Mindfulness Meditation · Interdependence
This week’s meditation session is led by Tracy Cochran and the theme is Interdependence. The guided meditation begins at 17:44.
Peaceful and Wrathful Deities of the Bardo; Tibet; 19th century; Ground mineral pigments on cotton; 38 3/4 x 29 1/8 x 2 1/4 in. (98.4 x 74 x 5.7 cm); Rubin Museum of Art; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin; C2006.66.539
This painting portrays 113 apparitional deities arranged by categories. The innermost circle enshrines the Supreme Heruka together with the Five Transcendental Herukas, all paired with their consorts. In the Nyingma (Old) Tradition the term heruka (blood drinker) generally refers to any male meditational deity that is wrathful in appearance. A Heruka deity typically has three faces, six arms, eight legs, a consort, and sometimes a pair of wings. Some of these deities can be identified by a unique attribute, such as the horse head of Hayagriva or the kila (purba) peg of Vajrakila, but most are relatively difficult to identify.
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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