Mindfulness Meditation · Awareness
This week’s meditation session is led by Sharon Salzberg and the theme is Awareness. The guided meditation begins at 17:09.
Wheel of Life; Tibet; 18th century; Pigments on cloth; 25 × 17 5/8 in. (estimated); Rubin Museum of Art; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, gift of the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation; F1997.40.10
The large red figure of Yama, Lord of Death, holds the wheel of existence against the mouth, ready to swallow it at any moment, representing the immediacy of impermanence. In the center of the wheel are the three poisons symbolized by three animals: a black pig (ignorance), snake (anger), and rooster (desire). The surrounding circle shows individuals moving upward and downward in the circle of existence based on merit and karma. The five sections of the wheel portray the six realms of existence: god, asura (anti-god), human, animal, ghost (preta), and hell. The outermost circle comprises 12 scenes representing the 12 links of dependent arising.
This model of Buddhist cosmology, focusing on the inhabitants, is based on the Abhidharma literature of the Theravada and Sutrayana vehicles. The bottom of this painting features verses written in gold in the old ornate lan tsa script of Nepal. The background landscape and colors indicate an eastern Tibetan style of painting.
Sharon Salzberg, cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, has guided meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. Her latest book is Real Change: Mindfulness to Heal Ourselves and the World. 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 bestseller Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation, Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience, and Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness. Ms. Salzberg has been a regular participant in the Rubin’s many on-stage conversations and regards the Rubin as a supplemental office.
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