Joseph Goldstein reflects on the path of insight, the beauty of selflessness, and why retreat is a key part of awakening.

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This week on Insight Hour, Joseph answers questions on:

• What insight (vipassana) truly means
• Momentary concentration & the path of ‘dry’ insight
• Mudita (sympathetic joy) as a path to ‘moisten’ insight
• Removing our identification with thoughts and emotions
• Experiencing the rapid flow of consciousness itself
• Stories of Dipa Ma and the beauty of selflessness
• The benefit of going on retreats
• Freeing the heart and mind from greed, hatred, and ignorance

"I found that practicing the mudita was like eating ice cream—it's delicious. What's striking is it may be the hardest one, or, the one we're least practiced in, really cultivating that delight in the happiness of others. When we undertake it as a type of formal practice and cultivate it, it's a totally beautiful quality of mind and it's very uplifting." –Joseph Goldstein

This talk was given at the Insight Meditation Society and distributed by Dharma Seed

“I’ve never found anything that touches the depth and the connectedness of when I’m on retreat. We’re really cultivating that awareness and mindfulness as continuously as possible. Whenever I am on retreat I just always have the feeling, ‘this is what I should be doing’. It just feels like the most important thing.” –Joseph Goldstein

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Featuring a Q&A with special guest Sharon Salzberg, Joseph Goldstein shares the beauty of having a wholesome mind rather than a mind that clings.

Today's 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 & Sharon explore:

• How all practice is in service of non-clinging
• Attachment to the pleasant and aversion to the unpleasant
• Types of speech to avoid: gossip and useless talk
• Speaking in a way that unites people rather than divides them
• Shifting our focus and delighting in positive outcomes
• Seeing the beauty of the dharma, the beauty of a wholesome mind
• Deepening our relationship with ourselves and our emotions

About Sharon Salzberg:

Sharon Salzberg is a meditation pioneer, world-renowned teacher, and New York Times bestselling author. She is one of the first to bring mindfulness and lovingkindness meditation to mainstream American culture over 45 years ago, inspiring generations of meditation teachers and wellness influencers. Sharon is co-founder of The Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA, and the author of twelve books, including the New York Times bestseller, Real Happiness, now in its second edition, and her seminal work, Lovingkindness. Her podcast, The Metta Hour, has amassed five million downloads and features interviews with thought leaders from the mindfulness movement and beyond. Learn more about Sharon and her books at www.sharonsalzberg.com and check out Insight Meditation Society.

This talk was given at the Insight Meditation Society and distributed by Dharma Seed

“I made an experiment for a period of time where I wasn’t going to speak to someone about someone else. 95% of my speech was eliminated. It was astounding to me how much of my speech was about that. It’s not to say that’s never appropriate, or that speaking about others in a certain context is always unskillful, but sometimes it is. The Buddha gave a very succinct guideline. He said: ‘Speak in a way that unites people rather than divides people.” – Joseph Goldstein

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Joseph Goldstein holds two meanings of Nibbana in equal reverence: unconditioned, unformed awareness and a transcendent state in which the mind is free from all defilements.

Today's 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 reveals:

• The Thai forest tradition of Buddhism
• Nibbana: Unconditioned awareness or transcendent awareness?
• The unconditioned mind and the power of zero
• Enlightenment and a mind that is free of defilements
• The analogy of ‘seeing the moon’ rather than the finger that points to it
• Why the experience of Nibbana is so important
• Seeing the intimate connection between wisdom and compassion
• The concept of nonself and our lives as constantly changing phenomena
• The dance between pleasure and suffering

Check out this episode’s companion essay, Reflections on Nibbana, by Joseph Goldstein

“One meaning of Nibbana is this unconditioned, unborn, unformed reality. The other meaning of Nibbana refers to the mind that has been freed of defilements—the mind that is free of greed, hatred, and delusion. We could describe the state of a fully enlightened being in which these defilements have been uprooted as Nibbana.” –Joseph Goldstein

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