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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See 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 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

See 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/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

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