About the Meditation
Meditation session led by Sharon Salzberg.
The guided meditation begins at 18:22.
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 with thanks to our presenting partners Sharon Salzberg, the Interdependence Project and Parabola Magazine.
Related Artwork
Theme: Generosity
White Tara With Long Life Deities Tibet; 19th century; pigments on cloth; Rubin Museum of Art; gift of the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation; F1996.32.5 (HAR 542)
As a female buddha, Tara works for the benefit of all beings and has many manifestations. This form, known as White Tara, bestows longevity. Her right hand rests on her knee, displaying the gesture of infinite generosity, while the left holds the stem of a pure white lotus blossoming above her shoulder.
The reverse of the painting is particularly interesting; it contains a depiction of a stupa with a mandala drawn in its dome and handprints of a Buddhist master. Prayers and dedications written in gold on the stupa’s body state that this painting was commissioned by Yeshe Lopsang Tenpa, likely the Eighth Tatsak Rinpoche (1760″“1810). Taking refuge in Tara, he dedicates the merit of the painting’s creation to preventing untimely death and other dangers for all sentient beings and asks to bestow the blessings of a long and auspicious life. The handprints and the small seal prints underneath them may be his own.
About the Speaker
Sharon Salzberg, cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, has guided meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. Sharon’s latest books are Real Love: The Art of Mindful Connections and Real Happiness at Work: Meditations for Accomplishment, Achievement, and Peace. She is a weekly columnist for On Being, a regular contributor to The Huffington Post, and the author of several other books including the New York Times best-seller Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation, Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience, and Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness. Sharon has been a regular participant in the Rubin’s many on-stage conversations.