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A meditation session led by Tracy Cochran.

For centuries Himalayan practitioners have used meditation to quiet the mind, open the heart, calm the nervous system, and increase focus. Now Western scientists, business leaders, and the secular world have embraced meditation as a vital tool for brain health.

Whether you’re a beginner, a dabbler, or a skilled meditator seeking the company of others, join expert teachers in a forty-five-minute weekly program designed to fit into your lunch break. Each session will be inspired by a different work of art from the Rubin Museum’s collection and will include an opening talk, a twenty-minute sitting session, and a closing discussion. Chairs will be provided.

Presented in partnership with Sharon Salzberg and the New York Insight Meditation Center.

RELATED ARTWORK

Vajradhara, Nepal; 15th century, Gilt copper alloy with semi precious stones, Rubin Museum of Art, C2005.16.43 (HAR 65466)
Vajradhara, Nepal; 15th century, Gilt copper alloy with semi precious stones, Rubin Museum of Art, C2005.16.43 (HAR 65466)


Theme: Gratitude

This 14th-century sculpture of Vajradhara is from Nepal. He sits in full lotus pose wearing an ornate crown with his hands crossed above his chest holding a vajra and bell. This hand gesture, with the combination of the vajra and bell, represents the unification of compassion and wisdom, the two aspects of enlightenment. Vajradhara is a primordial Buddha, meaning he is a personification of the innate qualities of enlightenment that pervade all beings. Essentially, he represents how we can all be Buddhas just like him, and that’s certainly something to be grateful for.

About the Speaker

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 to Parabola, 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.

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