the possibility that sensation opens into feeling.

And not just whatever mind state,

Whatever emotion might be dominating today,

But a more elemental feeling,

Feeling that it's good to be present,

Be present here on the earth,

Feeling that it's good to be alive,

To be living.

So,

Bringing feeling into the space,

Beginning to remember the heart,

And that heart is big,

Open,

Connected to life,

To sensation,

To feeling,

To being here.

And just by relaxing,

Connecting to earth,

Body,

Sensation,

Feeling,

We can also begin to open to a greater possibility.

And without thinking about it,

No words,

Just that there is a spacious capacity here,

In a way that we don't have to label,

We are connected to life,

To a greater life,

And there is something in us that's made to resonate or vibrate with compassion for other beings,

For trees,

For plants,

For animals,

For other people.

And we don't have to reach for those outside,

It's here.

This is presence.

It's inside you.

It's an innate capacity to be in the center of your life.

Be centered here,

And also open,

Open to a greater presence,

The life of the world.

So,

Let's sit together and take our seat,

And sitting up straight like kings and queens,

Like bodhisattvas,

Recognizing there isn't such a big gap between ourselves and bodhisattvas.

We are bodhisattva seedlings,

Right here,

Right now.

So,

Let your eyes close,

If you're comfortable with closed eyes,

So let your gaze be down,

And notice how it feels to be centered,

In the center of your life.

Sensing the feet on the floor,

Extreme sensation,

Feeling,

Thinking,

Life.

And notice that there's an attention that's already here,

You don't have to seek it,

There's something here,

A presence that sees with openness and kindness.

Notice how it feels to just sink,

Sink into sensation,

Let go of striving,

Just be here.

And notice the life inside you,

Attention that doesn't label,

As senses feels,

Sees with kindness.

And see that when you get taken by thinking,

Planning,

Some difficult emotion,

That you can be with this,

With this gentle attention.

And come back again,

To body,

To earth,

Just rest,

Rest in kind attention.

Notice that this makes space around you,

Notice how it feels to be seen by an attention that is completely accepting,

Patient,

Open,

Gentle,

Gentle,

Fast.

Don't try to change anything,

Just rest,

Just come home,

To body,

To presence.

And notice how it feels to be acceptable,

Lovable,

And you find yourself wandering in thought,

Just come home,

And notice that you're welcome in presence,

To be just like this.

Notice the vibrancy of stillness,

It has a light in it,

And the space,

Notice that space,

This light,

This presence,

Is also you.

And it's more true about you,

Than any single story.

Here,

Now,

Alive,

Just rest in presence.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for that wonderful session,

Tracy.

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.