Mindfulness Meditation · Offering
This week’s meditation session is led by Sharon Salzberg and the theme is Offering. The guided meditation begins at 14:27.
Offering Bowl; Nepal; mid 20th century; silver;Rubin Museum of Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin; SC2012.7.6.4
This offering bowl is a part of a set of similar bowls used for ceremonial purposes and carved with symbols of good fortune. Together they form the seven offerings. The first bowl contains pure water for drinking and rinsing the mouth, and the second bowl contains water for washing the feet. The third bowl contains fresh flowers, representing the custom of presenting guests with a flower garland or hair adornment. Incense is contained in the fourth bowl. The fifth bowl holds an oil or butter lamp to represent the illumination of wisdom, while the sixth bowl contains rosewater or perfumed water for refreshing the face. The seventh bowl contains delicious food for honored guests, usually a red or white conical offering cake made from roasted barley flour, dyes, and butter.
Sharon Salzberg, cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, has guided meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. Her latest book is Real Change: Mindfulness to Heal Ourselves and the World. 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, 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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