Mindfulness Meditation · Generosity
This week’s meditation session is led by Sharon Salzberg and the theme is Generosity.
Buddha Shakyamuni and Stories of his Previous Lives; Tibet; mid-late 14th century; Pigments on cloth; 59 1/2 × 46 7/8 in.; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin; C2003.50.4
This thankga features Buddha Shakyamuni flanked by Manjushri and Maitreya and surrounded by the 16 great aharts. Farther out in the perimeter are cells depicting scenes of the Buddha’s previous lives before he attained awakening. Known as the jataka tales, these stories present the Buddha in many different forms. Each one of the tales extolls a particular virtue that the Buddha perfected in order to become enlightened.
Many jataka tales focus on generosity, but one of the most powerful stories tells of how the Buddha found a starving tigress who was so hungry that she was on the verge of eating her cubs. In order to feed the tigress, he sacrificed his body by jumping off a cliff, letting the tigress feed on him instead of her cubs. The painting depicts this scene on the second row from the bottom, in the fifth square from the left.
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.
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