Wow, thank you so much, dear Tara, for sharing your story and emotions with us. 🙏🙏🙏

The Rubin Awaken Podcast has been a wonderful companion over the past few months. Milles mercis 💚💚💚

For most, deep and lasting enlightenment doesn’t come in an instant. When considering how to navigate a path of study and self-inquiry, what is important? Psychologist, author and teacher of meditation Tara Brach shares her own story of how her life took an unexpected turn, what it was like to find her own path as both a student and teacher of Buddhism, and how her spiritual journey led to one of radical acceptance and compassion. 

Tara responds to a sculpture of Gautama Budda who holds his hands in a gesture of teaching known as the dharmachakra mudra, indicating the act of instruction. It originally signified the Buddha’s first teaching when he symbolically turned the wheel of the Dharma. 

Tara Brach is the founder and guiding teacher of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington. She is the author of several books—including the international best-selling Radical Acceptance, True Refuge, Radical Compassion, and Trusting the Gold—and her popular weekly podcast is downloaded over three million times each month. Along with Jack Kornfield, Tara leads the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program (MMTCP), serving participants from around the world. Tara’s teachings blend Western psychology and Eastern spiritual practices, mindful attention to our inner life, and a full, compassionate engagement with our world. https://www.tarabrach.com 

Visit the podcast webpage to see the art that inspired this episode, read a transcript, donate, and more:
https://rubinmuseum.org/mediacenter/finding-a-path-with-meditation-teacher-tara-brach-awaken-podcast

About the podcast:
AWAKEN is a 10-episode series from the Rubin Museum of Art hosted by acclaimed musician and performance artist Laurie Anderson that explores the dynamic path to enlightenment and what it means to “wake up.” Each episode dives into the personal stories of guests who share how they’ve experienced a shift in their awareness, and as a result, their perspective on life. From deep introspection to curious life-changing moments, awakening can take many forms, from the mundane to the sacred. Taking inspiration from the exhibition “Awaken: A Tibetan Buddhist Journey Toward Enlightenment,” each story uses artworks as a jumping off point as we hear from authors, artists, wisdom bearers, and Buddhist teachers, because every journey is different.

AWAKEN

Finding a Path with Meditation Teacher Tara Brach

Pride can be celebratory—a powerfully affirming emotion. But its dark side can bring a sense of supremacy. It can be so full of self-importance that there isn’t room for other views, other ways of life. It can even be a little lonely to be so rigid. In Buddhism, pride is one of the five afflictive emotions, or kleshas, that can cloud our understanding of the world, along with attachment, envy, anger, and ignorance. When we get curious about pride, ask questions, and move beyond certainty, what is welcomed in? In this episode, curiosity creates possibility. 

Guests featured in this episode include author and activist adrienne maree brown, psychologist and neuroscientist Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, author and teacher Ruth Ozeki, Buddhist teacher and scholar Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, author and Buddhist teacher Sharon Salzberg, and student Nora Wood. 

To read a transcript, learn more about the Mandala Lab, donate, and more: https://rubinmuseum.org/mediacenter/pride-awaken-podcast

New Awaken S2 Podcast

Awaken Season 2 Mandala Lab Pride Ep2

Pride - Season 2 Ep2

From a psychological perspective, attachment is vital to the mental well-being of a developing human. But from the Buddhist viewpoint, attachment is the mind state that trips us up constantly. It’s the one that pulls us out of the present and into a state of longing for an imagined future or clinging to the past, leaving us with nothing but dissatisfaction. But what if we could release our grip and truly be in the moment?

AWAKEN Season 2 is hosted by singer and songwriter Raveena Aurora. Guests featured in this episode include author and activist adrienne maree brown, psychologist and neuroscientist Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, Buddhist teacher and psychotherapist Mark Epstein, author and teacher Ruth Ozeki, Buddhist teacher and scholar Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, and author and Buddhist teacher Sharon Salzberg.

To read a transcript, learn more about the Mandala Lab, donate, and more: https://rubinmuseum.org/mediacenter/attachment-awaken-podcast

Mandala Lab Attachment - Season 2 Ep3

No one wants to admit they are envious, yet in the age of social media, envy is a bitter taste in everyone's mouth from time to time. But envy dismantled can point you in the right direction and show you your heart’s desire. Can feelings of envy be transformed from an isolating experience to one that actually connects us?

AWAKEN Season 2 is hosted by singer and songwriter Raveena Aurora. Guests featured in this episode include psychologist and neuroscientist Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, artist and activist Madame Gandhi, Buddhist teacher and scholar Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Buddhist teacher and author Sharon Salzberg, and student Nora Wood. 

To read a transcript, learn more about the Mandala Lab, donate, and more: https://rubinmuseum.org/mediacenter/envy-awaken-podcast

Mandala Lab Envy - Season 2 Ep4

We have all experienced anger from a very early age. In Buddhism, anger is one of the five afflictive emotions, or kleshas, that can cloud our understanding of the world, along with pride, envy, attachment, and ignorance. But if we pay attention to the emotion, can it transform to give us a sense of clarity, to help us see what is important?

AWAKEN Season 2 is hosted by singer and songwriter Raveena Aurora. Guests featured in this episode include psychologist and neuroscientist Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, Buddhist teacher and psychotherapist Mark Epstein, Buddhist teacher and scholar Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, renowned chef Eric Ripert, Buddhist teacher and author Sharon Salzberg, and student Nora Wood.

To read a transcript, learn more about the Mandala Lab, donate, and more: https://rubinmuseum.org/mediacenter/anger-awaken-podcast

Anger - Season 2 Ep5

While we often don’t think of ignorance as a feeling, its antidote, awareness, resides at the heart of the mandala. It may be the mind state most difficult to explain, yet it may be the most important, and more complex than meets the eye. If ignorance is used the right way, it can move us from a closed mind to an open one. Is awareness the key to awakening?

AWAKEN Season 2 is hosted by singer and songwriter Raveena Aurora. Guests featured in this episode include author and activist adrienne maree brown, psychologist and neuroscientist Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, author and teacher Ruth Ozeki, Buddhist teacher and scholar Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, and Buddhist teacher and author Sharon Salzberg.

To read a transcript, learn more about the Mandala Lab, donate, and more: https://rubinmuseum.org/mediacenter/ignorance-awaken-podcast

Ignorance- Season 2 Ep6

In this final episode, we return to the mandala, our visual guide on our path to awakening. We might survive without the wisdom we have gained by examining our emotions, but what is possible—for ourselves, our relationships, and our world—if we stay curious? 

AWAKEN Season 2 is hosted by singer and songwriter Raveena Aurora. Guests featured in this episode include psychologist and neuroscientist Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, Buddhist teacher and psychotherapist Mark Epstein, artist and activist Madame Gandhi, Zen priest and author Ruth Ozeki, author and Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard, Buddhist teacher and scholar Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Buddhist teacher and author Sharon Salzberg, and student Nora Wood.

To read a transcript, learn more about the Mandala Lab, donate, and more: https://rubinmuseum.org/mediacenter/exiting-the-mandala-awaken-podcast

Exiting the Mandala - Season 2 Ep7

Because of the amazing response we received for AWAKEN Season 2, we wanted to extend the conversations about the five afflictive mind states we discuss in the series: Pride, Attachment, Envy, Anger, and Ignorance. 

In this episode, hosted by AWAKEN executive producer Tania Ketenjian, we have interwoven conversations from the Rubin’s BRAINWAVE®program series with neuroscientist Tracy Dennis-Tiwary’s understanding of the challenging emotions explored in the podcast. Guests include Bibi Bahrami, Dr. Philip Corlett, Janeane Garofalo, Jean Grae, Dr. Hedy Kober, Richard “Mac” McKinney, Dr. Kevin Ochsner, Khenpo Pema, Dr. Adriana Renero, and Joshua Seftel.

To read a transcript, learn more about the Mandala Lab, donate, and more: https://rubinmuseum.org/mediacenter/bonus-episode-with-brainwave-awaken-podcast

Awaken

AWAKEN Season 2 Episode 9: Brainwave

Brainwave - Season 2 Ep9

In this special bonus episode of AWAKEN, we turn the mic onto our host, singer and songwriter Raveena Aurora, to hear her own story of awakening. Listen to her reflect on growing up as a first generation American, inspirations for her music and creativity, her deep connection to the Rubin Museum, and how she navigates her own challenging emotions.

To read a transcript, learn more about the Mandala Lab, donate, and more: https://rubinmuseum.org/mediacenter/bonus-episode-with-raveena-awaken-podcast

Finding a Path with Meditation Teacher Tara Brach

AWAKEN

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