Mindfulness Meditation · Impermanence
This week’s meditation session is led by Tracy Cochran and the theme is Impermanence.
Shiva Vishavarupa, Universal form with Consort; Nepal; mid-19th century; Pigments on cotton; 63 1/2 × 38 3/8 in. (estimated); Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; C2003.20.2
Shiva is one of Hinduism’s major gods and the supreme god of the Shaivite sect. He takes many forms—ascetic, destroyer, conqueror of death, cosmic dancer—and this painting presents him as Vishvarupa, “universal form” or “form of the world.”
In this painting the viewer has the sense that the deity takes up all available space on the canvas, a visual metaphor for the perception that the entire world is divine. He embraces his female consort, who is in complete harmony with the mustached male god; the two appear to almost blend into each other. The couple dances atop a dais supported by lesser Hindu gods and within an aureole of fire. They are surrounded by scenes of charnel grounds and other manifestations of the great god. At the bottom center the couple is shown in sexual embrace but their colors are reversed.
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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