Joseph Goldstein

Insight Hours

podcast

Dharma-Talks

Mindfulness

In this opening session, Roshi Joan Halifax and Stephen Batchelor discuss the meaning of the topic of this program, “After Buddhism.” Roshi Joan introduces a vision of a non-Buddhistic Buddhism, or Dharma beyond sectarianism. She then describes the format of this program as it will unfold over the course of the week. Stephen then elaborates his own approach to a Buddhism outside of the “container of creedal thinking.”

3. After Buddhsim [Batchelor]

1. Intro To After Buddhsim [Halifax]

2. Stephen Batchelor Intro [Batchelor]

Stephen Batchelor - Four Great Tasks

In Joseph's first podcast for the Be Here Now Network he clearly brings to light the sometimes very difficult convoluted notion of emptiness.  As the high Lama Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche says,"When you recognize the empty selfless nature of phenomena the energy to bring about the good of others dawns uncontrived and effortless."

Joseph Goldstein - Insight Hour - Ep. 1 - Zero Centre Of Emptiness

“Everything changes.” - Suzuki Roshi

Our awareness alone is not sufficient in the search for liberation. We must learn to become present in order to question and further explore the nature of our existence. Investigation becomes a crucial factor in both the cultivation and application of true wisdom. One of the most accessible methods for the development of this wisdom is to practice an increasingly refined awareness of impermanence. This assimilation must move beyond the conceptual knowledge into a realm of direct and immediate experience. The closer we are to the experience of change the more the mind is able to let go.

Joseph Goldstein - Insight Hour - Ep. 2 - The Wisdom Of Impermanence

Our thoughts and emotions have the unique ability to condition both our suffering and our well-being. A deeper investigation regarding the relative versus ultimate truths of our experience becomes crucial in learning to work more skillfully with these predominant aspects of our lives. A natural balance is necessary in the application of this deeper knowledge; to both prevent attachment to or avoidance of any one modality of thinking. This merging in awareness of our emptiness and our soulful expression is a profound step in the maturation of spiritual practice  


Joseph Goldstein - Insight Hour - Ep. 3 - Merging Awareness And Expression

“It’s not difficult to be aware, it’s difficult to remember to be aware.”

Joseph explores the quality of mind known in Pali as Viriya, and explains the variety of ways that it can be experienced. In its basic form the term refers to the energy that allows us to engage with the world around us. The art of meditation involves learning how to cultivate this quality in an effort to apply it in useful and appropriate ways.  Wisdom comes through a gradual process, requiring a steady flow of energy to be both initiated and sustained. Viriya provides the crucial factor needed for wisdom to continue to grow throughout our lives.


Joseph Goldstein - Insight Hour - Ep. 4 - Viriya - Energy, Strength And Courage

“Realized is the unconditioned, achieved is the end of craving”

Can we really even imagine a mind that is free of craving, free of desire? We might occasionally glimpse this potential but often view it as something far off in the future, to be discovered only when we have mastered our minds. Joseph discusses both the possibility and the practice for bringing an end to craving in the moment. The process begins with the recognition of our arising desires and their ability to obscure our clarity and natural openness of mind. We can then be aware of the quality of mind in the absence of these desires. By closely and consistently observing this transition we are examining the very nature of its energy, and moving that much closer to the understanding and lessening of its influence.

Joseph Goldstien - Insight Hour - Ep. 5 - Achieved Is The End Of Craving

Joseph discusses some of the more seductive energies highlighted by the Buddha. These energetic fields operate on a broad spectrum, from the subtle identification with consciousness itself to the full on emotional breakdown. Learning to recognize the basic nature and allure of these qualities through practice is crucial in successfully changing our relationship to them. An attitude of genuine interest and exploration promotes both the discovery and understanding of these hindrances. The cultivation of mindfulness brings space and stability to an otherwise volatile dynamic.

Joseph Goldstein - Insight Hour - Ep. 6 - Working With Doubt And Aversion

‘There is no single factor so potent in promoting the good of beings as right view’ - Buddha

Joseph describes the wisdom factor of mind that is Right View and the function this understanding serves in illuminating both the causes, and the means for cessation, of suffering. Our actions are often rooted in the unwholesome thoughts that stem from a false view of the Self. Acting in a manner that serves and enhances the right view of non-self is the underlying context for all of our practice. It is the beginning and the end of the path, to understand the truth of Dukkha and abandon all of its causes.

Joseph Goldstein - Insight Hour - Ep. 12 - Right View

Surya Das reflects on the bigger picture of the Great Perfection, as it relates to the art of acceptance within our practice. A little acceptance goes a long way as we continue to work on ourselves, moving toward the middle path of choiceless awareness. Question and answer topics center around meditation techniques and the evolution of practice.

Lama Surya Das - Awakening Now - Ep. 20 - The Middle Path

Jack outlines the Ten Perfections within Buddhism that naturally arise in the stillness and steadiness of our practice. These qualities can be developed and applied in any situation and are extremely useful in bringing the path of awakening into everyday life. They are not meant to be a means for perfecting oneself, but rather a reminder of the true nature to which we can always return


Jack Kornfield Heart Wisdom Hour - Episode 36 - The Ten Perfections

Sharon discusses some of the more common obstacles to sympathetic joy and offers methods that promote both the practice and sustainability of this quality. Learning to let go of our judgments and allowing others to live as they choose is often a crucial factor in shifting our perspective. Recognizing the line of separation created through the restless state of comparison will also serve to loosen the boundaries that we build. Through generosity we begin to see the happiness of others as a continuum of our own. Sympathetic joy is boundless in nature, and we alone are responsible for drawing the lines of its potential.

Sharon Salzberg Metta Hour - Ep. 31 - Sympathetic Joy - Pt. 2

From one perspective it can be said that the entire spiritual path rests on the development and cultivation of a particular mind state known simply as equanimity. When highly developed, equanimity brings about an unshakable quality of mind that allows us to ride the inevitable changes of the human experience with balance and ease. We must be careful to not confuse the neutrality of equanimity with a sense of disconnection or indifference toward ourselves and others. As Joseph explains, this universal mental factor is present in every wholesome state of mind, making it difficult to overestimate its value in cultivating spacious impartiality.

Joseph Goldstein - Insight Hour - Ep. 13 - Equanimity: The Gateway to Enlightenment

Joseph offers a timeless discussion of the conditioning nature of fear, and possible methods for transforming that constricting energy into genuine freedom. Our fears are often revealed as we progress along the path, stepping out of our personal comfort zones in an effort to expand our spiritual boundaries. In recognizing that these experiences are an inevitable part of life, and are therefore a response to an ultimate truth, we come to understand the value in opening to every aspect of our unfolding lives. 

Joseph Goldstein - Insight Hour - Ep. 14 - Working With Fear

Vedana is the Buddhist term for the pleasant, unpleasant or neutral sensations that arise when our internal sense organs interact with external sense objects and the associated consciousness. Joseph explores this concept, explaining the Buddha’s heavy emphasis on establishing this form of mindfulness to better understand how are lives are unfolding on the path of awakening. In first recognizing, and subsequently investigating the origins of these feeling tones, we begin to decondition our deeply habituated tendency to grasp, avert or tune out to a given stimulus. Through practice, we gain ground on the reactive mind and further align ourselves with our true nature

Joseph Goldstein - Insight Hour - Ep. 16 - Worldly And Unworldly Feelings

An investigation of the six sense spheres, known in Buddhism as “The All,” which form the basis for understanding everything we know and how we know it. All further elaborations of the Buddha’s awakening have their basis in this pragmatic and verifiable teaching. As complicated as our lives may seem, everything we experience can be traced to one or more of these fundamental principles. In turning our attention to the senses, we find that these very ordinary aspects of our daily lives contain subtle and profound truths that point us toward liberation.

Joseph Goldstein - Insight Hour - Ep. 17 - The All

The Be Here Now Network is dedicated to the gathering and dissemination of spiritual talks, podcasts and writings of master teachers of Spirituality, Mindfulness and Meditation. Our core teachers and thought leaders include Ram Dass, Jack Kornfield, Sharon Salzberg, Lama Surya Das, Krishna Das, Joseph Goldstein, Danny Goldberg, Chris Grosso and the Mindrolling Podcast.

At BHNN we strive to produce quality podcasts, talks and lectures as well as text and films generated by a network of spiritual teachers and thought leaders on topics like mindfulness, service, social action, compassion, devotion and meditation.