Mindfulness Meditation · Light and Dark
This week’s meditation session is led by Tracy Cochran and the theme is Light and Dark. The guided meditation begins at 14:20.
Shri Devi Makzo Gyelmo (Buddhist Protector); Central Tibet; 18th entury; ground mineral pigment with fine gold on cotton; Rubin Museum of Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin; C2016.3
This painting depicts the Indian goddess Shri Devi Magzor Gyalmo, the queen who repels armies. An enlightened protectress, she rides a mule through a sea of blood while holding a skull cup and a stick of sandalwood marked with a vajra. She is a wrathful version of Saraswati, whose boundless compassion manifests in this fearsome appearance to scare away foes of the Buddha’s teachings. These frightful images also represent the transmutations of negative emotions into energy for one’s practice, embracing all experiences and rejecting none.
Tracy Cochran has taught meditation and spiritual practice for many years. She is a speaker and author whose most recent book, Presence: The Art of Being At Home in Yourself, was published by Shambhala Publications in 2024. Tracy is the founder and leading teacher of the Hudson River Sangha and has taught mindfulness and mindful writing at New York Insight, the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, and many other venues. In addition to serving as the editorial director of the acclaimed spiritual quarterly Parabola, her writings have appeared in The New York Times, New York Magazine, Psychology Today, The Best Spiritual Writing series, Parabola, and many other publications and anthologies. For more about Tracy, please visit tracycochran.org and parabola.org.
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