Mindfulness Meditation and Book Talk

For centuries Himalayan practitioners have used meditation to quiet the mind, open the heart, calm the nervous system, and increase focus. Mindfulness meditation offers a refuge from the world and an opportunity to engage more consciously.

Whether you’re a beginner, a dabbler, or a skilled meditator seeking the company of others, join expert teachers in a weekly program inspired by different works of art from the Rubin Museum’s collection. Designed to fit into your lunch break, the  program includes an opening talk and a 20-minute sitting session. After the meditation, today’s teacher Rebecca Li will speak about her new book, Illumination: A Guide to the Buddhist Method of No-Method. The talk will be followed by a Q&A and book signing. 

The theme for February’s Mindfulness Meditation sessions is Love. Chairs are provided.

About the Speaker

Dr. Rebecca Li, a Dharma heir in the lineage of Chan Master Sheng Yen, is the founder and guiding teacher of Chan Dharma Community. She teaches meditation and Dharma classes, gives public lectures, and leads retreats in North America and Europe. Li is the author of Allow Joy into Our Hearts: Chan Practice in Uncertain Times, and her new book titled Illumination: A Guide to the Buddhist Method of No-Method was published by Shambhala Publications in October. She is a sociology professor and lives with her husband in New Jersey. Her talks and writings can be found at www.rebeccali.org.

About the Book

Silent illumination, a way of penetrating the mind through curious inquiry, is an especially potent, accessible, and portable meditation practice perfectly suited for a time when there is so much fear, upheaval, and sorrow in our world. It is a method of reconnecting with our true nature, which encompasses all that exists and where suffering cannot touch us. Silent illumination can be integrated into all aspects of daily life and is meaningful for secular and Buddhist audiences, new and seasoned meditators alike.

Rebecca Li shows us how we can recognize and unlearn our “modes of operation”—habits of mind that get in the way of being fully present and engaged with life. Cultivating clarity on the empty nature of these habits offers us a way to unlearn and free ourselves from unhelpful modes such as harshness to self, perfectionism, quietism, striving for spiritual attainment, and more.

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.