Mindfulness Meditation · Interdependence
This week’s meditation session is led by Sharon Salzberg and the theme is Interdependence. The guided meditation begins at 19:27.
Stories of Previous Lives of the Buddha (Jataka); Tibet; 18th century; Pigments on cloth; 63 1/4 x 34 1/4 x 1/2 in. (160.7 x 87 x 1.3 cm); Rubin Museum of Art; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; C2007.33.1
There are hundreds of jataka tales that describe the events and various previous births of Shakyamuni Buddha. Through the lens of compassion, selflessness, and generosity, the Starving Tigress tale reminds us of the truth of interdependence. Born into a family renowned for its purity of conduct and great spiritual devotion, the bodhisattva became a great scholar and teacher. With no desire for wealth and gain, he entered a forest retreat and began a life as an ascetic. Here he encountered a tigress who was starving and emaciated from giving birth, and was about to resort to eating her own newborn cubs for survival. With no food in sight, the bodhisattva offered his body as food to the tigress, selflessly forfeiting his own life in an act of infinite compassion.
Sharon Salzberg, cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, has guided meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. Her latest book is Real Change: Mindfulness to Heal Ourselves and the World. 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, 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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