Mindfulness Meditation · Impermanence
This week’s meditation session is led by Tracy Cochran and the theme is Impermanence. The guided meditation begins at 15:18.
Protector Begtse Chen; Mongolia; late 18th - early 19th century; Gilt copper alloy with pigments; 19 1/4 × 17 3/4 × 4 3/4 in.; Rubin Museum of Art; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; C2005.12.3
Begtse is one of the main protector figures of the Gelugpa order. He is distinguished by his coat of mail, which is wonderfully portrayed in this sculpture as it stretches over the vast expanse of his corpulent torso. He brandishes a flaming sword in his right hand and the fresh heart of the enemy in his left hand. Though these seem to be fearsome objects, they all symbolize the defeat of ego-centered conceptions. He wears the gear of the Mongolian generals with felt boots, flaring skirts and sleeves, and dragon-headed emblems on his chest, stomach, sleeves, and at the opening of his boots. As he is a dharmapala (protector of the faith), he also wears the elements of the wrathful deities: the five-skull crown and garland of fifty severed heads. His locks of hair fly out to one side and still bear the original red pigment, as does his curling tongue.
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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