High Line Invites Visitors to Meditate and Learn with New Summer Series at Base of Monumental Sculpture

Tuan Andrew Nguyen, The Light That Shines Through the Universe, 2026. Photo by Timothy Schenck

Inspired by Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s 27-Foot-Tall Buddha Sculpture on the High Line Plinth, a Monthly Series of Talks and Guided Meditation Sessions Co-Presented by the High Line and Rubin Museum Will Bring New Yorkers Together in Healing and Contemplation

The High Line announced a free monthly lecture and guided meditation series in support of Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s High Line Plinth artwork, The Light That Shines Through the Universe. Taking place May through October 2026 on the High Line at 30th Street and 10th Avenue, and presented in partnership with the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, the free series invites visitors to engage more deeply with themes of history and spiritual practice that are central to Nguyen’s work.

As the fifth High Line Plinth commission, Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s The Light That Shines Through the Universe will be on view on the High Line from late April 2026 through Fall 2027, and complemented with related, free public programming throughout its duration on the park. The artwork is a towering, 27-foot-tall carved sandstone sculpture that reimagines one of the Bamiyan Buddhas, two 6th-century colossal statues in central Afghanistan that were tragically destroyed by the Taliban in 2001 in an act of iconoclasm. For The Light that Shines Through the Universe, Nguyen reimagines the Buddha’s hands, lost after centuries of attempted iconoclastic attacks, long before the statues were fully destroyed. Cast from melted down brass artillery shells and positioned into mudras, or ritual gestures that signify “fearlessness” and “compassion,” the gleaming hands become symbols of healing and empathy.

Inspired by Nguyen’s sculpture and the cultural context that influenced its creation, each month’s program 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, Rubin Museum Himalayan Cultural Programs and Communities Ambassador, 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.

The Light That Shines Through the Universe: Lectures and Meditations

Program schedule

Buddhist Mudras — Saturday, May 16, 2026, 2 – 3pm

Featuring a lecture by Tashi Chödrön, Rubin Museum Himalayan Cultural Programs and Communities Ambassador, 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.

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 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, 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.

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

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 encounter, religious coexistence, and the circulation of artistic forms.

The lecture will be followed by a guided meditation by Jessica Angima, a Kenyan-American community organizer, MNDFL meditation facilitator, and dharma student of Western Insight and Theravada traditions. Jessica is the organizer of Meditation for Black Lives.

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

Featuring a lecture by Donald S. Lopez, 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.

Monuments to War — Saturday, October 10, 2026, 2 – 3pm

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.

All sessions are free; advance registration will be available on thehighline.org. Please visit thehighline.org for the most up-to-date information. In the event of rain or inclement weather, the sessions will be scheduled for the following date.

ABOUT HIGH LINE ART

Founded in 2009, High Line Art commissions and produces a wide array of artworks on the High Line, including site-specific commissions, exhibitions, performances, video programs, and a series of billboard interventions. Led by Cecilia Alemani, the Donald R. Mullen, Jr. Director & Chief Curator of High Line Art, and presented by the High Line, the art program invites artists to think of creative ways to engage with the unique architecture, history, and design of the park, and to foster a productive dialogue with the surrounding neighborhood and urban landscape.

For more information on High Line Art, please visit thehighline.org/art.

ABOUT THE HIGH LINE

The High Line is a public park on the West Side of Manhattan operated, maintained, and funded by the nonprofit conservancy Friends of the High Line. Through our work with communities on and off the High Line, Friends of the High Line is devoted to reimagining public spaces to create connected, healthy neighborhoods and cities.

Built on a historic, elevated rail line, the High Line was always intended to be more than a park. You can walk through the gardens, view art, experience a performance, enjoy food or beverage, or connect with friends and neighbors—all while enjoying a unique perspective of New York City.

Nearly 100% of our annual operating budget comes through donations. The High Line is owned by the City of New York, and we operate the park under a license agreement with NYC Parks.

For more information, visit thehighline.org and follow us on Facebook, X, Instagram, and Tiktok.

ABOUT THE RUBIN MUSEUM OF HIMALAYAN ART

The Rubin is a global museum dedicated to presenting Himalayan art and its insights. Founded in 2004, the Rubin serves people internationally through exhibitions, participatory experiences, a dynamic digital platform, and partnerships. Inspired and informed by Himalayan art, the Rubin invites people to contemplate the human experience and deepen connections with the world around them in order to expand awareness, enhance well-being, and cultivate compassion. The Rubin advances scholarship through a series of educational initiatives, grants, collection sharing, and the stewardship of a collection of nearly 4,000 Himalayan art objects spanning 1,500 years of history—providing unprecedented access and resources to scholars, artists, and students across the globe.

Current projects in New York City include the Rubin Museum Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room installation at the Brooklyn Museum through 2031, and About a Living Culture, a public art sculpture by IMAGINE (a.k.a Sneha Shresta) at Diversity Plaza in Jackson Heights, Queens on view through September 13.

Learn more at rubinmuseum.org

SUPPORT

Lead support for High Line Art comes from Amanda and Don Mullen. Major support is provided by Shelley Fox Aarons and Philip E. Aarons, The Brown Foundation, Inc. of Houston, and Charina Endowment Fund.

Major support for the High Line Plinth is provided by members of the High Line Plinth Committee and contemporary art leaders committed to realizing major commissions and engaging in the public success of the Plinth: Shelley Fox Aarons and Philip E. Aarons, Jennifer and Jonathan Allan Soros, Elizabeth K. Belfer, Fairfax Dorn, Kerianne Flynn, Hermine Riegerl Heller, Janine and J. Tomilson Hill, The Holly Peterson Foundation, Annie Hubbard, Miyoung Lee and Neil Simpkins, Jennifer Levitt, W. Scott McCormack and Noah Jay, Amanda and Don Mullen, Douglas Oliver and Sherry Brous, Mario Palumbo and Stefan Gargiulo, Susan and Stephen Scherr, Eric Schwartz and Debra Fram, Susan and David Viniar, Olivia Walton, and Vivian and James Zelter.

High Line Art is supported, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council, under the leadership of Speaker Julie Menin.

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