Mindfulness Meditation · Gratitude
This week’s meditation session is led by Tracy Cochran and the theme is Gratitude.
Monsoon Ritual around the Stupa (Gumla Dharma Laksha Caitya); Nepal; 16th century; Pigments on cloth; 25 × 20 3/8 in. (estimated); Rubin Museum of Art; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin; C2006.66.36
During the rainy month of Gumla in the Kathmandu Valley, devout Buddhist families gather to perform the Laksha Caitya, which means “one hundred thousand stupas.” Originally used as burial mounds for important teachers, stupas became a symbol of the Buddha’s enlightened mind in aniconic form. The creation of so many stupas serves to display devotion and gratitude for being able to have such close access to the teachings of the Buddha. Once the one hundred thousand stupas are created, a priest lays them into a riverbed to conclude the ceremony. This painting relates to this ritual by depicting dozens of small stupas in the background with a large stupa in the center. The repetitious practice of gratitude compounds itself, helping the practitioner to focus on the good in their lives.
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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