The “Essential Buddhism” series returns with a talk from Joseph Goldstein about karma and dependent origination, and a Q&A session that reminds us to look at the moon, not at the finger.

This dharma talk from the Naropa Institute Summer Sessions in 1974 was originally published on Dharma Seed 

Catch the first part of this series: Essential Buddhism Part 1: Developing Our Field of Awareness




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Ep. 128 – Essential Buddhism Part 4: Look at the Moon, Not at the Finger

Joseph Goldstein has been a leading light for the practice of Insight and Loving Kindness meditation since his days in India and Burma where he studied with eminent masters of the tradition. In his podcast, The Insight Hour, Joseph delivers these essential mindfulness teachings in a practical and down to earth way that illuminates the practice through his own personal experience and wonderful story telling. 


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In a dharma talk on working with thoughts and emotions, Joseph Goldstein explains the impersonal and empty nature of the mind.

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This week on Insight Hour, Joseph Goldstein teaches us about: Observing how mind states and thoughts mutually condition each otherThe way that thoughts carry us away into different emotional statesLooking at the direct nature and meaning of thoughtNoticing the difference between being lost and being awakeViewing our thoughts just as they ariseNot overthinking and focusing on the simplicity of a practiceThe six things that are ever arising or passing: our sensesMaintaining 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




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Ep. 200 – Getting Insight On The Nature of Thought

Joseph Goldstein meets us at the constellation of self, the duality of self, and the need for mindfulness.

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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 Goldstein




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Ep. 199 – Self And Selfless

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 Goldstein

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Ep. 198 – Facing Our Fears

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.

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This 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 Goldstein




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Ep. 197 – Flavors of Loving-Kindness

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 Goldstein

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Ep. 128 – Essential Buddhism Part 4: Look at the Moon, Not at the Finger

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