Mindfulness Meditation · Community
This week’s meditation session is led by Tracy Cochran and the theme is Community. The guided meditation begins at 14:20.
Four Arhats; Kham Province, Eastern Tibet; 19th century; Pigments on cloth; 43 x 25 x 1 in. (109.2 x 63.5 x 2.5 cm); Rubin Museum of Art; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin; C2012.7.22
This 19th-century thangka painting depicts Four Arhats. The word arhat means “worthy one” in Sanskrit and serves as a title for those who have achieved awakening and will pass into nirvana upon their death. According to tradition, the Buddha selected 16 arhats to remain in the world to protect his teachings until Maitreya, the buddha of the future, can return to continue what the Buddha started. Along with being a focus of veneration particularly in East Asia, the 16 arhats also serve as ideals for moral behavior within the community. This work was either created by the Fourteenth Karmapa Tekchok Dorje (1797–1845) or made under his supervision in his workshop.
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.
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