Mindfulness Meditation · Transformation
This week’s meditation session is led by Rebecca Li and the theme is Transformation. The guided meditation begins at 19:18.
Wheel of Life; Tibet or Mongolia; 19th century; Pigments on cloth; Object size: 61 1/2 x 39 1/4 in. (est.)Image size: 45 1/2 x 30 5/8 in. Framed size: 73 1/8 x 46 1/8 x 2 1/2 in.; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin; C2006.66.131
The Wheel of Life is a Tibetan Buddhist visualization of the human condition within the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (samsara) and a vivid reminder of the law of karma. Painted on a striking lapis background, the red, wrathful figure of Yama, the Lord of Death, holds the circle of samsara containing all six realms of existence. He is about to swallow it, which reflects the precarious impermanence of all that exists in these realms.
Dr. Rebecca Li, a dharma heir in the lineage of Chan Master Sheng Yen, is the founder and guiding teacher of Chan Dharma Community. She teaches meditation and dharma classes, gives public lectures, and leads retreats in North America and Europe. Li is the author of Allow Joy into Our Hearts: Chan Practice in Uncertain Times, and her book Illumination: A Guide to the Buddhist Method of No-Method was published by Shambhala Publications in 2023. She is a sociology professor and lives with her husband in New Jersey.
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