Theme: Compassion
About the Meditation
Meditation session led by Sharon Salzberg.
The guided meditation begins at 17:19.
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
Tara is a meditation deity revered by practitioners of the Tibetan branch of Vajrayana Buddhism to develop certain inner qualities and to understand outer, inner and secret teachings such as compassion, loving-kindness, and emptiness. Tara may more properly be understood as different aspects of the same quality, as bodhisattvas are often considered personifications of Buddhist methods.
Tara is one of the most popular female deities in Tibetan culture. She is particularly associated with protecting from a group of calamities known as the Eight Fears, depicted here as scenes surrounding her: ghosts/sickness (bottom center), drowning (center), fire (mid-left), false imprisonment (bottom right), bandits (top right), wild elephants (top), snakes (bottom left), and lions (top left). Although these dangers center on the worries of secular life, they also have a more esoteric meaning, namely associations with inner obstacles that prevent spiritual progress.
About the Speaker
Sharon Salzberg, cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, has guided meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. Sharon’s latest book is Real Love: The Art of Mindful Connection. 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 bestseller 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 many onstage conversations at the Rubin.
