As part of the public programming for Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s High Line Plinth commission, The Light That Shines Through the Universe, the High Line presents a monthly lecture and guided meditation series at the Spur. Presented in partnership with the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, the series invites visitors to engage more deeply with themes central to Nguyen’s work. Each session features a lecture by a scholar, artist, or cultural leader, followed by a guided meditation led by an invited practitioner.

The series is hosted by Tashi Chödrön, Himalayan Programs and Communities Ambassador at the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, who, in her two decades with the Rubin, has led meditation programs for over ten years and is the current host of the Rubin’s Mindfulness Meditation podcast. Through this combination of intellectual and contemplative practice, the series invites audiences to pause, reflect, and consider the artwork’s historical and philosophical themes through both thought and experience.

All events take place on the High Line Spur at 30th Street and 10th Avenue.

Buddhist Mudras
Saturday, May 16, 2026
2 – 3pm
Featuring a lecture by Tashi Chödrön, Himalayan Programs and Communities Ambassador at the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, this session introduces Buddhist mudras—symbolic hand gestures that communicate spiritual qualities and teachings.

The lecture will be followed by a guided meditation by Steve Clorfeine, a meditation teacher from the Shambhala tradition with over 40 years of experience.

Although advance registration is full, walk-up attendees are welcome if the event is not at capacity.

Rain date: May 17, 2 – 3pm

Healing Through Ritual
Saturday, June 13, 2026
2 – 3pm

Featuring a lecture by Lama Justin von Bujdoss, this session explores the role of ritual practice and meditation in transforming grief, loss, and violence into resilience and collective care. Drawing connections between Buddhist traditions and contemporary social justice work, the session considers how ceremony, blessing, meditation, and performed rituals can support processes of healing.

The lecture will be followed by a guided meditation by Jungwon Kim, a Zen practitioner of the Plum Village Tradition and the facilitator for Love Circle, a Brooklyn-based BIPOC sangha.

Although advance registration is full, walk-up attendees are welcome if the event is not at capacity. 

Rain date: June 14, 2 – 3pm

Buddhism Along the Silk Road
Saturday, July 11, 2026
2:30 – 3:30pm

Featuring a lecture by Jin Xu, Jane and Leopold Swergold Associate Professor of Chinese Art History at Columbia University, this session situates the Bamiyan Buddha within the broader history of Buddhist transmission across East, Central, and South Asia. The session highlights how trade routes facilitated cultural encounters, religious coexistence, and the circulation of artistic forms.

The lecture will be followed by a guided meditation by Jessica Angima, a Kenyan-American artist, organizer, and dharma practitioner in the Western Insight and Theravada traditions. With over ten years of training and mentorship, she leads meditation and contemplative experiences in community green spaces throughout New York City.

RSVP
Rain date: July 12, 2 – 3pm

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The Nature of Light
Wednesday, August 5, 2026
12:30 – 1:30pm

Featuring a lecture by Donald S. Lopez, a distinguished university professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at the University of Michigan. This session delves deeper into the name of the artwork The Light That Shines Through The Universe, and explores light in Buddhist thought—both literal and metaphorical.

The lecture will be followed by a guided meditation by Jungwon Kim, a Zen practitioner of the Plum Village Tradition and the facilitator for Love Circle, a Brooklyn-based BIPOC sangha.

Rain date: August 6, 12:30 – 1:30pm

Monuments to War
Saturday, October 10, 2026
2:30 – 3:30pm
Closing the series, Nico Rodriguez, deputy director of Monuments Lab, considers Nguyen’s work alongside contemporary artistic approaches to memorialization. The discussion explores how artists reimagine monuments to war by transforming sites of violence into spaces for remembrance, reflection, and collective healing.

The lecture will be followed by a guided meditation by Steve Clorfeine, a meditation teacher from the Shambhala tradition with over 40 years of experience.

Rain date: October 11, 2 – 3pm

Partner Bios

May
Tashi Chödrön is the Himalayan Programs and Communities Ambassador at the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art. Tashi is the co-founder of the Tibet Oral History Project and founder of Voices of Tibet Tibetan Oral History Project; founder of Himalayan Pantry Inc.; former board member of the UN Women USA, NY Chapter and former consultant on Himalayan arts and culture, Baruch Rubin Project at Baruch College. Tashi was given a Citation of Honor from the Borough of Queens, City of New York for her outstanding leadership in 2024. She is a recipient of the Gold Star award from the American Himalayan Foundation for her preservation of Tibetan culture. Tashi is one of the first women of her generation in exile to receive the entire teachings of the Vajrayana path directly from His Holiness Penor Rinpoche.

Steve Clorfeine is a multi-disciplinary artist and writer. He is also a meditation teacher from the Shambhala tradition with over 40 years of experience. Steve currently teaches weekly meditation classes at Westbeth Artist Housing.

June
Lama Justin von Bujdoss is an internationally renowned vajrayana Buddhist teacher. He is author of Modern Tantric Buddhism: Authenticity and Embodiment in Dharma Practice published by North Atlantic Books and a forthcoming title on his experiences with Dark Retreat to be published by Wisdom Publications. He is the founder of Yangti Yoga Retreat Center in Buckland, Massachusetts, where he specializes in leading people through dark retreats. He is passionate about helping to create the conditions for authentic embodied tantric Buddhist spiritual practice in the West.

Jungwon Kim is a Zen practitioner of the Plum Village Tradition. She is also the facilitator for Love Circle, a Brooklyn-based BIPOC sangha.

July
Jin Xu is a Jane and Leopold Swergold Associate Professor of Chinese Art History at Columbia University. He specializes in pre-modern Chinese art history, with particular interest in art and architecture during the imperial period (221 BCE–1911 CE). His research focuses on the artistic expressions of migrants and their communities, including both non-Chinese immigrants in China and Chinese emigrants in border regions.

Jessica Angima is a Kenyan-American artist, organizer, and dharma practitioner in the Western Insight and Theravada traditions. With over ten years of training and mentorship, she leads meditation and contemplative experiences in community green spaces throughout New York City.

August
Donald Lopez is Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at the University of Michigan. A prolific scholar of Buddhism, he has authored, translated, or edited numerous influential works spanning Indian Buddhist philosophy, the European encounter with Buddhism, and Buddhism and Science. His books include the award-winning Prisoners of Shangri-La (1998), The Story of Buddhism (2001), Buddhist Scriptures (2004) and The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (with Robert Buswell, 2014). His Buddhism: A Journey Through History (2025) was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Nonfiction. His most recent book is The Buddha: Biography of a Myth.

Jungwon Kim is a Zen practitioner of the Plum Village Tradition. She is also the facilitator for Love Circle, a Brooklyn-based BIPOC sangha.

October
Nico Rodriguez is Deputy Director at Monument Lab (Philadelphia), where he is part of the organization’s senior leadership advancing public art, public memory, and civic space projects through artist-led and community-centered partnerships nationwide. Born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia, he is a curator and arts administrator interested in how cultural strategy, site-specific interventions, and printed publications can advance social change. In 2011, he co-founded the Colombia-based nonprofit SUR (formerly 4-18). Since moving to the United States in 2016, Rodriguez has worked at the intersection of artistic practice and civic infrastructure, including roles with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Maryland Institute College of Art, before joining Monument Lab. His work focuses on how cities and communities can activate the public realm to restore identity and belonging.

Steve Clorfeine is a multi-disciplinary artist and writer. He is also a meditation teacher from the Shambhala tradition with over 40 years of experience. Steve currently teaches weekly meditation classes at Westbeth Artist Housing.