This week’s meditation session is led by Lavina Shamdasani and the theme is Impermanence. The guided meditation begins at 12:32.

This painted terracotta sculpture depicts the skeletal Lords of the Charnel Ground, who are associated with the deity Chakrasamvara and revered as powerful protectors.

A charnel ground is a repository for the remains of the deceased, often located in remote locations such as mountaintops. In early Buddhism, practitioners would visit charnel grounds to meditate on death and the fleeting nature of life. Death rituals such as cremation and sky burial often take place in charnel grounds. Sky burial is a solemn ritual in which the remains of the deceased are left exposed to be consumed by vultures, signifying impermanence.

A piece of cloth affixed to the back of the sculpture contains the mantra of the Lords of the Charnel Ground, evoking their role as protectors: “Eliminate misery from harmful spirits, fire, water, and lightning, the perseverance of ill-will, robbery, thievery, and harmful underground and earth spirits; in short protect from outer, inner, and secret adverse conditions from today until attaining great awakening.” The Lords of the Charnel Ground are associated with protection from robbery, hence the specific reference to stealing in the text. 

The Lords of the Charnel Ground are portrayed ecstatically dancing, rejoicing in their freedom from the trappings of attachment. As we behold the Lords of the Charnel Ground may we take on a similar exuberant outlook towards the process of life.