About the Meditation

This week’s meditation session is led by Kimberly Brown and the theme is Realization.

The guided meditation begins at 13:22..

For centuries Himalayan practitioners have used meditation to quiet the mind, open the heart, calm the nervous system, and increase focus. Now Western scientists, business leaders, and the secular world have embraced meditation as a vital tool for brain health.

Whether you’re a beginner, a dabbler, or a skilled meditator seeking the company of others, join expert teachers in a 45-minute weekly program designed to fit into your lunch break. Each session is inspired by a different work of art from the Rubin Museum’s collection and includes an opening talk, a 20-minute meditation session, and a closing discussion.


RELATED ARTWORK

Skull Cup with Base; Tibet; 18th–20th century; silver, turquoise, coral, brass alloy; Rubin Museum of Art; C2011.13.11a-b
Skull Cup with Base; Tibet; 18th–20th century; silver, turquoise, coral, brass alloy; Rubin Museum of Art; C2011.13.11a-b

Skull cups, or kapalas, have significant value in tantric ritual practice. They are generally made from the top of a human skull, often gathered from charnel grounds, and embellished with precious metals and stones. This skull cup features silver, turquoise, coral, and brass alloy.

Skull cups are often associated with offerings made to wrathful deities. It is customary to place wine or dough cakes in skull cups as an offering. In Tibetan Buddhism, the skull represents emptiness, impermanence, and being without ego.

About the Speaker

Kimberly Brown

Kimberly Brown is a meditation teacher and author. She leads classes and retreats that emphasize the power of compassion and kindness meditation to reconnect us to ourselves and others. Her teachings provide an approachable pathway to personal and collective well-being through effective and modern techniques based on traditional practices. She studies in both the Tibetan and Insight schools of Buddhism and is a certified mindfulness instructor. Her new book, Navigating Grief and Loss: 25 Buddhist Practices to Keep Your Heart Open to Yourself and Others, was published in November, and an updated edition of Steady, Calm, and Brave was released in January 2023. Both are published by Prometheus Books. You can learn more about Kimberly on her website.

This program is presented in partnership with Sharon Salzberg and teachers from the New York Insight Meditation Center, the Interdependence Project, and Parabola Magazine and supported by the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism.


Interdependence Project
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