Ep. 104 – Enlightenment or Bust: A Reflection on the End of the Path

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 practiceThe fundamental split of object and subjectLimitations from perceiving ourselves as separatePersona and the identification we have with the worldThe progression from fullness/oneness to constrictionHaving compassion for the shadow sideHow fear desire, and attachment, make us more attached to our sense of selfBeing imprisoned and conditioned by dualistic perceptionThe integration of mind and body and love for all experience as the connectorFrom the ego center to the zero centerBeing totally honest with what is happeningMindfulness as the tool to stop identificationThe power of renunciation and restraintThis 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 GoldsteinSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 awarenessThe body as an energy systemOpening up to the Buddha natureWorking with fear and emotional painResistance and unwillingness to be uncomfortableBecoming open to pain and discomfortInsecurity and the fear of being judgedHow the fear of feeling certain emotions keeps us bound to negative habitsHow openness allows our hearts to be touchedDeath and fear of the unknownBeing okay with being afraidHaving space for fear without demandsLovingkindness 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 GoldsteinSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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/insighthourThis time on Insight Hour, Joseph Goldstein explicates: The unconditional quality of mettaHelping each other see our individual lovelinessUsing mantra to evoke the feeling of loving-kindnessMetta as a tool for deep concentrationExperimenting with the different ways metta can be applied in meditationThe three aspects of practicing of loving-kindnessA 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 GoldsteinSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 retreatTurbo-charging our practice through shorter meditations we can do in our daily livesFinding the mental areas where our mistaken sense of self is createdListening to sounds and considering the ‘knowing’ rather than being a “knower”Breaking through the identification we have with the bodyDirectly experiencing bodily sensations and their changing natureWatching our thoughts and being aware in their moment of arisingEnlivening 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 GoldsteinSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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/insighthourThis time on Insight Hour, Joseph Goldstein divulges : How to stay open and responsive while experiencing both individual and global challengesCompassion and equanimity as tools to work with difficultiesThe definition of equanimity and seeing all things as a wholeEquanimity as the basis of wise discernment and skillful responsivenessRe-framing difficult experiences as an opportunity to practice opennessAn invitation to look within rather than blaming outside forcesExamining what emotions are underneath our reactionsLetting go of the illusion of being in controlAccepting our feelings instead of allowing them to limit usFreeing ourselves through the awareness of impermanenceHow compassion arises out of our willingness to come close to sufferingSorrow as the near enemy of compassionHaving 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 GoldsteinSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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/insighthourThis 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 lifeThe Buddha as a universal archetype for awakeningConnecting the Buddha’s journey with our own journeyMaterialism and the wheel of becomingDiscovering the real value in our livesReflecting on the inevitability of deathThe uncertainty of the time of deathWhat actually matters when we reach our endOur own calls to destinyGiving up a conventional way of viewing thingsOur own power over the way we areConfronting 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 GoldsteinSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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/insighthourIn this episode, Joseph Goldstein teaches listeners about:Letting go into the wisdom mind of non-clingingAwakening to the nature of the mindWorking with the hindrances of mindNoticing how the mind can be seducedSkeptical doubt and being frozen in indecisionThe ways that doubt can masquerade itself as wisdomTelling ourselves that it is okay not to knowResting in experience rather than being caught in thought loopsInvestigating our aversions and their hold on the mindSeeing everything with perfect wisdomTransforming our attitudes about our aversionsBeing 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 GoldsteinSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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/insighthourIn this Episode, Joseph teaches on:The history of Siddhartha GuatamaArchetypes and myths within the Buddha’s journeyConnecting individual experiences into universal principalsJoseph Campbell’s description of the Buddha’s life stagesCalls to destiny and the illusion of having a selfThe profound truth of impermanence and changeAnxiety and unease from trying to posses thingsFacing realities such as death and diseaseOne of Joseph’s first major insights into his mindRenunciation and getting out of the seduction of appearancesMeditation and recognizing vastnessExamining what is a hindrance and what is skillfulThe great struggle and developing a courageous heartThe Bodhisattva’s three watches of the nightThe 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 GoldsteinSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 lifeThe beginning of Joseph’s enlightenment journeyIntegrating the spiritual gifts Joseph learned from the East into his everyday life in the WestLearning to embrace the uncomfortable feeling of not-knowingHow Joseph first connected with Ram DassJoseph’s first job teaching a meditation classSaying yes and allowing opportunities to present themselvesA 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 GoldsteinAbout 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.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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/insighthourThis time on Insight Hour, Joseph lectures on:The Satipatthana SuttaThe four foundations of mindfulnessOvercoming suffering and attaining freedomHow wisdom combines awareness and investigationStruggling as the manifestation of non-acceptanceGrounding in awareness of different sense objectsAttuning to the patterns and conditioning in our mindsThe attitudes and judgements we have about experiencesThe 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 GoldsteinSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.