Sharon Salzberg

A meditation session led by Sharon Salzberg. If you missed this program, check out the podcast, now live in the Rubin Media Center.

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 forty-five-minute weekly program designed to fit into your lunch break. Each session will be inspired by a different work of art from the Rubin Museum’s collection and will include an opening talk, a twenty-minute sitting session, and a closing discussion. Chairs will be provided.

This program is supported in part by the Hemera Foundation with thanks to our presenting partners Sharon Salzberg, the Interdependence Project and Parabola Magazine.

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Theme: Beginning Again

This painting depicts peaceful and wrathful deities from the bardo, the transitional space between death and rebirth, as described in the Tibetan Book of the Dead. According to Tibetan tradition, after a person’s death and before their next birth, when consciousness is not connected with the physical body, one may experience visions or hallucinations, like the one pictured above. Metaphorically, the term bardo can describe times when our usual way of life becomes suspended, as during a period of illness or meditation practice. In the bardo, one sees terrifying and peaceful deities, but is expected to not react to them. This is also what we attempt to do when we practice mindfulness. By registering and acknowledging the negative emotions we feel throughout the day, we become more familiar with them and better equipped to address them when they arise. This hard work from our meditation and mindfulness practice allows us to forge new beginnings in the outside world.

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.