About the MeditationAbout the Meditation

This week’s meditation session is led by Tracy Cochran and the theme is Resilience. The guided meditation begins at 16:38.

Related ArtworkRelated Artwork

Painting of large figure seated on lotus blossom in landscape surrounded by eight smaller figures.
White Tara; Eastern Tibet; 19th century; Ground mineral pigment on cotton; Rubin Museum of Art, C2006.66.524

The vajra and bell—the two most common ritual implements used in Tibetan Buddhism—have particular significance in empowerment ceremonies. The vajra, a type of scepter, represents compassion, firmness, the uprooting of suffering, and that which is immovable, indestructible, and imperturbable. The bell represents wisdom (about the true, empty nature of reality) and the propagation of the truth. When the vajra and bell are used in an empowerment ritual, their combined compassion and wisdom are a means to liberate sentient beings from suffering.

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.

Published November 14, 2020
PodcastsMindfulness Meditation

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