Theme: Letting Go
Either from Tibet or Nepal, this beautiful repousse displays a Naga king coming out of carefully detailed motif known as cloud foliage. Nagas are powerful snake spirits that can either harm or help humans and are associated with underwater and subterranean realms. In Nepal, looking at the clouds and seeing shapes resembling aquatic animals, like nagas and other beings, was a sign of the impending monsoon rains. Once the sky was full of these beings, it would let go of the water in the clouds, watering crops, and allowing for a plentiful fall harvest.
Image credit: Flying Naga, Nepal or Tibet; 14th century, Gilt copper alloy; repouse, Rubin Museum of Art,C2005.16.18 (HAR 65441)
Mindfulness Meditation Series
Himalayan practitioners have, for centuries, used meditation to quiet the mind, open the heart, calm the nervous system, and increase one’s ability to focus. Now, western scientists, business leaders, and the secular world have embraced meditation as a vital tool for brain health. Learn more
Presented in partnership with Sharon Salzberg and the New York Insight Meditation Center.
About the Teacher
Tracy Cochran is editorial director of Parabola, a quarterly magazine that for forty years has drawn on the world’s cultural and wisdom traditions to explore the questions that all humans share. She has been a student of meditation and spiritual practices for decades and teaches mindfulness meditation and mindful writing at New York Insight Meditation Center and throughout the greater New York area. In addition toParabola, her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Psychology Today, O Magazine, New York Magazine, the Boston Review, and many other publications and anthologies. For more information please visit tracycochran.org.