Mindfulness Meditation · Renunciation
This week’s meditation session is led by Jon Aaron and the theme is Renunciation.
Tonpa Shenrab with Episodes from His Life; Amdo Region, Eastern Tibet; 18th - 19th century; Pigments on cloth; 41 3/4 x 30 3/4 x 2 3/8 in. (106 x 78.1 x 6 cm); Rubin Museum of Art; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin; C2006.66.610
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 teaches meditation, Buddhist dharma, and is a Somatic Experience Practitioner® in New York City. He is well known as a teacher of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) as well as a trainer of new teachers of this seminal eight-week curriculum. Among his primary interests are the use of meditation and somatic work in healing trauma and working with individuals with chronic pain and grief. He has been teaching for the New York Police Department in an eight-hour intervention called Cultivating Mindfulness: expanding the capacity of mind and body to work with stress, anxiety, and trauma. He is a cofounder of the MBSR Teacher Collaborative of Greater New York and a founding member of the Global Mindfulness Collaborative, and is a long-time teacher at New York Insight Meditation Center. When the pandemic hit, along with his partner he cofounded Space2Meditate, an online community of meditators that is still going strong six days a week.
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