Mindfulness Meditation · Kindness
This week’s meditation session is led by Sharon Salzberg and the theme is Kindness. The guided meditation begins at 13:04.
Buddha Shakyamuni and Stories of his Previous Lives; Tibet; mid-late 14th century; Pigments on cloth; 59 1/2 × 46 7/8 in.; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin; C2003.50.4
This remarkable painting portrays the Buddha with more than 100 stories of his previous lives (jataka) organized into a geometric grid. One such scene, found in the top-left corner, shows him sacrificing himself to feed a hungry tigress and her starving cubs. The narrative scenes closest to the central buddha figure depict his deeds during his final life as Prince Siddhartha, during which he achieved enlightenment or awakening (bodhi).
Directly below the Buddha appears to be the Third Karmapa (1284–1339), a religious leader who is famous for first compiling a set of 100 jataka tales in the Tibetan language, presumably the very stories pictured here. Scrolling floral patterns within the red halo, the dark-blue background, and some of the narrative cells, as well as the thin yellow lines that separate the scenes and demarcate the painting’s outer edges, are features drawn from Nepalese painting.
Sharon Salzberg, Cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, has guided meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. Her latest books are Real Life: The Journey from Isolation to Openness and Freedom and Finding Your Way: Meditations, Thoughts, and Wisdom for Living an Authentic Life. 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, Real Change: Mindfulness to Heal Ourselves and the World, 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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