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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 18:22.

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.

New York Insight Meditation Center

Related Artwork

Mandala of Amoghapasha; Northern Nepal or Tsang Province, Central Tibet; 15th Century; pigments on cloth; Rubin Museum of Art; C2004.15.1 (HAR 65345)
Mandala of Amoghapasha; Northern Nepal or Tsang Province, Central Tibet; 15th Century; pigments on cloth; Rubin Museum of Art; C2004.15.1 (HAR 65345)

Theme:Resilience

Mandala of Amoghapasha

Amoghapasa, which means unfailing lasso, refers to an unwavering compassion like a lasso that brings all sentient beings out of suffering and into a state of happiness leading to enlightenment. Although the deity Amoghapasha gives this mandala its name, the central deity in this painting is the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, the earthly manifestation of the self-born eternal Buddha Amitabha. Avalokiteshvara supremely exemplifies the bodhisattva’s resolve to postpone his own buddhahood until he has helped every sentient being on earth achieve liberation from suffering and the cycle of death and rebirth. He holds in his hands the stems of two lotus blossoms while sitting with his right leg pendant. Amoghapasha is the red four-armed deity below Avalokiteshvara, and the others in the inner circle are Hayagriva, Ekajata, and Bhrkuti. Around the outer circle of the mandala are the Eight Auspicious Emblems, along with four deity figures seated on its edge (clockwise from upper right): Medicine Buddha, Green Tara, Yellow Vasudhara, and Buddha Sakyamuni.

About the Speaker

Sharon Salzberg

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.

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