Mindfulness Meditation · Openness
This week’s meditation session is led by Elaine Retholtz and the theme is Openness. The guided meditation begins at 11:39.
Avalokiteshvara in his Potala Pure Land; Tibet; late 18th - early 19th century; Pigments on cloth, silk brocade, cotton backing; 46 1/8 x 26 1/2 x 1 1/2 in. (117.2 x 67.3 x 3.8 cm); Rubin Museum of Art; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin; C2012.4.5
Avalokiteshvara is the bodhisattva of boundless compassion, who has vowed to remain in the cycle of rebirth throughout time to work for the benefit of all beings. Practitioners visualize Avalokiteshvara aspiring to make their body, speech, and mind indistinguishable from his, thereby cultivating a greater sense of openness.
Avalokiteshvara is depicted in many forms, including peaceful and wrathful, with multiple arms and legs, up to 1,000 hands and eyes, and 11 heads. In this intricate thangka (Tibetan scroll painting), Avalokiteshvara is adorned with a crown. He holds crystal prayer beads in his upper right hand and a lotus flower in his upper left hand, both signifying purity. His other pair of hands are folded at the heart in a gesture of salutation, and his graceful pose evokes his kind and loving nature.
In this serene setting rife with detail, Avalokiteshvara presides over his celestial dwelling of Mount Potalaka. This idyllic realm is portrayed as an island off the coast of western India. Tiny figures climb a rope and cross a bridge toward Potalaka, representing the wish of Buddhists to attain rebirth in this pure realm.
Elaine Retholtz has been studying and practicing the Dharma since 1988. In addition to teaching dharma at New York Insight, she is a certified Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher and a certified MBSR teacher trainer. She is deeply interested in helping students integrate mindfulness into daily life. Elaine is committed to deepening her own understanding of issues of diversity and the way racial conditioning in the United States affects all of us—both as individuals and in relation to the institutions we are a part of, including New York Insight. She’s been involved in New York Insight’s diversity efforts for many years.
Your gateway to Himalayan art and its insights, with stories and news from the Rubin.