Mindfulness Meditation · Awakening
This week’s meditation session is led by Kimberly Brown and the theme is Awakening. The guided meditation begins at 13:12.
Maitreya, the Future Buddha; Tibet; ca. second quarter of 15th century; Pigments on cloth; 34 3/8 x 1 1/8 x 27 1/4 in. (87.3 x 2.9 x 69.2 cm); Rubin Museum of Art; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, gift of the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation; F1998.17.2
This luminous painting of the future Buddha, Maitreya, shows him sitting on his celestial throne in Tushita heaven radiating light. The future Buddha sits with his legs extended as if poised and ready to descend to earth and take up his ministry as the buddha of the next eon. He is adorned with the princely jewels and garb of a bodhisattva, having not yet taken up his future role as the next buddha, when he would be depicted in monk’s robes like the buddha of our current age, Shakyamuni. In his left hand Maitreya holds the stem of a Nagakesara blossom that carries a flask, his distinctive identifying attribute.
His throne is supported by a lotus emerging from a fenced pond, the branches of which form the subtle scroll that frames all of the secondary figures. The extensive teaching lineage it contains at the sides indicates that this painting refers to the Five Treatises of Maitreya, five commentaries on Buddha Shakyamuni’s teachings attributed to Maitreya.
Kimberly Brown is a meditation teacher and author. She leads classes and retreats that emphasize the power of compassion and kindness meditation to reconnect us to ourselves and others. Her teachings provide an approachable pathway to personal and collective well-being through effective and modern techniques based on traditional practices. She studies in both the Tibetan and Insight schools of Buddhism and is a certified mindfulness instructor. Her book Navigating Grief and Loss: 25 Buddhist Practices to Keep Your Heart Open to Yourself and Others was published in 2022, and an updated edition of Steady, Calm, and Brave was released in 2023. Both are published by Prometheus Books.
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