Theme: Generosity
About the Mindfulness Meditation Podcast
The Rubin Museum of Art presents a weekly meditation session led by a prominent meditation teacher from the New York area, with each session focusing on a specific work of art. This podcast is recorded in front of a live audience, and includes an opening talk, a 20-minute sitting session, and a closing discussion. The guided meditation begins at 17:21.
If you would like to attend Mindfulness Meditation sessions in person or learn more, please visit our website at RubinMuseum.org/meditation.
This program is supported with thanks to our presenting partners Sharon Salzberg, the Interdependence Project and Parabola Magazine.
Related Artwork
Tara, Green Protecting from the Eight Fears, accompanied by three figures of Gelug teachers, Shakyamuni Buddha and “˜Secret Accomplishment’ Hayagriva. (See the Tara Main Page and the Outline Page).
“On an and eight petaled lotus”¦is Holy Tara, reddish-green in colour, one face and two hands. The right [hand] is in the gesture of supreme generosity and the left holds with the thumb and ring finger a lily to the heart. Wearing beautiful jewel ornaments and various silks, the hair as a crown, seated in a posture with the right leg extended and the left drawn up.” (Thartse Panchen Namka Chime).
At the top of the composition are three figures wearing monastic robes and the yellow pandita hats of the Gelug Tradition. On the left side is Shakyamui Buddha, gold in color. On the right side is “Secret Accomplishment” Hayagriva, red in color with three faces and six hands.
In the lower composition and surrounding the lotus seat of the central Tara are seven further Taras, all green, all identical in form to the central figure. As a group they represent the eight Taras Protecting from the Eight Fears.
Individually and beginning with the central Tara, moving clockwise, they represent protection from Wrongful Imprisonment, Elephants, Bandits, Ghosts, Water, Snakes, Fire, and Lions. A depiction of each object of fear is found below each of the Tara forms.
About the Speaker
Sharon Salzberg, cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, has guided meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. Sharon’s latest books are Real Love: The Art of Mindful Connections and Real Happiness at Work: Meditations for Accomplishment, Achievement, and Peace. 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 best-seller Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation, Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience, and Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness. Sharon has been a regular participant in the Rubin’s many on-stage conversations.