Mindfulness Meditation · Perspectives
This week’s meditation session is led by Kimberly Brown and the theme is Perspectives. The guided meditation begins at 14:45.
White Tara with Long Life Deities; Tibet; 19th century; Pigments on cloth; 27 3/8 × 18 1/4 × 2 1/4 in. (estimated); Rubin Museum of Art; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, gift of the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation; F1996.32.5
According to Buddhist belief, at the moment of death we have an opportunity to attain an enlightened state of mind. But our own karma brings up various visions, including terrifying ones. If we do not recognize them as projections of our own mind, we cannot reach the enlightened state or a good rebirth. This painting depicts the deities described in a 14th-century text, The Peaceful and Wrathful Deities: The Profound Teachings of Self-Liberated Wisdom Mind, as well as the famous Liberation upon Hearing in the Intermediate State. The teachings of this text allow practitioners to prepare and train their minds for this future eventuality. Ritual specialists often read these instructions to the deceased as the means of guiding them through the difficult process of transitioning to a future existence.
Kimberly Brown is a meditation teacher and author. She leads classes and retreats that emphasize the power of compassion and kindness meditation to reconnect us to ourselves and others. Her teachings provide an approachable pathway to personal and collective well-being through effective and modern techniques based on traditional practices. She studies in both the Tibetan and Insight schools of Buddhism and is a certified mindfulness instructor. Her book Navigating Grief and Loss: 25 Buddhist Practices to Keep Your Heart Open to Yourself and Others was published in 2022, and an updated edition of Steady, Calm, and Brave was released in 2023. Both are published by Prometheus Books.
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