Insight Hour with Joseph Goldstein

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.

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“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 Goldstein

In this episode, Joseph explores:

• Relative Bodhicitta, absolute Bodhicitta, and how these two levels are expressions of each other, not polarities
• The different ways in which we can understand emptiness, including dropping into the effortless flow of experience, being reminded by our teachers, seeing the insubstantial nature of the self, and seeing that things are not amenable to our will
• The nature of the mind, which is empty like space, has an innate wakefulness, and it is inherently pure
• How the activity of emptiness is compassion

This dharma talk from July 9, 2003, was originally published on Dharma Seed.

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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 freedom
• The different ways we can gain liberating insights into the truth of impermanence, including reflecting on death and relationships
• How, 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.” – Joseph Goldstein

This dharma talk from March 25, 2004, was originally published on Dharma Seed.

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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. 

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“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 Goldstein

In this episode, Joseph talks about:

• Understanding the meaning of the quality of samadhi, which is also known as concentration
• How the development of samadhi is the cultivation of embodied presence
• How ethical conduct is the foundation of samadhi
• Different ways to cultivate and deepen the quality of samadhi, including through direct awareness of a single object and through an open, choiceless awareness
• The many methods he has used in his own practice to develop samadhi, including slowing down and being mindful of your body movement
• Ways we can contemplate the body both internally and externally, which can help us understand how our practice is for the benefit and welfare of all beings

This dharma talk from October 6, 2004, was originally published on Dharma Seed.

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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.

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“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 Goldstein

In this episode, Joseph talks about:

• How wisdom and compassion work together
• What compassion is and the wisdom that gives rise to it
• The four insights that can help us keep our hearts open in the midst of the great suffering in the world
• How compassion grows and deepens within us
• The different ways compassionate action manifests in the world
• The Bodhisattva Vows and the act of dedicating one’s life and practice to the benefit of all beings

This dharma talk from July 23, 2004, was originally published on Dharma Seed.

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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. 

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“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 Goldstein

In this episode, Joseph talks about:

• The path to freedom that lies in Vipassana practices and how these practices are rooted in the Buddha’s discourse, the Satipatṭhāna Sutta
• The deeper meaning of some of the Pali words used in that discourse and why the Buddha frequently repeats some phrases
• The importance of developing and sustaining the quality of ardor in our practice
• How reflecting on the preciousness of human birth and understanding impermanence can help cultivate ardor
• How Metta practice works together with Vipassana practice
• How we begin to see that practice is not just for ourselves, but for the benefit of the whole world

This dharma talk from September 27, 2004, was originally published on Dharma Seed.

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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.

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This 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 subverting the deeper understanding of what meditation really is. So it took me such a long time, but finally, after two years of struggle, something released, let go, and I just settled back and opened to whatever was presenting itself.” – Joseph Goldstein

In this conversation, Joseph shares about:

• Growing up in the Catskills and his early encounters with death and loss • Studying philosophy at Columbia University and living in New York City during his college years • Joining the Peace Corps and living in Thailand • His first encounters with Buddhist monks and the resonance of finding the spiritual path • The ups and downs of his initial years of practice and finding his teacher, Munindra • Meeting Sharon at her first retreat with S.N. Goenka • The community that emerged out of the Goenka retreats • The parallels of the evolution of his and Sharon’s path

Sharon shares about:

• The difficulty of her childhood • Her first encounter with Buddhist Philosophy in college and creating a study abroad program to take her to India • Receiving Chögyam Trungpa’s advice on where to learn meditation • Searching for meditation instruction across India as a young woman • The scene at her first retreat led S.N. Goenka • Learning how to navigate her inner life • Meeting Joseph for the first time • Her and Joseph’s different practice needs in their early years • Crafting a spiritual path before there was a model for that life in the West

This episode is part of a continuing series of interviews between Sharon Salzberg & Joseph Goldstein about their lives and contributions to Buddhism. For more like this, subscribe to Sharon's Metta Hour Podcast.

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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 Dass

In this episode:

• Joseph and Ram Dass reminisce about the early days of their friendship and how their relationship has evolved over the years
• They respond to a question about whether there’s a relationship between love and Tao, exploring the concepts of self (and no self), emptiness, and soul
• Ram Dass asks Joseph about the concept of dharma and they discuss the way of nature
• The conversation veers into karma, free will, and whether or not everything is predetermined
• They touch the mysterious forces at work in the universe and the power of imagination
• Joseph and Ram Dass respond to a question about developing compassion amidst intense polarization
• Ram Dass ends with a brief guided meditation

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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/insighthour

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

“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 Goldstein

This dharma talk from February 16, 2000, was originally published on Dharma Seed.

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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 Goldstein

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

In this episode, Joseph shares his insight on:

• The clear, unobstructed nature of the mind, and how deeply habituated patterns such as desire can obscure our natural wisdom
• The craving for sense pleasures
• Desires that manifest in our meditation practice in the forms of the expecting mind, the comparing mind, and trying to hold on to a past experience
• The desire for existence, and the craving for non-existence
• How we can better understand the powerful conditioning of desire in all of its forms and free ourselves from identification with it

This dharma talk from January 3, 2005, at the Insight Meditation Society, was originally published on DharmaSeed.

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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 Goldstein

In this episode, Joseph explores:

How the Buddha’s motivation was compassion for all beings, and how this led to him explicitly spelling out the 10 unskilled and unwholesome actions to refrain from

The four unwholesome actions of the body: killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct

The four unwholesome elements of speech: lying, harsh speech, gossiping, and frivolous and useless talking

The three unwholesome activities of the mind: covetousness, ill will, and wrong view

How the great power of awareness is the way to work with all of these actions and activities as they arise

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