Mindfulness Meditation · Openness
This week’s meditation session is led by Tracy Cochran and the theme is Openness. The guided meditation begins at 14:30.
Protective Astrological Chart; Tibet; late 18th or early 19th century; Pigments on cloth; 49 1/4 × 36 1/4 × 2 1/4 in.; Rubin Museum of Art; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, Gift of Namkha Dorjee/Bodhicitta Art; C2006.71.11
This Tibetan astrological chart is an auspicious talisman and an instructional tool that is believed to bring good fortune to all those who see, display, or possess it. Such charts can often be found hanging on the walls of Tibetan houses and are commonly engraved on amulets worn or carried on one’s person.
The primary figure at the bottom center is a tortoise, a metaphor for creation. On the tortoise’s belly are concentric circles that illustrate, from the inside out, the nine magic numbers (sme ba dgu), the eight trigrams (spar kha brgyad), and the twelve animals of the zodiac, which, combined with the five elements, form the sixty-year cycle of the Tibetan calendar. Along the sides are rows of sigils, each representing a negative spirit. These symbols bind those spirits in a contract agreeing to not to harm the displayer of the image. Along the top, Indian deities, planetary deities, and important stars are shown guarding against maladies.
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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