Welcome to the mindfulness meditation podcast presented by the Rubin Museum of Art. We are a museum in Chelsea, New York City that connects visitors to the art and ideas of the Himalayas and serves as a space for reflection and personal transformation. I'm your host, Tashi Chardin. Every Thursday, we present a meditation session inspired by a different artwork from the Rubin Museum's collection and led by a prominent meditation teacher from the New York area. This podcast is a recording of our weekly in person practice.

In the description for each episode, you will find information about the theme for that week's session, including an image of the related artwork. Our mindfulness meditation podcast 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 Lens Foundation for American Buddhism. And now please enjoy your practice. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome.

Welcome to the Rubin Museum's mindfulness meditation program at the New York Insight Meditation Center. This is our first session. I'm delighted to be your host, and my name is Tashi Chardun, Himalayan Programs and Communities ambassador. And it's so wonderful to see so many familiar faces and many new faces. The Rubin is a global hub for Himalayan art, and we are so glad to have all of you join us for our weekly program where we combine art and meditation.

And the New York Insight saying is we combine and awaken the minds. That's so beautiful, isn't it? So inspired by a collection, we will first take a look at work of art. We will then hear a brief talk from our teacher, Youngell Tuku Rinpoche. So wonderful to have Rinpoche back to honor this first session here and to bless us.

Then we will have a short sit about 15 to 20 minutes for the meditation guided by him. The theme this month is openness, and the art connection for today's session is this beautiful sculpture of Buddha Shakyamuni. The Buddha Shakyamuni's emphasis on impermanence encourages practitioners to cultivate a sense of openness to change essence of the teaching on impermanence that many of us experienced just last week from the closing of our 20 years of the physical space, then the change coming into something new and coming into a new place. So knowing that nothing lasts forever, knowing the impermanence, then, you know, there is that ease of anything that becomes of. And so this beautiful sculpture depicting the Shakyamuni Buddha, the historical Buddha who lived almost now 26 100 years ago.

And there are many major and minor characteristics of how to identify that this is the historical Buddha is, I can just share the major characteristics where Buddha sits on the lotus throne in a full lotus position, the legs fully crossed, and then the hand mudra, the gesture of earth touching, left hand open meditation gesture, and the right hand palm facing the knees, fingers touching the earth. So this particular gesture is known as the earth touching gesture when Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India, and when he reached the awakening or enlightenment. And this is the gesture. And we can have the next slide showing the other some of the other major characteristics are, elongated earlobes, the ushnisha, the, the wisdom bump, and then the 3rd eye. So some of these are some of the major characteristics of how to identify the historical Buddha.

And then there is another beautiful slide of the Fool. So this is how a beautiful sculpture, origin from Tibet. So let's bring on our teacher for today. Our teacher is Gege Yonggeldtukkur Rinpoche. His eminence, Rinpoche is an ordained Buddhist teacher and a prominent leader in the Kajuk Nyma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

He holds a master's degree in Buddhist philosophy and has completed extensive meditation training As the 3rd seat reincarnate tuku of Gege Tashi Choling Monastery in Ngaari, near Mount Kallash, he was enthroned as the tuku of the 2nd Gege Yongle Tuku Rinpoche at Gege Tashi Choling Monastery. His holiness, the 17th, Yalwar Karmapa, conducted his hair cutting and name giving ceremony in India. Rinpoche has mastered key areas of Buddhist philosophy, including Pramana Sutra, Prajnaparamita Sutra, Madhyamika Sutra, Abhidharma Sutra. He currently serves as the president of the Amala Centre in Nepal and the Himalayan Buddhist Centre Australia. Since 2020, Rinpoche has been actively teaching Buddhist dharma and contributing to society.

He is a revered lama in Tibet and China, focusing on the practical application of Sutraana Buddhism, Vajrayana Buddhism, and modern Buddhist ethics. His teachings aim to cultivate loving kindness and compassion, fostering personal transformation and bringing individuals closer to the Buddha nature. Rinpoche, thank you so much for being here, and please help me in welcoming Gege to Kuyongge Rinpoche.

Everyone. And thank you to the in, entire team of Rubin Museum for the second invitation to lead a mindfulness meditation session. I also want to express my gratitude to the New York Inside Meditation Center for inviting me here. And a special thanks to mister for the kind introduction. It's a wonderful opportunity for all of us to come together and collect some good, karma.

So thank you, everyone. And on the new partnership of Rubin, Museum Mindfulness Meditation and New York Inside Meditation, Center, I would like to express my congratulations by reciting a prayer for the long term partnership and prosperity of these two centers. I learned about the programs and events carried out by the New York Inside Meditation Center, and I would like to say it it is very impressive and nice, because in the modern times like this where, there is, like, lot of stress, anxiety, and different mental problems that people have been suffering, I believe, centers like Rubin Museum, mindfulness meditation, and New York Inside Meditation Center is acting like a mental health hospital for people to come and heal themselves, through meditation guided by experienced masters and teachers. So thank you all for this opportunity, and I will recite the prayer. Okay.

So to begin our session today, first, let's start with a 2 minute silent meditation, because during this time, I encourage everyone to meditate on this silence. I want all of you to let go of any burdens that you're carrying in your mind, like the tasks that are pending or the works that you need to be complete. So we will empty our mind for, like, 2 minutes, till the end of the session. Okay. Let's start.

Now as you meditate, you may find your mind wondering if this happens. Simply recognize that your mind has wandered and release the thought and return to this empty state of mind. Just try to be fully present here. Okay. I hope we have all emptied our minds and we are all fully present here.

So the title of my talk today is Buddha Shakyamuni. However, due to this limited time, I won't delve into Buddha's, biography since I believe everyone is very familiar with it. So today, I will speak about the 9 stages of developing meditation, and we will practice meditation using an outer object such as Buddha statue. But first, I would like to offer a verse of praise to Lord Buddha, Shakyamuni. The great sage who has abandoned all defilements and fault.

The noble one who possesses all the knowledge of enlightenment and beyond. Dear compassionate one, I offer my homage to you with my body, speech, and mind. So Buddha Lord Buddha, born as Prince Siddhartha Gautama, was a spiritual teacher who attained enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. His teachings promote peace, love, compassion, and mindfulness. So to remember this his teachings and contribution of peace, love, and equality, most Buddhist people keep a statue of Buddha in their homes with offerings of water balls, incense, flowers, lights, and many more.

So having a Buddhist statue at home symbolizes, like, wisdom, inner peace, and mindfulness. It creates a peaceful atmosphere and serves as a reminder to live your life with compassion and kindness. For those who meditate, I believe having a Buddha statue especially important. According to the sutras, all the teachings of Buddha can be classified into 2 ways. 1 is through Buddhist scripture and the second one is through Buddhist through meditation practice.

And the way of practicing these 2 is like by listening, reflecting, and meditating on these teachings. So even in the, 37 practices of Bodhisattva, it is in the first verse it is stated that having this, precious human life, one should engage himself in the listening, reflecting, and meditating on the excellent teachings. Because this human life we have is not just simply gifted, it is hard earned by the merits we accumulated in the past life, and there is no guarantee that we will obtain this precious human life again. So to to make the best use of it is by engaging it in the excellent teachings of Buddha by listening, reflecting and meditating for the benefit of others and oneself. Now many people these days attend teachings from different masters.

They buy books of wisdom and collect very sacred, texts for the altars. However, owning this profound written teachings is not enough because wisdom it only comes through practice. If you only read and reflect then we will gain a surface level understanding of the teaching. But the real antidote is only revealed through meditation. But first we need to know the ground which is our mind.

So our mind is like an ocean and the thoughts are like the waves of the ocean. We have unlimited thoughts arising and disappearing in our minds, and holding on to the thought for a longer time is like holding an empty glass for a longer period of time. For example, if you just hold an empty glass for like a few seconds, then the empty glass doesn't have any weight. But if we hold on to that empty glass for like few hours or if a few days, then the pain and the suffering is unimaginable. So it's similar with our mind.

If we hold on to a thought for a very, long period of time, then our mind it gets exhausted and mental problems like anxiety, panic, and depression will be caused. So because of this condition, most of the time we are controlled by our mind. It's like when our mind is happy, we react we react kindly with people. When our mind is sad, we react poorly. And when we are angry, we even react harmfully.

So that's why one has to tame his mind through meditation. So what is meditation? Simply put, meditation is the practice of your mind and body helping gain a deeper understanding of themselves and reality. So meditation can be, like, divided into 2 categories. 1 is the shamatha meditation, and the other one is Vipassana meditation.

The shamatha meditation means calming your mind, whereas Vipassana means, like, having a clear view, clarity. For example, if you are trying to catch a monkey who is always moving around, then it is very difficult to catch it. But if you focus on the movement of the monkey and use the rope of concentration and mindfulness, you can catch the monkey and observe it. So here, the monkey moving here and there is it symbolizes your restless mind while the rope, it symbolizes mindfulness. So this is Samatha meditation.

And when you calm your mind, you can observe it clearly. That is Vipassana. So practicing Samatha meditation has many benefits and advantages. Like once we master shamatha meditation, we can direct the mind as we wish. If we feel anger, we can transform it into love and compassion.

If we feel, attachment, we can turn it into detachment. If we experience ignorance, we can gain wisdom through meditation. So meditation is a form of mental therapy and the sign of doing proper meditation is like gaining more peace and love inside. If one is meditating and he is more disturbed, then there is some problem with the way that person is meditating. So now I will introduce 9 stages of, developing meditation.

So and after introducing the 9 stages, we will, do the mindfulness meditation using the object of Buddha statue. So the 9 stages are first is, like, resting your mind. So when you receive the instruction from your master, your teacher to, like, meditate upon the object, you first put your focus on the object. So that is the first stage. The first stage is like you're putting your focus on the object.

As you put your focus on the object for a longer time by the power of reflection, by the power of contemplating, like thinking, then we reach to the second stage where we are focusing on the object for a longer period of time. So the first step is focusing on the object. The second stage is focusing on the object for longer period of for longer. The 3rd stage is resettling the mind. Now as we focus on the object, what happens is, like, because of our habit of always being comfortable and carried away by the thoughts, any thoughts of past, like memories of past or any concerns of future will just take you away.

We will just be carried away by that thought. But once you realize that your mind has been carried away, that you are being distracted, divert your mind, turn your mind to the object, and put more energy. So in developing the Samatha meditation, at first, a lot of energy and lot of, like, motivation is needed. So this is the 3rd stage, resettling the mind. So the 4th stage is fully settling the mind.

So once you're, like, very aware of the distractions and the dullness may arise, because of that awareness what happens is, like, we can fully settle the mind. Fully settling the mind doesn't mean we have accomplished or reached that meditation level. It means that now our mind will not be so dull as before. The dullness will be eradicated, but still because of our, habits from past lives, for many lives, we have the past obscurations that we we are not even though if we want to, we will feel, like, demotivated, discouraged, or and we we might feel like there are more some other things that I should think of, like the work that I need to complete and all. So at that time, you need to remind yourself the benefits of this mindfulness meditation, that this this mindfulness meditation is like taking a medicine, like taking a vitamin.

So once if our mind is, like, healthy, then we can think properly. So even at work, if our mind is very disturbed, he will not be able to, do his work properly. Similar to how a physical body if a physical body is very tired, we cannot expect that physical form to function properly. So this is the 5th stage, which is taming the mind. And here the the most big obstacle is, like, demotivation and discouragement.

Now the 6th stage is pacifying the mind. Here, what happens is, like, we eradicate the distractions, the surface level distractions. And as we continue, we completely pacify all the distractions, which is the 7th stage. And then finally we reach to the 8th stage where we can single pointedly, like, put your focus on the object. And finally, the 9th stage is like being able to naturally meditate upon the object without difficulty.

So these are the 9 stages of 9 stages or 9 steps to develop a shamatha meditation. So the first is resting the mind. 2nd is resting the mind longer. Then we resettle the mind. After that is fully settling the mind.

Once the mind is settled, it is like comfortable. Then the another obstacle that may occur is demotivation and discouragement. For that, we need to tame our mind, which is the 5th stage. Then after taming our mind, what happens is, like, we pacify the distract distractions. We just, the distractions will not be able to be an obstacle.

That is the 6th stage. And when we completely pacify all the distraction, dullness, agitation, we reach to the 7th stage. And at the 8th stage, we can we can single pointedly, like, meditate. And reaching the 9th stage is a very beautiful stage where we can just meditate on the object without any, difficulty, just naturally. So now we will start the meditation session.

1st, I would like everyone to prepare yourself in the 8 postures of, like, meditation. Since we are all seated, I think legs not too tight or too loose, but the best posture for the leg is the Vajra posture. Your back straight, your neck should not be too straight or or too down, just normally straight, then your shoulders it should not be too drawn in or drawn out, just even. Your breathing should also be even, the inhalation and exhalation, and your lips and tongue, like, should be very kept normal. So as I ring the bell, put like, meditate single meditate single pointedly on the statue of Buddha using the 9 steps of mindfulness meditation.

Now as you meditate, be mindful and focus on the statue of Buddha, and do not be carried away by your other thoughts. If you have been carried away by your thoughts of past and your concerns of future, bring your mind back to the object. Concentrate and be mindful towards the statue of Buddha. Try to see it clearly as if it's right in front of you. Now as your dullness is gone, you might be discouraged, demotivated.

But, again, give yourself the wisdom of benefits of this meditation and mindfulness, and revive your motivation and courage to put your focus on the object. Now as you see the statue of Buddha without distraction and dullness, focus single pointedly on the statue of Buddha and try to feel the joy of meditating. You can also meditate upon that feeling of joy. Now we only have 2 to 3 minutes left. So thank you, everyone.

Although we have learned and practiced the 9 stages, to truly accomplish or develop this state of Shamatha meditation, one must practice these 9 stages again and again. It's not like that we have gone through this stage. Now we have accomplished, meditation. The signs of accomplishing meditation is, like, you will not have any, like, physical or men there'll be, like, suppleness of physical and mental mentally. Like, there will be no difficulty for you to naturally meditate upon that object no matter the conditions or situations.

And once we develop such state, any disturbing situations that we might face or any conditions that we are, we can handle ourselves very well calmly. So finally, I would like to end this session by offering a a white scarf. Okay. Then finally, I would like to dedicate the merit earned from this for the long life of his holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, his holiness, the 17th, Gao Kamaba, and all the eminent teachers and masters, from all the other traditions. Thank you, and.

Thank you so much for that, Rinpoche. Really wonderful. That concludes this week's practice. To support the Ruben and this meditation series, we invite you to become a member at rubenmuseum.org/membership. And to stay up to date with the Rubin Museum's virtual and in person offerings, sign up for our monthly newsletter at rubenmuseum.org /enews.

I am Tashi Sheerdan. Thank you so much for listening. Have a mindful day.