Mindfulness Meditation · Change
This week’s meditation session is led by Rebecca Li and the theme is Change. The guided meditation begins at 15:42.
Machik Labdron (1055-1153); Kham Province, Eastern Tibet; 19th century; Pigments on cloth; 44 5/8 × 24 3/4 × 1 1/4 in.; Rubin Museum of Art; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin; C2006.66.563
Machik Labrdon, a woman famous for her mastery of the tantric practice known as “cutting through ego” (chod), is shown adorned in bone ornaments, dancing to the sounds of her drum (damar) and the bell she holds.
To her right are dakinis, goddesses who walk the skies, dancing with her. To her left, a tantric master, possibly Machik’s teacher, is blowing into a leg bone trumpet. A personification of the Perfection of Wisdom, the deity Prajnaparamita is above her among the buddhas, symbolizing that the realization of the empty nature of reality is what frees one from the attachment to self, the root cause of all suffering. Chod practitioners intentionally visualize in their mind’s eye their own bodies as offerings to the gods and spirits.
Dr. Rebecca Li, a dharma heir in the lineage of Chan Master Sheng Yen, is the founder and guiding teacher of Chan Dharma Community. She teaches meditation and dharma classes, gives public lectures, and leads retreats in North America and Europe. Li is the author of Allow Joy into Our Hearts: Chan Practice in Uncertain Times, and her book Illumination: A Guide to the Buddhist Method of No-Method was published by Shambhala Publications in 2023. She is a sociology professor and lives with her husband in New Jersey.
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