Insight Hour with Joseph Goldstein

Becoming mindful of feelings, Joseph Goldstein explains how the habits of our mind shape our actions and karma.

The Satipatthana Sutta is one of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. This episode is the eleventh part of an in-depth 48-part weekly lecture series from Joseph Goldstein that delves into every aspect of the Satipatthana Sutta. If you are just now jumping into the Satipatthana Sutta series, listen to Insight Hour Ep. 203 to follow along and get the full experience!

Don’t forget to grab a copy of the book Joseph references throughout this series, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, HERE

This week, Joseph Goldstein outlines:

• The mindfulness of feeling and discovering the nature of our feelings
• How the tone of our feelings condition the reactions of our mind
• The actions and karmic consequences that begin with a feeling
• How pleasant feelings can condition desire and attachment
• The way that neutrality can lead to ignorance
• Maintaining a non-reactive mind to all emotions
• The tendencies of desire and aversion
• Labeling and noticing our feelings without attaching meaning
• Clearly seeing the impermanent and ephemeral nature of all feelings

This talk was originally published on Dharmaseed

“Mindfulness of feeling is one of the master keys that both reveals and unlocks the deepest patterns of our conditioning.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Refining our knowledge of the four elements, Joseph Goldstein explains how our bodily dispositions relate to earth, water, fire, and air.

The Satipatthana Sutta is one of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. This episode is the tenth part of an in-depth 48-part weekly lecture series from Joseph Goldstein that delves into every aspect of the Satipatthana Sutta. If you are just now jumping into the Satipatthana Sutta series, listen to Insight Hour Ep. 203 to follow along and get the full experience!

This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/insighthour and get on your way to being your best self.

In this episode, Joseph Goldstein examines:

• The four basic qualities of matter
• Solidity and the earth element
• Fluidity, cohesion, and the water element
• Heat and light as the function of the fire element
• Air and the experience of expanding and extending
• Bringing the elements into our practice
• Contemplating our bodily disposition in terms of the four elements
• Noticing all sensations as the play of a given element
• Moving away from the conceptual and into direct experiences
• Psychic abilities and transforming an element into another one
• How labeling and objectifying can lead to desire and aversion
• Not grieving for what is non-existent
• The unification of relative and ultimate reality

Don’t forget to grab a copy of the book Joseph references throughout this series, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, HERE

This talk was originally published on Dharmaseed

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“On the experimental level, we can see that the various sensations that we feel, however the body is disposed, is really just the play of the elements.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Contemplating the principal of clear knowing, Joseph Goldstein explains that seeing things exactly as they are propels us towards awakening.

The Satipatthana Sutta is one of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. This episode is the ninth part of an in-depth 48-part weekly lecture series from Joseph Goldstein that delves into every aspect of the Satipatthana Sutta. If you are just now jumping into the Satipatthana Sutta series, listen to Insight Hour Ep. 203 to follow along and get the full experience!

Don’t forget to grab a copy of the book Joseph references throughout this series, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, HERE

This time on Insight Hour, Joseph Goldstein dives into:

• Clearly knowing the purpose of an action
• Discerning the benefit or detriment of our actions
• How Mara ensnares us in samsaric attachments
• How unskillful mind-states masquerade as skillful
• Being tricked by the doubt in our minds
• Purifying ourselves for the benefit of all
• Knowing the suitability of an action and examining timing
• Considering how our actions will affect others and ourselves
• Committing to the long process of awakening
• The importance of sense-restraint
• Contemplating the unattractive facets of the body
• Clearly seeing the impermanence of our body
• Accepting the truth of how things actually are

This talk was originally published on Dharmaseed

“There’s great power, inspiration, and patience when we realize this transformation of consciousness that we’re undertaking. The purification of these deep-rooted tendencies. That this process of transformation is not a quick process…we’re on a long path if we really are holding awakening as our aspiration.” – Joseph Goldstein

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Joseph Goldstein demonstrates how the entire dhamma is revealed through mindfulness of posture in this continued analysis of the Sattipatthana Sutta.

The Satipatthana Sutta is one of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. This episode is the eighth part of an in-depth 48-part weekly lecture series from Joseph Goldstein that delves into every aspect of the Satipatthana Sutta. If you are just now jumping into the Satipatthana Sutta series, listen to Insight Hour Ep. 203 to follow along and get the full experience!

This time on Insight Hour, Joseph Goldstein dives into:

• Being mindful of things both internally and externally
• Abiding independent and not clinging to anything in the world
• How the entire dhamma is revealed through mindfulness of posture
• The simplicity of being aware of changes in posture throughout the day
• Walking meditation and truly knowing that we are walking
• Disentangling our mind from distractions and anticipation
• Being rooted in the present with a sense of ease
• How mindfulness of posture helps us overcome unwholesome states of mind
• Paying attention to the motivation of our movements
• How movement masks dukkha
• Deepening our insight into selflessness
• The conditionality of mind and body
• De-identification and seeing all phenomena with proper wisdom

Don’t forget to grab a copy of the book Joseph references throughout this series, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, HERE

This talk was originally published on Dharmaseed

“Mindfulness of the posture becomes the vehicle for strengthening continuity of awareness. The way the postures are manifesting reveals the state of our mind. It becomes the foundation or the place of stability for us to face and see through the unwholesome mind states.” – Joseph Goldstein

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Enriching our understanding of the Satipatthana Sutta, Joseph Goldstein explains the body as the simplest and most portable object of contemplation.

The Satipatthana Sutta is one of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. This episode is the seventh part of an in-depth 48-part weekly lecture series from Joseph Goldstein that delves into every aspect of the Satipatthana Sutta. If you are just now jumping into the Satipatthana Sutta series, listen to Insight Hour Ep. 203 to follow along and get the full experience!

This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/insighthour and get on your way to being your best self.

This time on Insight Hour, Joseph Goldstein dives into:

• Mindfulness of the body as the simplest way to overcome mara
• How mindfulness of the body is the basis for all achievements
• Conquering all bodily sensations through mindfulness of the body
• Finding a suitable posture for our practice and how effort creates energy
• Establishing mindfulness in front of ourselves
• The invaluable power of our own breathing
• Refining the breath as the vehicle for refining the mind
• What it means to experience the whole physical body
• Calming the bodily formation

Grab a copy of the book Joseph references throughout this series, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, HERE

This talk was originally published on Dharmaseed

“The Buddha is pointing to the invaluable but often overlooked power of our own breathing. This humble breath which we mostly in our ordinary lives ignore is such a good and powerful object of meditation because it is always present.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Exploring the meaning of non-clinging, Joseph Goldstein outlines the three types of cravings explained by the Buddha.

The Satipatthana Sutta is one of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. This episode is the sixth part of an in-depth 48-part weekly lecture series from Joseph Goldstein that delves into every aspect of the Satipatthana Sutta. If you are just now jumping into the Satipatthana Sutta series, listen to Insight Hour Ep. 203 to follow along and get the full experience!

Grab a copy of the book Joseph references throughout this series, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, HERE

In this episode of the Satipatthana Sutta series, Joseph Goldstein discusses

• How craving can consume our entire being
• The thirst for sense pleasures and how they keep us dependent
• How society feeds and fosters our sense of desire and craving
• Clinging to and longing for certain mind-states
• The primal thirst for continued existence
• How expectation takes out of the present moment
• Abiding in empty, open awareness
• The craving for non-existence during painful times
• Dependence through view and the felt sense of “I”
• How to accomplish the deconstruction of self

This talk was originally published on Dharmaseed

“When in the seen just the seen, in the heard just the heard, in the sense just the sensed, in the cognized just the cognized, then you will not be influenced by what arises, not carried away by craving.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Joseph Goldstein has an intellectual discussion on bare knowledge without association and how to maintain continuity of mindfulness.

The Satipatthana Sutta is one of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. This episode is the fifth part of an in-depth 48-part weekly lecture series from Joseph Goldstein that delves into every aspect of the Satipatthana Sutta. If you are just now jumping into the Satipatthana Sutta series, listen to Insight Hour Ep. 203 to follow along and get the full experience!

This week on Insight Hour, Joseph Goldstein lectures on: 

• The direct path for the purification of beings
• The liberating effect of present-moment awareness
• Freedom from desire and discontent regarding the world
• Observing phenomena without attaching meaning or reacting
• The two proximate causes for mindfulness
• How knowing is not altered by what is being known
• The nature of the knowing mind conforming to the condition of the body
• Building momentum and continuity of mindfulness
• Vipassana and observing the six sense stores
• Becoming aware of the process of change
• Perception as the function of recognition
• How concepts condition our experience

Grab a copy of the book Joseph references throughout this series, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, HERE

This talk was originally published on Dharmaseed

“Bare knowledge here means observing phenomena, observing experience objectively without getting lost in associations, without getting lost in our reactions. It’s the simple and direct knowing of what’s present without making up stories about our experience.” – Joseph Goldstein

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Joseph Goldstein offers insight on deepening our understanding of impermanence by growing our awareness of the constant change that surrounds us.

The Satipatthana Sutta is one of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. This episode is the fourth part of an in-depth 48-part weekly lecture series from Joseph Goldstein that delves into every aspect of the Satipatthana Sutta.  If you are just now jumping into the Satipatthana Sutta series, listen to Insight Hour Ep. 203 to follow along and get the full experience!

This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/insighthour and get on your way to being your best self.

This time on Insight Hour, Joseph Goldstein explores: 

• Seeing the momentariness of phenomena
• The liberating effect of presence moment awareness
• The power of wholesome activities and the karmic effect of giving
• Unreliability within that which is impermanent
• Being dispassionate and not caught up in the grit of desire
• The stories and drama we engage with in our lives
• Witnessing changes in the world around us
• Refining our perception of change
• The mirror of the dhamma
• Having unbroken confidence in the path of awakening
• Consciousness in the process of dying

Grab a copy of the book Joseph references throughout this series, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, HERE

This talk was originally published on Dharmaseed

“Somehow, we are so conditioned to count on things staying a certain way, of staying stable. Or, if they’re going to change, that they should only change for the better, the way we’d like things to be. But, that’s not how it is, there is no evidence to support that. All we have to do is open up and look around and pay attention in the most obvious of ways. This is not a subtle meditative attainment; it is all around us.” – Joseph Goldstein

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This time on the Insight Hour Podcast, Joseph Goldstein explores the importance of contemplation, awareness and concentration in Buddhist practice.

This episode is the third part of an in-depth 48-part weekly lecture series from Joseph Goldstein that delves into every aspect of the Satipatthana Sutta, one of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. If you are just now jumping into the Satipatthana Sutta series, listen to Insight Hour Ep. 203 to follow along and get the full experience!

This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/insighthour and get on your way to being your best self.

In this episode, Joseph Goldstein examines: 

• Samadhi, or, the composure and unification of the mind
• Enjoying embodied presence and allowing all tensions to release
• The great healing process that can come from Samadhi
• How Samadhi enables us to receive the joy of the present moment
• How the development of concentration comes from practicing Sila (ethical conduct)
• The path of practice as the path of happiness
• Focusing on an object versus choiceless awareness
• 6-part walking meditation for the development of concentration
• Internal and external contemplation
• Being aware of other people without judgment
• Attuning to how our actions may affect others

Grab a copy of the book Joseph references throughout this series, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, HERE

This talk was originally published on Dharmaseed

“It’s as if when we create the space of awareness, the space of mindful presence, the mind settles by itself into a place of concentration because we are simply being present for that which arises.” – Joseph Goldstein

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Continuing his exploration of the Satipatthana Sutta, Joseph discusses mindfulness as the vehicle for all spiritual undertakings.

This episode is the second part of an in-depth 48-part weekly lecture series from Joseph Goldstein that delves into every aspect of the Satipatthana Sutta, one of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. If you are just jumping into the series, listen to Insight Hour Ep. 203 to follow along and get the full experience!

This time on Insight Hour, Joseph Goldstein discusses: 

• The mental qualities that are necessary for the path of awakening
• How mindfulness makes any spiritual undertaking possible
• How small efforts we take in our daily practice can greatly impact the larger picture
• The noble task of purifying the mind and heart
• Reflecting on the Buddha, dharma, and sangha
• The difference between self-judgement and contemplating our sila (right conduct)
• How the whole of the dharma is revealed through receptive listening
• Mindfulness as a guardian of the sense stores
• Avoiding the proliferation of wanting and discontent
• How mindfulness balances faith and wisdom, effort and concentration
• Mindfulness as a tool to notice the habit patterns we are conditioned into
• The nature of the mind as peaceful

Grab a copy of the book Joseph references throughout this series, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, HERE

This recording was originally published by Dharmaseed

“It’s that sense of just the whole of the dharma being revealed in this place of listening, of receptive awareness, of open awareness, when we aren’t trying to control things or make things happen but we’re letting things be revealed. This quality of sati, of mindfulness, of listening, has tremendous power... It’s mindfulness which makes any spiritual undertaking possible.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Kicking off a multi-part course on the teachings of the Satipatthana Sutta, Joseph offers insight into how we can apply the wisdom of this ancient Buddhist discourse on mindfulness to our daily lives and practice.

This episode is the first part of an in-depth 48-part weekly lecture series from Joseph Goldstein that delves into every aspect of the Satipatthana Sutta, one of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism.

This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/insighthour and get on your way to being your best self.

In this episode of Insight Hour, Joseph Goldstein delves into: 

• Meditation as the simplest way of looking at the mind and body
• Vipassana’s roots in the Satipatthana Sutta
• Breaking down the translation of Satipatthana
• The four foundations or abidings in mindfulness
• Focusing on the attitude of being aware
• The variety of meanings for Dukkha
• Craving as the cause of suffering
• Strengthening the quality of ardency for our practice
• How transience can spur feelings of passion and care
• Reflecting on the weight of our actions
• Wisdom and clear comprehension
• Why our practice is not just for ourselves alone

Grab a copy of the book Joseph references throughout this series, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, HERE

This recording was originally published by Dharmaseed

“The last reflection that helps establish us in ardent practice is realizing that the only things that can be said to truly belong to us are the actions that we perform and their subsequent fruits.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Responding to student questions, Joseph Goldstein invigorates listeners to have faith and confidence in dharma practice.

This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/insighthour and get on your way to being your best self.

This week on Insight Hour, Joseph Goldstein answers questions on: 

• Mental noting throughout meditation
• Working with a greedy mind
• Dukkha and craving as the fundamental cause of suffering
• Small moments of renunciation
• The deepening of concentration over time and why practice is non-linear
• Keeping confidence in the dharma
• Doubt as the most problematic feeling within practice
• Dealing with shame, depression, unworthiness, and other painful mind-states
• Balancing self-knowing and deepening insight into non-self
• Fear of impermanence and attachment to things staying the same

This special group mentorship program recording was originally published on Dharmaseed

“We really just need to continue doing the practice and have that trust that the dharma will lead us onward, which it does. I’ve seen it in myself and I’ve seen it in thousands of yogis. I have a lot of confidence in that.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Explaining the subtleties of practice and the energy between mind and body, Joseph Goldstein offers both insight and humor to his students.

This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/insighthour and get on your way to being your best self.

This time on Insight Hour, Joseph Goldstein :

• The variety of practice ways to strengthen concentration
• Animals and questions on karma in the natural world
• Free our minds from fear when nearing the end of our lives
• Watching the mystery of life unfolding
• The wholesome and unwholesome actions that determine our rebirth
• Habitual karma and having a place of refuge from repeated practice
• Humility and the understanding of selflessness
• Cultivating relationships of equanimity
• The ongoing discovery of the mind-body energy system
• Sexual desire and the refinement of our sensations
• Why neutrality is better than pleasure
• The unhelpful ways that we relate to pain
• How practice helps with boredom and restlessness
• Keeping an effort to pay close attention
• Using our precious lives very well

This 1990 recording was originally published by Dharmaseed

“Each of these practices not only addresses a particular conditioning of the mind, they all very much strengthen the power of concentration. It’s just to see how through many different doors we can enter the realm of understanding, taming the mind, coming to a place of stillness where we can really see the essential nature and come to freedom. There are many ways depending on temperament.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Highlighting the impermanence of experience, Joseph Goldstein leads a practice in noticing mental and physical sensations.

This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/insighthour and get on your way to being your best self.

This time on Insight Hour, Joseph Goldstein offers a guided practice on: 

• Working with thought and emotion
• Full body awareness without effort or struggling
• Noticing the breath and other sensations
• Being aware of thoughts just as they are arising
• Opening up to the fullness of experience
• The power of naming emotions
• Sensing the impermanent nature of all things
• Moving from the conceptual into direct experience
• The seduction of our thoughts

This 2018 recording from an Insight Meditation Retreat was originally published by Dharmaseed

“We don’t have to do anything to make things change. The very nature of whatever is arising, whether it’s in the body or the mind, the very nature is that whatever arises will also pass away.” – Joseph Goldstein

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In a dharma talk on working with thoughts and emotions, Joseph Goldstein explains the impersonal and empty nature of the mind.

This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/insighthour and get on your way to being your best self.

This week on Insight Hour, Joseph Goldstein teaches us about: 

• Observing how mind states and thoughts mutually condition each other
• The way that thoughts carry us away into different emotional states
• Looking at the direct nature and meaning of thought
• Noticing the difference between being lost and being awake
• Viewing our thoughts just as they arise
• Not overthinking and focusing on the simplicity of a practice
• The six things that are ever arising or passing: our senses
• Maintaining open awareness and experiencing the flow

“Well, what is a thought? It’s quite remarkable because when we look at that level, not on the level of the story or the content, but thought as a phenomenon, we see that it is barely more than nothing. It is so phenomenal. These thoughts arise, and the content can be so compelling, but as a phenomenon, as the nature of thought, it’s just this little energy blip in the mind. If we’re not getting hooked by the content, it has no power at all.” – Joseph Goldstein

This 2019 dharma talk from Insight Meditation Society was originally published by Dharmaseed

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Joseph Goldstein meets us at the constellation of self, the duality of self, and the need for mindfulness.

This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/insighthour and get on your way to being your best self.

This time on Insight Hour, Joseph Goldstein gets into: 

• Duality and how it relates to our meditation practice
• The fundamental split of object and subject
• Limitations from perceiving ourselves as separate
• Persona and the identification we have with the world
• The progression from fullness/oneness to constriction
• Having compassion for the shadow side
• How fear desire, and attachment, make us more attached to our sense of self
• Being imprisoned and conditioned by dualistic perception
• The integration of mind and body and love for all experience as the connector
• From the ego center to the zero center
• Being totally honest with what is happening
• Mindfulness as the tool to stop identification
• The power of renunciation and restraint

This 2005 dharma talk was originally published by Dharmaseed

“As long as we are identified with that sense of self in the mind, that identification creates fear, attachment, separation, comparing. If there’s an “I”, if there’s a self, then we have to defend it, we have to protect it, we have to gratify it, and our whole lives revolve around this particular identification.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Joseph Goldstein discusses how working with fear is absolutely essential in our practice of understanding, opening, and accepting.

This 1983 dharma talk was originally published on Dharmaseed.

This week on Insight Hour, Joseph Goldstein teaches us about: 

• Releasing tension through awareness
• The body as an energy system
• Opening up to the Buddha nature
• Working with fear and emotional pain
• Resistance and unwillingness to be uncomfortable
• Becoming open to pain and discomfort
• Insecurity and the fear of being judged
• How the fear of feeling certain emotions keeps us bound to negative habits
• How openness allows our hearts to be touched
• Death and fear of the unknown
• Being okay with being afraid
• Having space for fear without demands
• Lovingkindness as the antidote for fear

“What we’re doing in our practice is learning how to work with those experiences which often cause trouble, which often cause resistance, which we’re afraid of.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Offering instruction for metta practice, Joseph Goldstein explains the many flavors of loving-kindness that we can try.

This 2018 talk was originally published on Dharmaseed.

This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/insighthour

This time on Insight Hour, Joseph Goldstein explicates: 

• The unconditional quality of metta
• Helping each other see our individual loveliness
• Using mantra to evoke the feeling of loving-kindness
• Metta as a tool for deep concentration
• Experimenting with the different ways metta can be applied in meditation
• The three aspects of practicing of loving-kindness
• A 12-minute guided metta practice to settle into the feeling of well-wishing

“There are two main purposes for doing metta meditation. One is metta, or loving-kindness, which can be used as a vehicle for developing concentration. So, not only for the metta quality itself, but it is a technique or a method for developing strong concentration, even to the point of absolution.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Guiding us in three short, guided meditations, Joseph Goldstein helps us break down our identification with the body and the self.

This talk from the Insight Meditation Society was originally published on Dharmaseed.

 In this episode of Insight Hour, Joseph Goldstein guides us in: 

• Accessing deeper meditative states outside of a retreat
• Turbo-charging our practice through shorter meditations we can do in our daily lives
• Finding the mental areas where our mistaken sense of self is created
• Listening to sounds and considering the ‘knowing’ rather than being a “knower”
• Breaking through the identification we have with the body
• Directly experiencing bodily sensations and their changing nature
• Watching our thoughts and being aware in their moment of arising
• Enlivening our understanding of the Buddha’s teaching through a combination of practices

“This exercise allows us to see the selfless nature of thought and gives us the ability to choose which are helpful, which are not. Which do I act on, which do I let go of.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Focusing on equanimity and compassion, Joseph Goldstein teaches about staying open and responsive to collective and individual suffering.

This talk from the Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on Dharmaseed.

This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/insighthour

This time on Insight Hour, Joseph Goldstein divulges : 

• How to stay open and responsive while experiencing both individual and global challenges
• Compassion and equanimity as tools to work with difficulties
• The definition of equanimity and seeing all things as a whole
• Equanimity as the basis of wise discernment and skillful responsiveness
• Re-framing difficult experiences as an opportunity to practice openness
• An invitation to look within rather than blaming outside forces
• Examining what emotions are underneath our reactions
• Letting go of the illusion of being in control
• Accepting our feelings instead of allowing them to limit us
• Freeing ourselves through the awareness of impermanence
• How compassion arises out of our willingness to come close to suffering
• Sorrow as the near enemy of compassion
• Having humility on our path to explore equanimity and compassion

“Equanimity gives us the foundation, the ability to approach the suffering without reactivity. And compassion, precisely arises out of the willingness to come close to suffering.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Joseph Goldstein describes the steps along the Buddha’s path to awakening, helping us see the significance of the Buddha in our own lives.

This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/insighthour

This dharma talk from The Insight Meditation Society was originally published on Dharmaseed.

In this episode, Joseph Goldstein lectures on:

• The sacred journey of the Buddha’s life
• The Buddha as a universal archetype for awakening
• Connecting the Buddha’s journey with our own journey
• Materialism and the wheel of becoming
• Discovering the real value in our lives
• Reflecting on the inevitability of death
• The uncertainty of the time of death
• What actually matters when we reach our end
• Our own calls to destiny
• Giving up a conventional way of viewing things
• Our own power over the way we are
• Confronting the forces of Mara
• Relative and absolute bodhicitta

“In order to awaken to the hidden possibilities of life, we need to renounce, we need to be willing to give up our ordinary or conventional way of viewing things. Things are often not what they seem to be. If we stay just on the surface, we are often living in ignorance and illusion.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Explaining the ways our minds can be seduced, Joseph Goldstein teaches us how to let go into non-clinging.

This 2007 talk was originally published on Dharmaseed.

This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/insighthour

In this episode, Joseph Goldstein teaches listeners about:

• Letting go into the wisdom mind of non-clinging
• Awakening to the nature of the mind
• Working with the hindrances of mind
• Noticing how the mind can be seduced
• Skeptical doubt and being frozen in indecision
• The ways that doubt can masquerade itself as wisdom
• Telling ourselves that it is okay not to know
• Resting in experience rather than being caught in thought loops
• Investigating our aversions and their hold on the mind
• Seeing everything with perfect wisdom
• Transforming our attitudes about our aversions
• Being inclusive to our difficult experiences

“Struggle is a great feedback because it signifies non-acceptance of something. Because if we were accepting, we wouldn’t be struggling. Whenever we’re in that sense of striving, of struggle, of tension, take that as a feedback, not as a problem. That’s telling us something. That’s saying something is going on in the body, in the mind, in the emotions, in the thoughts, in our external experience, something is going on that we’re not open to, that we’re trying to exclude, and that’s why we’re struggling.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Taking a journey through the Buddha’s history, Joseph Goldstein reveals how we can relate the Bodhisattva’s experiences to our own lives.

This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/insighthour

In this Episode, Joseph teaches on:

• The history of Siddhartha Guatama
• Archetypes and myths within the Buddha’s journey
• Connecting individual experiences into universal principals
• Joseph Campbell’s description of the Buddha’s life stages
• Calls to destiny and the illusion of having a self
• The profound truth of impermanence and change
• Anxiety and unease from trying to posses things
• Facing realities such as death and disease
• One of Joseph’s first major insights into his mind
• Renunciation and getting out of the seduction of appearances
• Meditation and recognizing vastness
• Examining what is a hindrance and what is skillful
• The great struggle and developing a courageous heart
• The Bodhisattva’s three watches of the night
• The great awakening and working for the good of others

“In this archetypal level, the Buddha’s life reveals to us aspirations in our own. It helps us find a deeper meaning, a deeper purpose, a fuller context for our own life choices. On this archetypal level, it connects the Buddha’s journey with our own.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Joseph Goldstein joins Rohan Gunatillake to share the meditative story of how he first learned to integrate his spirituality into everyday life.

This episode was originally aired on Meditative Story, a podcast that combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with the immediate, science-backed benefits of mindfulness practice – all surrounded by breathtaking and cinematic music. You can find Meditative Story on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more!

 Joseph Goldstein shares a personal story about:

• One of the most transformative moments in Joseph’s life
• The beginning of Joseph’s enlightenment journey
• Integrating the spiritual gifts Joseph learned from the East into his everyday life in the West
• Learning to embrace the uncomfortable feeling of not-knowing
• How Joseph first connected with Ram Dass
• Joseph’s first job teaching a meditation class
• Saying yes and allowing opportunities to present themselves
• A guided mindfulness practice

“It’s as if my life exists as two separate strands. One is the strand of my practice, which feels clear and stable. The other is how that practice will manifest and how I can ever hope to apply it to the world. Spiritually, I am flying high. But I have no idea where to land.” – Joseph Goldstein

About Joseph Goldstein:

Joseph Goldstein has been leading insight and loving-kindness meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. He is a co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, where he is one of the organization’s guiding teachers. In 1989, together with several other teachers and students of insight meditation, he helped establish the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies.

About Rohan Gunatillake:

Rohan Gunatillake is a writer, entrepreneur, and host of the podcast Meditative Story. By artfully crafting meditations to compliment each guest’s story, Rohan blends mindfulness with narrative to create a unique listening experience, encouraging listeners to use someone else’s transformative moment as the basis for their own. He’s also the founder of the best-selling app Buddhify, and author of Modern Mindfulness: How to Be More Relaxed, Focused, and Kind While Living in a Fast, Digital, Always-On World.

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Discussing the differences between knowing, awareness and wisdom, Joseph Goldstein helps deepen our insights into the nature of body and mind.

This 2007 talk was originally published on Dharmaseed.

This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/insighthour

This time on Insight Hour, Joseph lectures on:

• The Satipatthana Sutta
• The four foundations of mindfulness
• Overcoming suffering and attaining freedom
• How wisdom combines awareness and investigation
• Struggling as the manifestation of non-acceptance
• Grounding in awareness of different sense objects
• Attuning to the patterns and conditioning in our minds
• The attitudes and judgements we have about experiences
• The ability to learn about our minds in any situation

“Wisdom arises out of awareness and it combines the qualities of investigation, of what the Buddha called right understanding/right attitude. With mindfulness as the platform, that is the foundation. Without mindfulness none of this happens.“ – Joseph Goldstein

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Going through questions submitted by meditators on retreat, Jill Shepard asks Joseph about discernment and other Buddhist practices.

This episode was recorded as part of a three-month retreat at the Insight Meditation Society and originally published by Dharmaseed

In this episode, Joseph answers questions on:

• What it means to waste your suffering
• Turning attention inward and looking at the cause of suffering
• Attachment, resistance, and false perception
• Self and anatta (not-self)
• The wholesome and unwholesome roots of all skillful actions
• Looking honestly at our intentions and motivations
• Honoring the presence of our emotions versus being caught by them
• The message we can receive from anger
• Discernment and bringing mindfulness into love
• Liberation through non-clinging
• Working with doubt and the inner voice that fools and seduces us
• Surrendering to the Dharma
• How practice prepares us for growing old

“It’s really important to be honest about the range of our own motivations because if we’re not honest about it, we’re not going to see it. If we don’t see it, we may very well be acting on the unwholesome motivations.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Describing how perceptions and constructs shape our experiences, Joseph Goldstein teaches on the concept of self.

This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/insighthour

In this episode, Joseph describes:

• The liberating jewel of the Buddha’s teachings
• The Self as the fabrication of our minds
• The relief of selflessness
• Abandoning unwholesome qualities
• Using Buddhist psychology to understand how The Self is created
• Recognizing, naming, and remembering
• Perception in the service of mindfulness
• Seeing the frame instead of the picture
• How concepts can limit our understanding
• Division and the concept of space
• Past, present, future, and the concept of time
• The constriction within self-image
• Projection and self-assessment
• Age, culture, race, and other created constructs
• When concepts can be useful

“Our perceptions are concepts about what we are experiencing. This overlay on experience very often conditions how we feel about that experience. And, one of the startling things about all this, is that often our perceptions are inaccurate and yet they are conditioning the experience we are having.”– Joseph Goldstein

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In a world that often feels like it's teetering on the edge, it's not surprising that so many of us grapple with feelings of instability and overwhelm. 

On Tuesday, December 19th, join acclaimed Buddhist meditation teachers Sharon Salzberg and Ethan Nichtern for a free online conversation on staying grounded, available, and engaged, even when the world is on fire.

Sharon and Ethan will also discuss the upcoming Dharma Moon Yearlong Buddhist Studies program and offer their insights on how studying Buddhism can help us show up more fully for ourselves and others during these challenging times.

Visit dharmamoon.com/event for more info and to reserve your free spot!

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In this question-and-answer session, Joseph Goldstein explores skillful means for non-clinging, how to work with the comparing mind, the intricacies of walking meditation, and much more.

This dharma talk, recorded on October 20, 2023, was originally published on Dharma Seed.

In this episode of Insight Hour:

• Joseph offers a series of tips on walking meditation
• He responds to questions about working with the comparing mind and working with the mind that is desperate to fix everything
• Joseph talks about how it is possible for a layperson to awaken and why enlightenment is all about lightening up
• He explores the importance of not being attached to our beliefs or our disbeliefs and keeping an open mind
• Finally, Joseph offers his perspective on how the Dharma has helped him in difficult times and why the Buddhist teachings are all about skillful means for non-clinging

“So when I began to hear these different teachings, rather than frame it – ‘Which is true?’ or ‘Which is right?’ – just to take the teachings as skillful means. So then the question is, skillful means for what? And here is where all the traditions of Buddhism are unified, and that is a skillful means for non-clinging. That’s the essence of the free mind in all the Buddhist traditions.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Joseph Goldstein delves into the concepts of loving-kindness, compassion, and the fear of discomfort. He highlights the transformative power of loving-kindness, mindfulness, and compassion in overcoming fears and limitations, ultimately fostering genuine happiness.

This dharma talk, recorded on February 18, 1997, was originally published on Dharma Seed.

This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/insighthour

In this lecture, Joseph:

• Affirms that at the depths of our hearts and minds there is a basic reservoir of goodwill
• Defines mettā, or loving-kindness, as the basic generosity of the heart
• Takes note of the “upward spiral” of happiness that mindfulness and loving-kindness promotes
• Reminds us to stay open to suffering and
• Ruminates upon the empty nature of fear itself

“If you keep shining your compassion and understanding on it, your fear will soon crack and you will be able to look into its depths and see its roots.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Joseph Goldstein expounds upon the relationship between thought and emotion as it relates to both our spiritual practice and our daily lives.

This dharma talk, recorded on June 4, 2013, was originally published on Dharma Seed.

In this lecture, Joseph:

• Dissects the nuanced meaning of the Pali word sati, often translated as "mindfulness"
• Highlights the importance of applying mindfulness to both skillful and unskillful thoughts
• Helps us understand the very nature of thought
• Outlines the inherent connection between thoughts and emotional responses
• Proposes that we stay open to afflictive emotions without identifying with them

"When we engage with thoughts and emotions from a place of interest and a place of investigation, a place of inquiry, we can see them all arise and pass away in this open sky of the mind." - Joseph Goldstein

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Discover the transformative practice of teaching mindfulness in a new FREE 30-page ebook by Senior Buddhist teacher and Emmy award-winning musician, David Nichtern. 

With its blend of humor, wisdom, and accessible approach, The Art of Teaching Mindfulness ebook is a must-read for anyone interested in sharing the life-changing practices of mindfulness with others.

Already downloaded by over 15k people, visit dharmamoon.com/ebook to get YOUR free copy of The Art of Teaching Mindfulness!

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Joseph Goldstein investigates the links between suffering, compassion, and the concept of the self.

This dharma talk, recorded on July 2, 1994, was originally published on Dharma Seed.

In this talk, Joseph:

• Breaks down the three kinds of suffering according to the Buddha
• Advises us to remain open to suffering, reminding us that avoiding or resisting pain and unpleasant mind states only serves to feed them
• Posits that compassion grows from letting suffering in
• Proposes that we drop into the flow of existence
• Asserts that the root cause of suffering is our deeply conditioned senses of self 

“When we’re associated with what we don’t want, it’s suffering. And when we are separated from what we do want, it’s suffering. And this is the push-pull happening throughout our lives.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Joseph Goldstein dissects the Buddha’s most simple but fundamental lessons: to avoid what is unwholesome, to perform good actions, and to purify the mind.

This dharma talk, recorded on September 26, 1991, was originally published on Dharma Seed.

This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/insighthour

In this talk, Joseph:

• Acknowledges that even the most simple lessons are not easy
• Breaks down the three unwholesome actions of the body, the four unwholesome actions of speech, and the three unwholesome actions of mind
• Touches on the Hindu concept of punya, or doing meritorious actions to plant the seeds of happiness
• Maintains that there is a wisdom in fearing danger
• Provides us with examples of wholesome actions that we can perform

“Avoid what is unwholesome, perform good actions, purify the mind. This is the teachings of all the Buddhas.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Joseph Goldstein dissects the concept of meditation from the what, to the why, to the how.

This dharma talk was recorded on July 8, 2007, at the Insight Meditation Society and was originally published on Dharma Seed.

This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/insighthour

In this talk, Joseph:

• Demystifies meditation
• Asks, “Why do we meditate?” and “How do we meditate?”
• Emphasizes the importance of settling down the mind to achieve real clarity and stillness
• Reminds us that meditation is not only about blissful feelings
• Identifies the relationship between our bodies and our minds
• Advocates for the acceptance and awareness of our own thoughts

“Meditation is not about whether it’s pleasant or unpleasant. It’s about how aware we are, how mindful we are.” - Joesph Goldstein

Discover the transformative practice of teaching mindfulness in a new FREE 30-page ebook by Senior Buddhist teacher and Emmy award-winning musician, David Nichtern. 

With its blend of humor, wisdom, and accessible approach, The Art of Teaching Mindfulness ebook is a must-read for anyone interested in sharing the life-changing practices of mindfulness with others.

Already downloaded by over 15k people, visit dharmamoon.com/ebook to get YOUR free copy of The Art of Teaching Mindfulness!

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Joseph Goldstein examines the mental factor of equanimity through the lens of the Eight Vicissitudes and the brahmavihārā.

This dharma talk from April 17, 2012, was recorded at the Insight Meditation Society and originally published on Dharma Seed.

In this lecture, Joseph:

• Defines equanimity as neutrality of mind and the quality of evenness
• Draws a distinction between indifference of mind and spacious impartiality
• Examines the eight vicissitudes (gain and loss, praise and blame, fame and disrepute, pleasure and pain)
• Considers the spiritual implications of living in servitude to the inevitably changing conditions of our lives
• Places equanimity in the context of lovingkindness, compassion, and joy, i.e. the other divine abodes, or brahmavihārā
• Reminds us that no situation is outside of our practice

“When we have equanimity, when both attachment and aversion are absent, then everything in our experiences becomes clear and undisguised.”

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In this episode, Joseph Goldstein reflects on the meaning of emptiness on the spiritual path and examines ways in which we can work toward enlightenment.

This dharma talk was recorded on April 16, 1989, and was originally published on Dharma Seed.

In this talk, Joseph touches on:

• The meaning of emptiness
• The such-ness of things
• The 10,000 joys, the 10,000 sorrows, and opening ourselves up to the whole range of experience
• The Taoist dichotomy between non-action and inaction
• Taking interest in the phenomenon of thoughts, emotions, experiences, and situations
• Being simple and easy in our practice

“If we’re simple and easy in our practice, our lives become simple and easy. Can you be simple and easy in your practice, just with what is?” – Joseph Goldstein

About Joseph Goldstein:

Joseph Goldstein has been leading insight and loving-kindness meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. He is a co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, where he is one of the organization’s guiding teachers. In 1989, together with several other teachers and students of insight meditation, he helped establish the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies.

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Joseph Goldstein continues his discussion of bodhicitta – the awakened heart.

This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/insighthour

In this lecture, Joseph:

• Reminds us that obstructions and defilements of thought are not intrinsic to the mind
• Provides us with a methodology for freeing ourselves from entanglement and attachment
• Compares the clinging mind to ice and the luminous mind to water
• Recognizes the causal relationship between mindfulness and compassion 
• Teaches us that how we feel and respond to situations is up to us
• Maintains that cultivating compassion is a process that comes with daily practice

“The development of love and compassion is a wide, round curve that can be negotiated only slowly. Not a sharp corner that can be turned all at once. It comes with daily practice.”

This dharma talk from June 12, 2015, was recorded at the Insight Meditation Society and originally published on Dharma Seed.

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Joseph Goldstein discusses enlightenment through the lens of the aspirational mental quality of bodhicitta – the awakened heart.

This dharma talk from June 8, 2015, was recorded at the Insight Meditation Society and originally published on Dharma Seed

In this lecture, Joseph:

• Teaches us that there are two understandings of bodhicitta: relative bodhicitta, which is compassion, and ultimate bodhicitta, which is selflessness
• Highlights the spiritual importance of cultivating both compassion and selflessness
• Ruminates on the challenges of living in our conventional, ordinarily understood reality
• Reminds us that the ungovernability of life is the nexus between dukkha and freedom
• Describes the union of emptiness and clarity
• Recognizes the need for a gradual cultivation of awareness

“The mind’s nature is vivid as a flawless piece of crystal. Intrinsically empty, naturally radiant and ceaselessly responsive.”

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Joseph Goldstein explores the nexus between thought patterns, sense pleasures, renunciation, addiction, and the wisdom of "No".

This dharma talk from October 24, 2012, was recorded at the Insight Meditation Society and originally published on Dharma Seed.

In this lecture, Joseph:

• Encourages us to examine the content and nature of our own thoughts
• Maintains that our actions are conditioned by how we think about ourselves and how we think about the world
• Advocates for cultivating wholesome thoughts and letting go of unwholesome ones.
• Considers the rewards of renunciation
• Emphasizes the importance of saying “no” on the spiritual path

“So often in spiritual practice and in our path and in spiritual scenes, we emphasize the yes. It’s the yes of acceptance, the yes of openness, the yes of receptivity, the yes of fullness of experience. So this is all an essential part of our practice. This yes is often the antidote to self judgment, self criticism, to contraction, to limitation. It’s like we’re learning to open, we’re saying yes to experience yes to the world.

But there is also a wisdom in ‘no,’ recognizing that some things are not skillful, are not helpful, they’re not leading to happiness or to our well being. And in these times, we can practice saying, ‘no thanks,’ I’ll pass on this one.” – Joseph Goldstein

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This time on the Insight Hour podcast, Joseph Goldstein helps us understand equanimity as a fundamental state of mind and the role it plays on the spiritual path.

This dharma talk from July 22, 2023, was recorded at the Insight Meditation Society and originally published on Dharma Seed.

This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/insighthour

In this lecture, Joseph explores:

• The literal meaning of the word “equanimity” in Pali and the difficulty of translation
• The Great 8 Vicissitudes, or the endlessly changing conditions of gain and loss that affect each of us
• Using equanimity to foster steadiness in the face of changing conditions
• Maintaining a sense of humor and lightness on the spiritual path
• The difference between reactivity of mind and responsiveness of mind
• The transmittable quality of equanimity

“Equanimity means understanding the difference between reactivity of mind and responsiveness. So this is a really important distinction because these two words reflect very different mindsets. Reactivity creates agitation. Responsiveness really is the basis for a balanced and compassionate engagement.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Joseph Goldstein leans on his decades of study and practice of the Dharma to answer a diverse range of spiritual and existential questions from his students and online retreat attendees.

This dharma talk from May 14, 2023, was recorded at the Insight Meditation Society and originally published on Dharma Seed. 

In this Q&A style talk, Joseph answers an assortment of questions concerning:

• The stages of enlightenment
• Being mindful of positive and wholesome mind states
• Realizing selflessness
• Concepts, the nature of consciousness, and reality
• Practicing mindfulness in modernity
• Karma and reincarnation

"We think our lives are so complicated and so confused in the modern world, in the ancient world and - at any point in time, there are only these six things happening. It's a sight, its a sound, it's a taste, it's a sensation, it's something going on in our minds. So, I like to think of all life, and the unfolding of our lives, as a six piece chamber orchestra. It's just playing the music." - Joseph Goldstein

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In this episode of the Insight Hour podcast, Joseph Goldstein delves into the nature of thought and provides valuable insights on cultivating mindfulness.

This dharma talk from May 13, 2023, was recorded at the Insight Meditation Society and originally published on Dharma Seed.

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In this talk, Joseph:

• Encourages us to notice when we become aware of our own thinking
• Highlights the importance of recognizing the themes of our thoughts
• Emphasizes that the past and the future are conceptual models
• Examines the very nature of thought itself

“When we’re unaware of thoughts, unmindful, they have so much power in our lives, they;re really directing our lives. And yet when we are mindful of them, as I say, it is a little more than nothing.”

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Joseph Goldstein discusses the challenges of practicing liberation, awakening, and enlightenment in the context of a lay person’s life.

“The Buddha said, ‘I have shown you the path to liberation. Now, liberation depends on you.’ This is really true. If you don’t take your life into your own hands, not even the Buddhas can make a difference. It’s up to you.” – Joseph Goldstein

In this talk, Joseph Goldstein offers insights into:

• Finding a balance between monastic renunciation and worldly pleasures
• Impermanence and the inherent instability of existence
• The Four Noble Truths as they relate to the concept of Duḥkha
• The understanding of selflessness
• Taking your path into your own hands

This dharma talk from May 12, 2023, was recorded at the Insight Meditation Society and originally published on Dharma Seed.

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Joseph Goldstein explores how karma and Samsara shape our lives and shares wisdom on integrating Dharma practice into our lives.

Today's dharma talk from May 16, 2023, was recorded at the Insight Meditation Society and originally published on Dharma Seed

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In this talk, Joesph shares his wisdom on:

• Applying Buddhist practice and wisdom to our daily lives
• Better understanding the interworkings of the mind and how our lives unfold
• How Karma and Samsara feed into one another
• The importance that our motivations play in Karma and Samsara

“The challenge in our practice is integrating this understanding of karma with our growing insight into emptiness, selflessness, and the selfless insubstantial nature of phenomena. Can we hold both?” – Joseph Goldstein

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Taking a journey into the vastness of the mind, Joseph Goldstein explores the creative power of consciousness.

In this episode, Joseph Goldstein elucidates:

• Consciousness as the creator of our inner and outer worlds.
• The suffering that can come from an uncultivated mind
• Mental illness, obsessions, addictions and thought-loops
• Being a prisoner of our own untrained mind
• Impermanence, empowerment, and the potential of the inner Buddha
• The Mahamudra and taming the mind
• Staying mindful during defilement

“The Buddha talked of how this mind, this force or power of consciousness, can be our worst enemy or the most benevolent friend.” – Joseph Goldstein

About Joseph Goldstein:

Joseph Goldstein has been leading insight and loving-kindness meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. He is a co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, where he is one of the organization’s guiding teachers. In 1989, together with several other teachers and students of insight meditation, he helped establish the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies.

“What’s most helpful to remember, in this part of the process where we become so aware of these defilements of the mind, is that they are visitors. They are not the nature of the mind itself. And because they are visitors we don’t have to judge ourselves, and we don’t have to judge them.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Joseph Goldstein explores the five Iddhis, or fulfillments of understanding, spoken of by the Buddha, and offers four different paths which can lead one to the completion of the fulfillments.

“The Buddha spoke of five Iddhis, or five fulfillments of understanding. The first of them is the Iddhi of special knowledge, which means the knowledge or the understanding of things which go beyond the conventional realm of concepts.” – Joseph Goldstein

In this episode, Joseph examines the following:

• The term Iddhi, which is best translated as fulfillment of understanding
• The five Iddhis that the Buddha placed the most emphasis on: understanding all the constituent elements of what we call self; opening to the truth of suffering; abandoning the causes of suffering; realizing the end of suffering; developing a path to the end
• The four different paths which can lead one to the completion of the five Iddhis

“These are the fulfillments that the Buddha talked about, the true miracle for us, the true development of understanding. In many of the texts, one of the ways in which somebody who got enlightened would celebrate the event, one of the common refrains, which has always been very inspiring to me, they would often say, ‘Done is what had to be done.’ Wouldn’t that be nice? Done is what had to be done. Finished. Come to completion. Come to fulfillment. We have actually done what needs to be done. What needs to be done is the realization or the development of these five Iddhis.” – Joseph Goldstein

This dharma talk from November 26, 1988 was originally published on Dharma Seed.

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Joseph Goldstein explores the nature of Samsara, or endless wandering, and the three interdependent cycles of defilements, actions, and results that keep the wheel of Samsara rolling.

“These three Kleshas in the mind – ignorance, craving, and grasping – they keep us moving around and around in this cycle of Samsara. There’s no balance in our lives, there’s no rest in our lives, as long as this cycle of Klesha is revolving.” – Joseph Goldstein

In this episode, Joseph explores:

• The nature of Samsara and the profound questions it raises for us
• The first interdependent cycle that keeps the wheel of Samsara rolling, the cycle of defilements, or Kleshas 
• The three root defilements that keep the cycle of defilements turning – ignorance, craving, and grasping
• The second interdependent cycle, the cycle of actions and karma
• The third interdependent cycle, the cycle of results
• How mindfulness can help us escape the wheel of Samsara

This dharma talk from October 23, 1988, was originally published on Dharma Seed.

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Joseph Goldstein guides us through the steps of integrating the science of meditation with the art of meditation as a way of awakening within us the heart of wisdom.

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“Through this integration, the art and the science, we really awaken in us this heart of wisdom. And the heart of wisdom means seeing the true nature of phenomena. Seeing the true nature very deeply and very profoundly. It means going from the level of concept, from the level of our ideas and opinions about things, to the nature of the reality of it.” – Joseph Goldstein

In this episode, Joseph explores:

• How our practice is about awakening the heart of wisdom within us by integrating the science of meditation with the art of meditation
• The steps to integrate the science and art of meditation, including opening ourselves to all aspects of experience and refining the quality of our relationship to experience
• How we can drop from the level of concept to the level of what’s really happening, the true nature of experience
• How we can further develop concentration and mindfulness

This dharma talk from September 24, 1988, was originally published on Dharma Seed.

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Joseph Goldstein explores the different ways that we can strengthen and sharpen the five spiritual faculties that exercise a governing role in the mind when they are highly developed.

“So out of the continuity of attention, the defilements have less strength. Because of this, the mind becomes more peaceful. We get a taste of a genuine inner peace, a sense of calm, a sense of tranquility. From this taste of peace within us – not peace dependent on any external situation, but actually arising within our own hearts – because of this taste of peace, the spiritual faculty of confidence arises, strong faith arises, based on our own experience of it.” – Joseph Goldstein

In this episode, Joseph explores:

• The five spiritual faculties – confidence, effort, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom – and how they exercise a governing role in the mind when they are highly developed
• The various ways in which we can strengthen and sharpen those spiritual faculties: the understanding that everything which arises passes away; respect for the practice and respect for ourselves; care and meticulousness in our awareness; perseverance and continuity of attention; the suitability of conditions for practice; the sign of samadhi; balancing the factors of enlightenment; and understanding what heroic effort really means

This dharma talk from November 16, 1986, was originally published on Dharma Seed.

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Extricating us from dualist concepts of self and other, Joseph helps us move from the 'ego-center' to the 'zero-center' through opening to love.

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“There are so many parts of our experience which we don't like, we don't want to be there. We condemn, we judge, we push away—it can be difficult feelings in the body, difficult emotions, feelings of hatred, rage, unworthiness, loneliness, profound alienation. It can be so many things, so many parts of the mind that are the shadow side. The process of healing, the process of integration, is a willingness to open to all of those sides, to see the shadow in all its manifestation.” – Joseph Goldstein

In this episode, Joseph dives into:

• How we create the concept of duality/seperation (self and other, inside and outside, persona and shadow, etc.)
• Understanding our practice of Dharma as reintegrating and unifying
• Using mindfulness to shine light on our shadow by making the subconscious conscious
• Moving from the 'ego-center' to the 'zero-center' using the intermediate space of love (a very deep appreciation, respect, and openness for every moment's experience)
• Carlos Castaneda and the relationship between impeccability and emptiness

This episode recorded 11/29/1986 at the Insight Meditation Society was originally published on DharmaSeed

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Joseph Goldstein talks about working with and opening to fear as he pinpoints the three types of deeply conditioned fears that keep us from recognizing our own Buddha nature.

“What happens as proceed along this journey of practice is that we come to our edges, we come up to our boundaries of what is acceptable; what is acceptable in terms of physical sensation, what is acceptable in terms of mind states or feelings or emotions. And those are our boundaries at which fears in the mind begin to reveal themselves. Can we go beyond these boundaries? Can we go beyond the edges? Is there a way of working with fear and understanding it so that it is no longer a limitation for us?” – Joseph Goldstein

In this episode, Joseph explores:

• How the practice of Dharma is a path of opening, but fear is often something that closes us down
• How fear is a manifestation of aversion
• The three types of deeply conditioned fears that keep us closed down: fear of pain, fear of insecurity, and fear of death
• How we can work directly with the mind state of fear through loving acceptance and discriminating wisdom

“So we learn how to open, we learn to come to our boundaries, our edges, our limitations; we see the fear that may be operating there, and we learn to work with the fear, we include the fear in our practice.” – Joseph Goldstein

This dharma talk from November 11, 1985, was originally published on Dharma Seed.

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