Mindfulness Meditation · Impermanence
This week’s meditation session is led by Lama Aria Drolma and the theme is Impermanence. The guided meditation begins at 13:16.
Machik Labdron (1055-1153); Kham region, eastern Tibet; 19th century; Pigments on cloth; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; C2010.3
Machik Labdron is one of the most prominent female masters and lineage holders in Tibetan Buddhism. Her main teacher, Indian master Phadampa Sanggye, schooled her in severance practice (Chod), which involves visualizing cutting away the human body—and ultimately the ego—as a means of reaching enlightenment.
In this painting Machik Labdron is deified as a dakini—a female deity that assists in a Tantric practitioner’s spiritual development through teaching and other forms of inspiration. She transmitted the practice of the female meditation deity Vajrayogini so widely that she came to be identified with the goddess. Machik Labdron is surrounded by deities and lineage masters, beginning with Vajradhara at top center, and including the feminine personification of wisdom, Prajnaparamita.
This painting, with its open and receding landscape, spare use of pigment, and stylized clouds is an excellent example of the later development of the Encampment style in the Kham region of southeastern Tibet.
Machik Labdron is esteemed for establishing Chod practice in Tibet. Chod practitioners intentionally visualize in their mind’s eye their own bodies as offerings. By cutting through attachment one comes to terms with impermanence. The acknowledgement of the transience of the human body brings the practitioner closer to liberation. Watch this video for greater insight into Chod practice.
Lama Aria Drolma is an ordained Buddhist teacher in the Karma Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, who has completed over a decade of monastic study and meditation training. She is a graduate of the traditional Tibetan Buddhist retreat program spanning three years and three months, an advanced cloistered meditation training program at Palpung Thubten Choling Monastery, New York.
Lama Aria teaches worldwide, leading retreats, workshops, and corporate meditation programs and is a popular guest speaker at universities and organizations. She emphasizes Vajrayana Buddhism and Buddhist principles, making them relevant in our everyday lives, helping us to cultivate loving kindness and compassion, and bringing about a transformation of contentment and a genuine sense of well-being.
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