Mindfulness Meditation · Power
This week’s meditation session is led by Tracy Cochran and the theme is Power. The guided meditation begins at 19:20.
The Fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobzang Gyatso (1617-1682) with Previous Incarnations; Central Tibet; 18th century; Pigments on cloth; 27 3/8 × 17 3/8 in. (estimated); Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, gift of the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation; F1996.29.3
This red and gold thangka portrays the Fifth Dalai Lama surrounded by his previous incarnations. The Great Fifth was the Dalai Lama who rose to power during a major crisis in Tibetan history in the late 15th and early 16th centuries when the secular rulers of Tibet fought to take back political dominance from the evermore powerful monastic orders. The central figure of the Fifth Dalai Lama is robed in skillfully and boldly drawn folds of drapery, and he is seated on a triple-cushioned throne, indicating that the painting was probably created during his lifetime (otherwise it would have been a lotus throne). The bodhisattva of compassion Avalokiteshvara sits in the center above.
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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