This week’s meditation session is led by Rebecca Li  and the theme is Loving Future. The guided meditation begins at 22:56.

Vasudhara, whose name means “shower of wealth,” is a Buddhist goddess of prosperity and the harvest, associated with both material and spiritual abundance. She is often likened to Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth. Vasudhara is closely associated with Jambhala, another Buddhist deity of wealth, and holds a gold vase that is brimming with stalks of grain, signifying her bountifulness. Her right hand is extended outward in the mudra of generosity. Her body has a golden hue, which is a color associated with giving.

Hvashang, whose name means “Chinese monk,” is an iconographic figure often portrayed as a jovial monk with a round belly and is typically surrounded by children at play. According to one Buddhist teaching, he was sent as an emissary by the Tang emperor of China to invite Shakyamuni Buddha to the Chinese Imperial Court. At the end of his journey he discovered that the Buddha had left this earthly plane. However, he became a patron of the Buddha’s foremost students, the sixteen Arhats and a devoted follower of Buddhism himself.

May Vasudhara and Hvashang, who embody a joyous and plentiful existence, help us envision a promising future.