Mindfulness Meditation · Discovering
This week’s meditation session is led by Sharon Salzberg and the theme is Discovering.
Chitra Ganesh (b. 1975, Brooklyn, NY); Rainbow Body; 2018; digital animation; courtesy of Chitra Ganesh
An animation created by artist Chitra Ganesh, Rainbow Body, takes its inspiration from the Tibetan Buddhist phenomenon known by the same name. Achieving the rainbow body is a sign of the highest realizations in the dzogchen tradition. If a practitioner dies while achieving it, their body will turn into a rainbow. The great Indian master Padmasambhava gained the rainbow body with his student and consort Mandarava. The video references this story by showing Mandarava waking up and then being sucked through the bardo into rainbow realization, discovering the true nature of phenomena.
Sharon Salzberg, Cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, has guided meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. Her latest books are Real Life: The Journey from Isolation to Openness and Freedom and Finding Your Way: Meditations, Thoughts, and Wisdom for Living an Authentic Life. 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, Real Change: Mindfulness to Heal Ourselves and the World, 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.
Get the latest news and stories from the Rubin, plus occasional information on how to support our work.