Mindfulness Meditation · Middle Way
This week’s meditation session is led by Sharon Salzberg and the theme is Middle Way.
Fasting Buddha, 700s. India, Kashmir, 8th century. Ivory; overall: 12 × 9.5 × 1.5 cm (4 3/4 × 3 3/4 × 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1986.70
This incredibly detailed 8th-century ivory carving from Kashmir depicts a starving Siddhartha surrounded by demons and distractions as he attempts to achieve his realization. At this point in his story Siddhartha has been practicing very extreme ascetic traditions leading him to only eat one grain or rice a day (or one hemp seed according to some sources). However one day while bathing in a river he almost passes out fr because he was so weak from starvation (which is depicted to the right of the main figure). He realizes he is no closer to enlightenment, so Siddhartha decides to eat some yogurt in a bowl offered to him by a maiden (that appears to the left of the main figure in the sculpture). It’s at this moment that he decides the true path to enlightenment is not a path of extremes, but rather a middle way between extreme asceticism and extreme luxury. From here he goes to Bodhgaya to achieve enlightenment.
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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