Mindfulness Meditation · Acceptance
This week’s meditation session is led by Tracy Cochran and the theme is Acceptance. The guided meditation begins at 12:17.
Prayer Wheel; Tibet; 19th - 20th century; Wood, metal, and pigments; 94 × 33 1/4 × 32 in. (estimate); Rubin Museum of Art; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, Gift of Thomas Isenberg; SC2010.32a-h
In Tibetan Buddhist cultures, those who are unable to read are instructed to spin a wheel filled with thousands of inscribed mantras, or mani, written on paper tightly wrapped around a central pole inside a cylinder that encases them. It is believed that turning the wheel is the same as reciting the prayers and mantras, leading to the accumulation of merit and wisdom while purifying negative karma for a practitioner. It also releases these mantras into the world, benefitting countless beings.
Believed to go back to the famous Indian master Nagarjuna, this common practice is usually accompanied by vocal recitations of mantras and often combined with circumambulation around a sacred site or temple. The wheels are spun clockwise so the mantras inside can be read correctly, from left to right.
Tracy Cochran has been a student and teacher of meditation and spiritual practice for decades. She is the founder of the Hudson River Sangha. In addition to offering meditation online, Tracy has taught mindfulness meditation and mindful writing at the Rubin Museum and the New York Insight Meditation Center, as well as in schools, corporations, and other venues worldwide. She is also a writer and the editorial director of Parabola, an acclaimed quarterly magazine that seeks to bring timeless spiritual wisdom to the burning questions of the day.
Get the latest news and stories from the Rubin, plus occasional information on how to support our work.