Mindfulness Meditation · Transforming Afflictive Emotions
This week’s meditation session is led by Tracy Cochran and the theme is Transforming Afflictive Emotions. The guided meditation begins at 16:38.
Tara Protecting from the Eight Fears; Kham Province, Southeastern Tibet; late 19th - early 20th century; Pigments on cloth with silk brocade; 72 1/8 x 80 3/4 x 1 7/8 in. (183.2 x 205.1 x 4.8 cm); Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, Gift of Dr. Michael Henss, Zurich; C2014.8
Tara is the female embodiment of compassion and the great savioress of Tibetan Buddhism. While the ways she helps human beings are vast and varied, her primary activity is protecting humans from the Eight Fears, which are vividly illustrated in this painting. Unfolding amid a lush, hilly landscape, each vignette depicts Tara intervening and preventing an imminent tragedy. Clockwise from the upper-right corner, the perils Tara prevents are: elephant stampedes, bandits, drowning, false imprisonment, illness (represented by a rampaging demon), snakes, fires, and snow lions.
Though the Eight Fears have deep religious meaning, their more worldly manifestations are evidence of Tara’s universal accessibility as a savioress and her culturally specific powers as a Himalayan deity. Devotion to Tara is widespread in Tibet, and the presence of luxurious offerings and donor figures reveals that this painting is meant to ensure her protection.
Tracy Cochran has taught meditation and spiritual practice for many years. She is a speaker and author whose most recent book, Presence: The Art of Being At Home in Yourself, was published by Shambhala Publications in 2024. Tracy is the founder and leading teacher of the Hudson River Sangha and has taught mindfulness and mindful writing at New York Insight, the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, and many other venues. In addition to serving as the editorial director of the acclaimed spiritual quarterly Parabola, her writings have appeared in The New York Times, New York Magazine, Psychology Today, The Best Spiritual Writing series, Parabola, and many other publications and anthologies. For more about Tracy, please visit tracycochran.org and parabola.org.
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