This week’s meditation session is led by Jon Aaron and the theme is Renunciation.
Bon, an alternative religion of Tibet, was founded by the figure depicted in this artwork, Tonpa Shenrab. Here Tonpa Shenrab looks almost indistinguishable from the Buddha with the bowl in his lap and the right hand gesture, or mudra, symbolizing the touching of the earth. The bowl symbolizes Tonpa Shenrab’s renunciation of attachment and dedication to the monastic life.
Jon Aaron is a Dharma and mindfulness teacher based in New York and Chicago. Since 2006 he has taught at the New York Insight Meditation Center, offering Dharma and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) classes. He regularly leads retreats around the US. He is primarily grounded in the Theravada tradition, alongside non-dual and Mahayana approaches. His teaching emphasizes integrating Dharma and mindfulness into daily life to foster clarity in addressing personal and social challenges. His teachers include Matthew Flickstein and, more recently, Kittisaro and Thanissara through their Dharmapala program. Jon also studied contemplative care at the Zen Center for Contemplative Care and completed the Integrated Study and Practice program at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. He is a certified MBSR teacher and teacher trainer and a Somatic Experience Practitioner® In response to the pandemic, he and his partner, Upayadhi, launched the Space2Meditate community, offering daily meditation since March 2020. Additionally, he co-hosts the podcast Diggin’ the Dharma with scholar Doug Smith.
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