Mindfulness Meditation · Transformation
This week’s meditation session is led by Sharon Salzberg and the theme is Transformation. The guided meditation begins at 12:47.
Wheel of Life; Tibet; early 20th century; Pigments on cloth; 65 5/8 × 40 3/4 × 1 1/2 in.; Rubin Museum of Art; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; C2004.21.1
This diagram summarizes the Buddha’s enlightening vision under the bodhi tree. It explains the cyclical process of life, death, and rebirth (samsara). The Lord of Death, Yama, grips a wheel driven by three animals representing the mental poisons—attachment (rooster), anger (snake), and ignorance (pig)—at its hub.
When the Buddha comprehended the structure and dynamics of this cycle, he was also able to discern a pathway out of it that others can learn and follow. This is why the Buddha appears both outside the wheel, at the upper right, and within it, pointing the way out by teaching the Dharma.
Sharon Salzberg, cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, has guided meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. Her latest book is Real Change: Mindfulness to Heal Ourselves and the World. She is a weekly columnist for On Being, a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, and the author of several other books, including the New York Times bestseller Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation, Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience, and Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness. Ms. Salzberg has been a regular participant in the Rubin’s many on-stage conversations and regards the Rubin as a supplemental office.
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