Insight Hour With Joseph Goldstein

Joseph Goldstein explores wisdom from the Tao and talks about how we can learn to settle back into each moment and establish ourselves in the rhythm of experience.This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/insighthour“When we can settle back and allow the change, allow the process of change to unfold without interfering, without pushing the river, then we establish ourselves in the rhythm of experience. And the rhythm carries us, just as in any activity, in music, in sport, in nature; the rhythm carries the experience when it’s not interfered with. And in that, there’s a grace, there’s a harmony, there’s a balance.” – Joseph GoldsteinIn this episode, Joseph explores:Learning to settle back and become one with each moment of experienceHow the appreciation of rhythm has to do with the full awareness of change and how we can establish ourselves in the rhythm of experienceThe difference between non-action an

Joseph Goldstein examines what happiness is and how we get it, plus he outlines the very ordered stages of progress that occur on the path of insight and wisdom. “There’s another kind of happiness, which is higher even than the happiness of concentration, and that’s the happiness of insight, the happiness of wisdom, when we really come to a deep and profound understanding of who we are, of what this life is about.” – Joseph GoldsteinIn this episode, Joseph explores:The happiness born from sense pleasures, not only in this realm but in the higher realmsHow purity of conduct, through both generosity and understanding virtue, can bring sense pleasuresThe happiness that comes from concentrationThe happiness that comes from insight and wisdomThe very ordered way that the progress of insight unfolds: psychological insights, purity of view, vipassana happiness, fear of the process of existence, the urge for deliverance, the stage of equanimity, and finally, opening to the unconditioned, that which is beyond the

In this episode, Joseph Goldstein leads a powerful practice around cultivating equanimity and talks about why it’s important not to confuse equanimity with its near enemy, indifference.This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/insighthour“Equanimity is the mind state of impartially, not indifference. So it’s like space which contains everything impartially. And one way of coming to this space of impartiality is understanding that things, in this world, are happening lawfully. They’re not happening by accident. And so the equanimity phrase, and the development of equanimity, is closely tied in with wisdom.” – Joseph GoldsteinIn this episode:Joseph talks about the concept of equanimity, explaining why it’s important not to confuse equanimity with its near enemy, indifferenceJoseph explores the wisdom aspect of equanimityJoseph leads a powerful equanimity practice focused around offering phrases to a neutr

Joseph Goldstein explores the Buddha’s concept of the Five Iddhis, which are the five elements of the teachings we need to bring to completion in order to truly awaken our hearts and minds.“This Iddhi of psychic power is inferior to the Iddhi of understanding. When the Buddha was asked what the true miracle was, he said the real miracle is the awakening of people’s minds, it’s not the flying through the air or the diving in the earth, it’s the awakening of the mind, the awakening of the heart.” – Joseph GoldsteinIn this episode, Joseph shares his insight into:The Sanskrit term, Iddhi, which refers to the particular power of something, bringing to completion a particular situationThe difference between psychic Iddhis and Iddhis of understanding and insightThe Buddha’s concept of the Five Iddhis, which are five elements of the teachings we need to fulfill to truly awaken our hearts and minds: fulfillment of special knowledge of the Dhamma; coming to a full understanding of the truth of suffering; bringing to co

Joseph Goldstein talks about how the tides of conceiving continually condition our lives and explores the ways we can directly experience the reality of Nibanna, the unconditioned.This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/insighthour“Do we buy in? Do we buy into the content? Do we get lost in this mind-created world of ‘future,’ or can we see it as being as light as a momentary thought, a momentary image? Just like a sound arises. But it takes a great deal of vigilance because these thoughts, these tides of conceiving, are tremendously seductive. You know, we’ve been doing this for years, and perhaps lifetimes. But awareness is very powerful, we can actually free ourselves from this prison.” – Joseph GoldsteinIn this episode, Joseph talks about:How the tides of conceiving continuously arise in our mind and condition our experienceThe different concepts that we solidify and make real, including our bodie

Joseph Goldstein covers the basics of metta, which he calls the generosity of the heart, and shares ways we can cultivate deeper feelings of loving-kindness in our practice.“Metta, as most of you are familiar, is a word from the Pali language, the language of the Buddha’s time, and it means loving-kindness or friendliness. And it refers to that basic quality or that basic feeling of generosity of the heart. It’s an expression of the generous heart that is simply wishing well, simply wishing or expressing goodwill to ourselves and others.” – Joseph GoldsteinIn this episode, Joseph shares his insight on:The basics of metta, or loving-kindness, and how it refers to the feeling of the generosity of the heartHow metta can become the ground for wisdom to growThe difference between metta and desire, and why those two feelings are often confused for one anotherDifferent ways we can nurture our practice and cultivate deeper feelings of metta, including reflecting on forgiveness and gratitude This dharma talk from

In this deep exploration of the union between compassion and emptiness, Joseph Goldstein breaks down the relative and absolute levels of Bodhicitta, the heart-mind of awakening.This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/insighthour“The ultimate nature of Bodhicitta – the relative level is compassion – the ultimate level of Bodhicitta, is the empty, aware nature of the mind itself. And as one Tibetan teacher said, ‘When compassion and emptiness are both present, enlightenment is unavoidable.’ So this is what we practice. This what we come to realize, to cultivate: the relative Bodhicitta of compassion, the ultimate Bodhicitta of emptiness.” – Joseph GoldsteinIn this episode, Joseph explores:Relative Bodhicitta, absolute Bodhicitta, and how these two levels are expressions of each other, not polaritiesThe different ways in which we can understand emptiness, including dropping into the effortless flow of ex

Joseph Goldstein talks about how wisdom arises from an understanding of the true nature of impermanence, and how experiencing the truth of change can be our doorway to freedom.In this episode, Joseph explores:The nature of impermanence and why going from an intellectual understanding of it to a direct experience of it can be our doorway to freedomThe different ways we can gain liberating insights into the truth of impermanence, including reflecting on death and relationshipsHow, when we begin to see the true nature of change, we start to cultivate Bodhicitta The two levels of Bodhicitta – the relative level and the ultimate level – and how Bodhicitta manifests as responsive compassion“So this is really important because in talking about the impermanent nature of all this and how ultimately unsatisfying it all is, the implication is not that we pull back from experience, as some people might assume. Rather, it’s learning to not hold on. That is the implication, and that is the doorway to freedom.” – Josep

Joseph Goldstein helps us understand the quality of samadhi, which he describes as embodied presence, and talks about the different methods we have available for cultivating it. This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/insighthour“We settle back into the body, into the awareness of the body, and we allow the tensions and the knots, we allow them to unfold. We create the space, we create the space of awareness in which they will unwind. And this becomes a great healing process.” – Joseph GoldsteinIn this episode, Joseph talks about:Understanding the meaning of the quality of samadhi, which is also known as concentrationHow the development of samadhi is the cultivation of embodied presenceHow ethical conduct is the foundation of samadhiDifferent ways to cultivate and deepen the quality of samadhi, including through direct awareness of a single object and through an open, choiceless awarenessThe many

In this episode of Insight Hour, Joseph Goldstein explores what compassion is, the wisdom that gives rise to it, and how we can manifest it in the world.This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/insighthour“When compassion and wisdom are both present in our lives, even to a small extent, there’s really a remarkable transformation, because they bring a creative power to the way we live, the way we act, the way we relate. When wisdom and compassion are both there, they help us go beyond the conventional response.” – Joseph GoldsteinIn this episode, Joseph talks about:How wisdom and compassion work togetherWhat compassion is and the wisdom that gives rise to itThe four insights that can help us keep our hearts open in the midst of the great suffering in the worldHow compassion grows and deepens within usThe different ways compassionate action manifests in the worldThe Bodhisattva Vows and the act of dedica

Joseph Goldstein explores the path to freedom that the Buddha laid out for all of us and talks about the importance of developing and sustaining the quality of ardor in our practice. This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/insighthour“What is ardency? I think we all have some sense of it in our very worldly lives. Just think of the feeling of ardor in the great love of your life, or in the first days of the great love of your life. What is that feeling of ardor like? There’s this powerful and sustained energy that is just so full in us. And it’s characterized by tremendous warmth of feeling and passion and enthusiasm and interest. That’s what ardor means. So can we cultivate that kind of ardor in our love of the Dhamma? In our love of the truth? That’s the quality that the Buddha is saying we need that, we need that passionate interest, that passionate energy to explore and discover.” – Joseph Go

Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg recall their early lives and initial years of mindfulness practice and share what drew them to meditation in the late sixties and early seventies.This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/insighthourThis podcast is being released in tandem with Sharon Salzberg’s Metta Hour Hour Podcast. Sharon is a meditation pioneer, world-renowned teacher, and New York Times bestselling author. She and Joseph are co-founders of The Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA. Sharon is the author of numerous books, including the New York Times bestseller, Real Happiness, and her seminal work, Lovingkindness.“This lasted for two years, and they were the worst two years of my practice, the most difficult. And it took me that long to realize that it wasn’t about getting something, it was about opening to what was there. But I was so attached to that wonderful experience that it was really

In this unique offering from the Love Serve Remember Foundation archives, Joseph Goldstein joins Ram Dass for a conversation around love, emptiness, soul, the notion of self, and much more.NEW Meditation Series: Pause, Breathe, Be Here Now with Ram Dass, Sharon Salzberg, Jack Kornfield, Tara Brach, Joseph Goldstein, John Lockley, Ram Dev, Trudy Goodman, Lama Tsultrim Allione—FREE January 16 to 25. Sit in true peace, love, and tranquility. Join thousands of people around the world for this collective meditation experience: onecommmune.com/ramdass“And let’s not forget joy. In you is joy. In you is compassion. Peace. Emptiness. And love. Those are all in you. In you. Now, manifest them in your behaviors. And your thoughts.” – Ram DassIn this episode:Joseph and Ram Dass reminisce about the early days of their friendship and how their relationship has evolved over the yearsThey respond to a question about whether there’s a relationship between love and Tao, exploring the concepts of self (and no sel

Exploring the dharma of liberation, Joseph invite us beyond delusion and into the true nature of mind as innate wakefulness.This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/insighthourNEW Meditation Series: Pause, Breathe, Be Here Now with Ram Dass, Sharon Salzberg, Jack Kornfield, Tara Brach, Joseph Goldstein, John Lockley, Ram Dev, Trudy Goodman, Lama Tsultrim Allione—FREE January 16 to 25. Sit in true peace, love, and tranquility. Join thousands of people around the world for this collective meditation experience: onecommmune.com/ramdass“Sudden awakening is not a state of mind that is developed—it's the innate wakefulness of mind, it's the nature of mind that is free of delusion. When delusion is not present, there is the experience of awareness, of wakefulness.” – Joseph GoldsteinThis dharma talk from February 16, 2000, was originally published on Dharma Seed.See Privacy Policy at https://ar

Joseph Goldstein explores the tendency of desire, how we can understand this driving force of Samsara, and how we can practice being free of it.“Desire is not an insignificant conditioning in us, and it takes many forms. And it’s really not the form or even the object that’s terribly important or interesting. It’s that force, it’s that energy, it’s that habit pattern of wanting. When we don’t see it, when we’re caught, when we’re identified with that wanting mind, it obscures the natural freedom of mind. It obscures the recognition of the open, empty, selfless nature of awareness.” – Joseph GoldsteinNEW Meditation Series: Pause, Breathe, Be Here Now with Ram Dass, Sharon Salzberg, Jack Kornfield, Tara Brach, Joseph Goldstein, John Lockley, Ram Dev, Trudy Goodman, Lama Tsultrim Allione—FREE January 16 to 25. Sit in true peace, love, and tranquility. Join thousands of people around the world for this collective meditation experience: onecommmune.com/ramdassIn this episode, Joseph shares his insig

Joseph Goldstein explores the 10 unwholesome activities and actions of the body, speech, and mind that the Buddha advises us all to refrain from for our own happiness and well-being.NEW Meditation Series: Pause, Breathe, Be Here Now with Ram Dass, Sharon Salzberg, Jack Kornfield, Tara Brach, Joseph Goldstein, John Lockley, Ram Dev, Trudy Goodman, Lama Tsultrim Allione—FREE January 16 to 25. Sit in true peace, love, and tranquility. Join thousands of people around the world for this collective meditation experience: onecommune.com/ramdass This dharma talk from October 29, 1995, at the Insight Meditation Society, was originally published on Dharma Seed.“The whole path of practice of understanding is realizing that we actually have choices all along the way. We don’t simply need to be acting out the patterns of our conditioning. And this is the great gift of awareness, it gives us the possibility of choice.” – Joseph GoldsteinIn this episode, Joseph explores:How the Buddha’s motivation was co

Joseph Goldstein explores the suffering that comes with wanting, the three types of desire, and why our investigation is to notice the ways the mind gets caught and the ways it can be free.This dharma talk from October 10, 1999, at the Insight Meditation Society, 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“When we’re lost in the wanting mind, in the mind of desire, it solidifies and strengthens the sense of self, the sense of ‘I,’ and it obscures the natural clarity, the recognition of the natural clarity and lucidity and emptiness of our own minds. So it’s a great obscuring force when we’re not paying attention.” – 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 explores the Buddha’s life and journey, reflecting on the four stages of this mythological unfolding of awakening and how we can all achieve the enlightenment that is the end of craving.This dharma talk from May 5, 2004, at the Insight Meditation Society – Forest Refuge, was originally published on Dharma Seed.“On this archetypal level, the Buddha’s life is not simply the strivings and realizations of a particular individual, we can also understand his life as the unfolding of a great mythological journey. Now, mythological here does not mean unreal, it doesn’t mean imaginary. The great power of myth in our lives is that it connects our individual experiences with more universal principles.” – 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 provides an uncommon sense view of selflessness to help us understand the often vexing notion of no-self and talks about how we can be free from the illusion 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“Self is like the Big Dipper. It’s a name, it’s a designation for a constellation of experiences. So when we say there’s no Big Dipper, does anything change in the sky? Everything is as it always was. In exactly the same way, our realization of selflessness does not change anything. Our experience is as it always was and will be. We’re simply seeing it in a truer way, we’re seeing it not limited by the conceptual overlay. We’re seeing it as it is. Then we can use the concept when it’s useful, but we’re not imprisoned by it, and we’re not limited by it, and we don’t contract in our identification with it.” – Joseph GoldsteinThis dharma talk from February 11, 2003, at the I

Joseph Goldstein takes a deep dive into the law of karma, how it affects us in our practice and daily lives, and how can we apply it in a way that it becomes the condition for our happiness.This dharma talk from November 11, 2003, at the Insight Meditation Society, was originally published on Dharma Seed.“So we can see these are karmic results of one thing or another coming as impressions in the mind. But when we bring awareness to them, when we bring a certain compassionate understanding, then our practice becomes a great purifying process.” – Joseph GoldsteinSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.