Mindfulness Meditation · Change
This week’s meditation session is led by Kate Johnson and the theme is Change. The guided meditation begins at 10:30.
Padmasambhava; Tibet; 18th century; Pigments on cloth; 36 1/2 x 22 3/8 in. (92.7 x 56.8 cm); Rubin Museum of Art; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin; C2006.66.418
This image depicts the great Indian saint Padmasambhava holding a human skull cup. Here he appears in the form of a pandita (Indian scholar), displaying his mastery of classic Buddhist thought. This form of Padmasambhava is named Pema Jugne. Padmasambhava had the ability to change his forms to adapt to any situation. He took this pandita form when he first met the king of Tibet, Trisongdetsen. The Tibetan king refused to bow to the Buddhist master, so Pema Jugne shot flames out of his fingers, making the king duck and bow down to him, a symbolic gesture of Tibet’s change to a Buddhist country.
Kate Johnson works at the intersections of spiritual practice, social action, and creativity. She has been practicing Buddhist meditation in the Western Insight/Theravada tradition since her early twenties and is empowered to teach through Spirit Rock Meditation Center. She holds a BFA in dance from the Alvin Ailey School/Fordham University, and MA in performance studies from NYU.
Kate is a core faculty member of MIT’s Presencing Institute, and has trained hundreds of leaders and change-makers in using Social Presencing Theater, a mindfulness and dance improvisation methodology used to inform strategic planning and systems change in our complex world.
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