Mindfulness Meditation · Compassion
This week’s meditation session is led by Tracy Cochran and the theme is Compassion. The guided meditation begins at 14:52.
Stories of the Previous Lives of the Buddha (Jataka); Eastern Tibet; Late 17th-18th century; Pigments on cloth; 37 × 26 in. (estimated); Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; C2004.20.1
Tales of Buddha Shakyamuni’s past lives (jataka) are some of the most well-known narratives in Himalayan cultures and are often presented in a series of paintings, with each painting depicting a part of the collection of stories. Presented as small vignettes, these narrative scenes are usually arranged around a central image of the Buddha and visually separated by landscape elements. The traditional set of 34 tales, which was later expanded to 108, includes stories of the Buddha’s previous lives as a bodhisattva, king, merchant, and animal. Together the tales illustrate the perfection of virtues on the path to enlightenment.
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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