Theme: Care
About the Meditation
Meditation session led by Rebecca Li.
The guided meditation begins at 20:14.
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 meditation session, and a closing discussion.
This program is supported with thanks to our presenting partners Sharon Salzberg, the Interdependence Project and Parabola Magazine.
Related Artwork
Guhyasamaja is one of the main tantric deities (yidam) who are the focus of the contemplative esoteric practice in Gelug tradition. The seated couple is in sexual embrace. Each deity has three heads and six arms; their hands are crossed in front of each other’s chest holding a vajra and bell. In their right hands are a lotus and the wheel. In their left hands are a sword and a flaming jewel. The two deities represent the same enlightened nature indicated by their hand implements, which together symbolize the union of all the qualities of the Buddha families. Akshobya, which means “the unmovable,” is believed to help the practitioner to master anger, one of the main afflictions that perpetuate the endless cycle of death and rebirth.
About the Speaker
Rebecca Li, a Dharma heir in the lineage of Chan Master Sheng Yen, is the founder and guiding teacher of Chan Dharma Community. She started practicing with Master Sheng Yen in the 1990s and served as his translator until his passing in 2009. She later trained with and received full Dharma transmission from one of his Dharma heirs, Dr. Simon Child, in 2016. Dr. Li teaches meditation and Dharma classes, gives public lectures, and leads retreats in North America and the United Kingdom. She is a sociology professor at The College of New Jersey, where she also serves as faculty director of the Alan Dawley Center for the Study of Social Justice. Her latest book is Allow Joy into Our Hearts: Chan Practice in Uncertain Times. Find her talks and writings at www.rebeccali.org.
