Mindfulness Meditation · Love
This week’s meditation session is led by Tracy Cochran and the theme is Love. The guided meditation begins at 15:13.
Green Tara; Tibet; 13th century; Brass with inlays of silver; 18 1/2 × 12 1/2 × 9 5/8 in. (estimated); Rubin Museum of Art; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; C2005.16.30
The goddess Tara epitomizes loving kindness. She is known as a protector who helps travelers combat the eight great fears: drowning, lions, fire, snakes, rampaging elephants, marauding thieves, false imprisonment, and demons. These fears can be taken literally and also represent negative emotions that must be wiped out to achieve enlightenment: craving, false views, pride, envy, hatred, doubt, avarice, and ignorance. This sculpture has a strong Indic aesthetic and a finely modeled face. The proportionally large head with a tall hair knot, large simple hoop earrings, dark metal patina, and subtle sense of motion suggest it is an early sculpture from central Tibet.
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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