About the Meditation
Meditation session led by Kaira Jewel Lingo.
The guided meditation begins at 15:41.
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 meditation session, and a closing discussion.
This program is supported in part by the Hemera Foundation with thanks to our presenting partners Sharon Salzberg, the Interdependence Project, and Parabola Magazine.
Related Artwork
Theme: Care
According to Buddhist belief, at the moment of death we have an opportunity to attain an enlightened state of mind. But our own karma brings up various visions, including terrifying ones. If we do not recognize them as projections of our own mind, we cannot reach the enlightened state or a good rebirth. This painting depicts the deities described in a 14th-century text, “The Peaceful and Wrathful Deities: The Profound Teachings of Self-Liberated Wisdom Mind,” as well as the famous “Liberation upon Hearing in the Intermediate State.” The teachings of this text allow practitioners to prepare and train their minds for this future eventuality. Often ritual specialists read these instructions to the deceased as the means of guiding them through the difficult process of transitioning to a future existence.
About the Speaker
Kaira Jewel Lingo is a Dharma teacher with a lifelong interest in blending spirituality with social justice. She received Lamp Transmission from Thich Nhat Hanh and became a Zen teacher in 2007, and is a teacher in the Vipassana Insight lineage through Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Her work continues the Engaged Buddhist movement developed by Thich Nhat Hanh, and she draws inspiration from her parents’ stories and her dad’s work with Martin Luther King, Jr. Based in New York, she leads retreats internationally, provides spiritual mentoring, and interweaves art, play, nature, racial justice, and embodied mindfulness practice in her teaching. Her teachings and writings can be found at www.kairajewel.com.