Mindfulness Meditation · Mantra
This week’s meditation session is led by Tracy Cochran and the theme is Mantra.
Buddha Amitayus; Tibet; 17th century; Pigments on cloth; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; C2002.18.1
Foregoing his usual red color for gold, Amitayus sits flanked by two bodhisattvas with the motif of a meditating buddha repeated in the background. In his hands rests a vase containing amrita, or the nectar of immortality. Amitayus’s name means “boundless life” and is venerated particularly for long-life practices within the Tantric Buddhist tradition. The vase itself is a symbol for emptiness, one of the fundamental teachings of the Buddha. Though a vase contains empty space within it, it still has a form just like the experience of existence. From understanding the emptiness contained in the vase emerges a better understanding of the whole.
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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