Insight Hour with Joseph Goldstein

Joseph Goldstein explores how we can make compassionate responsiveness our default state through the clear dichotomy of skillful and unskillful actions. 

The Satipatthana Sutta is one of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. This episode is the 43rd part of an in-depth 46-part lecture series from Joseph Goldstein that delves into every aspect of the Satipatthana Sutta. If you are just now jumping into the Satipatthana Sutta series, listen to Insight Hour Ep. 203 to follow along and get the full experience!

This 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

In this episode’s exploration of the Satipatthana Sutta, Joseph Goldstein discusses:

• The mass madness and destruction caused by cruelty—on both global and personal levels
• How subtle, unnoticed moments of cruelty can live within us without our awareness
• The spiritual and emotional challenge of keeping our hearts open in the face of immense suffering
• Transforming consciousness to make compassion and empathy our natural, default response
• The gift of mindfulness: seeing things as they truly are
• Empathy as a foundational practice and the essential first step toward compassionate action
• Releasing anger by opening ourselves to the suffering behind it
• Two paths of compassion: compassionate action and compassion as a motivation to awaken
• Planting seeds of compassion for the benefit of all beings 
• Naturally flowing compassion from a heart free of ego and self-reference

"The more we practice and grow in our wisdom, the wisdom of understanding selflessness, the more compassion manifests spontaneously—compassion is the activity of emptiness." – Joseph Goldstein

This episode was originally published on Dharmaseed

Grab a copy of the book Joseph references throughout this series, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, HERE

“Our practice is really about the transformation of consciousness in such a way that makes compassionate responsiveness the default setting of our lives. Can we really open in such a way and understand things in such a way that it simply becomes the way we are—it becomes our natural response.” – Joseph Goldstein

See 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 simplicity of lovingkindness (metta), reminding us that this innate quality within each person requires patience and steady practice to truly cultivate.

The Satipatthana Sutta is one of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. This episode is the 42nd part of an in-depth 48-part lecture series from Joseph Goldstein that delves into every aspect of the Satipatthana Sutta. If you are just now jumping into the Satipatthana Sutta series, listen to Insight Hour Ep. 203 to follow along and get the full experience!

This 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.

In this week’s exploration of the Satipatthana Sutta, Buddhist teacher Joseph Goldstein discusses:

• The cultivation of goodwill and lovingkindness as a foundation of mindfulness practice
• Beings who radiate a powerful field of love, like the Dalai Lama and Dipa Ma
• Offering unconditional love without expecting anything in return
• Metta as the gateway to an open and compassionate heart toward self and others
• Realizing that our emotional state is shaped by our own perceptions
• Understanding the confusion between genuine love and personal desire
• Pausing during practice to reconnect with the felt sense of lovingkindness
• Integrating metta into everyday life by extending kindness to strangers
• How societal conditioning influences our understanding and expression of love
• Reconnecting with our natural capacity for altruism and spontaneous kindness
• Focusing on the good in others as a powerful metta meditation
• Reflecting on whether we are still holding grudges deep in the heart
• The patience and resilience required to train the heart and mind over time

This episode was originally published on Dharmaseed

Grab a copy of the book Joseph references throughout this series, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, HERE

“I can simply start doing metta for everyone that I pass, for everybody on the street. May everyone here be happy. May everyone here be peaceful. It's amazing the change that happens in a moment. Instead of walking down the street being disconnected, all of a sudden, our hearts and our minds have expanded and become inclusive. It's like we gather everyone up in our field of goodwill.” – Joseph Goldstein

See 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 teachings on renunciation from the Satipatthāna Sutta, showing how the practice of letting go of craving, ill will, and cruelty leads to deep inner freedom, clarity, and lasting peace.

The Satipatthana Sutta is one of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. This episode is the 41st part of an in-depth 48-part weekly lecture series from Joseph Goldstein that delves into every aspect of the Satipatthana Sutta. If you are just now jumping into the Satipatthana Sutta series, listen to Insight Hour Ep. 203 to follow along and get the full experience!

This 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.

In this lecture from Buddhist teacher Joseph Goldstein:

• Consciously reflecting on if our thoughts are for harm or for good
• How desire is more difficult to uproot than ill will and aversion 
• The dangerous disguise of sense-desires as pleasurable and seductive
• How to practice the “wisdom of no” 
• Renunciation as mental freedom, not repression
• How right thought conditions right action
• The Buddha’s own practice as a model for ourselves
• Accepting that desire is addictive because it momentarily feels good
• Renunciation as freedom from addiction, not deprivation
• How the joy of letting go must be experienced, not just believed    
• The power of both small and large acts of renunciation 
• The mental habit of our addiction to wanting
• How mindfulness reveals freedom in transition moments
• The progressive act of letting go

This episode was originally published on Dharmaseed

Grab a copy of the book Joseph references throughout this series, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, HERE

Join Buddhist Teacher David Nichtern and Duncan Trussell for a conversation about finding our own voice, our own expression, and our own way of connecting with people. Learn more about this FREE online gathering - AUTHENTIC PRESENCE: FINDING YOUR OWN VOICE

“Renunciation is not about deprivation. It’s about non-addiction. It’s about freedom.” - Joseph Goldstein

See 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 importance of Right View and how it illuminates our lives through an openness to wisdom from many unexpected sources.

The Satipatthana Sutta is one of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. This episode is the 40th part of an in-depth 48-part weekly lecture series from Joseph Goldstein that delves into every aspect of the Satipatthana Sutta. If you are just now jumping into the Satipatthana Sutta series, listen to Insight Hour Ep. 203 to follow along and get the full experience!

This time on Insight Hour, Joseph discusses:

• Not being attached to blind belief or blind disbelief 
• Realizing the truth through direct experience 
• Remaining open to wisdom from unexpected sources 
• The possibility of a full awakening and we can develop our wisdom over time
• Recognizing that there truly are many awakened beings in the world
• The aspects of Right View that may not be immediately apparent
• Considering what wisdom can discover when it illuminates our experience
• Promoting the good of living beings through right view 
• How Right View is both the beginning and the ending 
• Wrong view as the most blame-worthy of all things, according to the Buddha
• How Wrong View makes us obsess over the self (gratifying it, defending it, etc.)
• The great power of delusion in our minds 
• Refining our awareness of the impermanent changing nature of the 5 aggregates (everything we experience) 

This episode was originally published on Dharmaseed

Grab a copy of the book Joseph references throughout this series, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, HERE

"We could see Right View as both the beginning and end of the path. We start with Right View—it sets the direction for us. Our practice is leading us in the right direction and then the whole path culminates in these understandings."  – Joseph Goldstein

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

Through the Buddha’s teachings, Joseph Goldstein explains how developing right view allows one to become the artist of one's own life. 

The Satipatthana Sutta is one of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. This episode is the 39th part of an in-depth 46-part weekly lecture series from Joseph Goldstein that delves into every aspect of the Satipatthana Sutta. If you are just now jumping into the Satipatthana Sutta series, listen to Insight Hour Ep. 203 to follow along and get the full experience!

In this episode, Joseph dives into:

• The way of practice that leads to the cessation of suffering 
• The elements of the eightfold path (right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration)
• How each step on the eightfold path leads to the next
• The critical importance of right view as the precursor to all other teachings
• What is given, what is offered, and what is sacrificed 
• How all of our volitional actions produce a result 
• Examining our minds and motivations 
• The practice of acting on moments of generous impulse 
• Becoming the artist and creator of our own lives 
• The ways we can be attached to both our beliefs and disbeliefs 
• Acknowledging our karmic debt for this great gift of human life  

This episode was originally published on Dharmaseed

Grab a copy of the book Joseph references throughout this series, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, HERE

“Right view is an important and essential first step on the path because it sets the direction. If we're on a journey, no matter how long or difficult the journey might be - if we're heading in the right direction and we keep on going, we will inevitably reach our destination.” – Joseph Goldstein

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

Shepherding us towards the possibility of ending the suffering of dukkha, Joseph Goldstein offers practical guidance on how to weaken the bonds of compulsive craving and attachment by understanding their root cause.

The Satipatthana Sutta is one of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. This episode is the thirty-eighth part of an in-depth 46-part weekly lecture series from Joseph Goldstein that delves into every aspect of the Satipatthana Sutta. If you are just now jumping into the Satipatthana Sutta series, listen to Insight Hour Ep. 203 to follow along and get the full experience!

This 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 week on Insight Hour, Joseph explores:

• The noble truth of the cessation of dukkha
• Letting go of everything despite our conditioned habits to cling
• Growing and refining our understanding of the three characteristics 
• Taking in the impermanence of all things beyond the conceptual level
• Weakening the force of compulsive craving and desire 
• Reaching a place of equanimity through mindfulness of the rapidity of change
• Finding satisfaction in neutrality versus pleasant feelings 
• The destruction of lust, hatred, and delusion
• Nirvana as an unconditioned awareness 
• Having a consciousness which is unsupported, unconstructed, not manifest
• The Buddha’s own description of his process of awakening 
• The arising force of latent defilements throughout the day 
• Deconstructing the sense of self until we reach a pure mind 
• The practice of looking for the mind and finding that there is nothing to find

This episode was originally published on Dharmaseed

Grab a copy of the book Joseph references throughout this series, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, HERE

“In the strengthening of mindfulness and concentration, we do come to experience the flow of change very, very rapidly. This is one of the meditative insights that opens to us. When we first begin to experience the rapid changing of everything that’s arising, it’s exhilarating…but as we continue to watch the rapidity of change, we then go through phases of fear and despair because we’re seeing the constant disillusion of things.” – Joseph Goldstein

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

Exploring the origin of dukkha, Joseph delves into how craving can shape our lives, fuel unwholesome karma, and keep us trapped in expectation.

The Satipatthana Sutta is one of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. This episode is the thirty-seventh part of an in-depth 46-part weekly lecture series from Joseph Goldstein that delves into every aspect of the Satipatthana Sutta. If you are just now jumping into the Satipatthana Sutta series, listen to Insight Hour Ep. 203 to follow along and get the full experience!

This 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 mindfully explains:

• Craving and how we experience it in our lives and practice
• The compelling power of craving as the opposite of peace
• How our culture fosters and values desire/craving 
• Obsessive desires and considering what pleasures drive our choices in life
• The danger of craving and having an unquenchable thirst 
• How unwholesome karma can be the result of desire
• 9 Things rooted in craving according to the Buddha
• The expectation of pleasant experiences to remain 
• Aspirations versus expectations (inspiration vs. the endless cycle of hope and fear)
• The basic urge to exist continuously 
• Getting trapped by the ‘in order to’ mind
• The magic show of consciousness

This episode was originally published on Dharmaseed

Grab a copy of the book Joseph references throughout this series, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, HERE

“What is the gratification that we find in our lives? What sense experiences are we enamored by? We should look carefully at this. This is a question that led to the Buddha’s awakening, and maybe, would lead to our own.” – Joseph Goldstein

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

In this exploration of dukkha, Joseph Goldstein describes the noble truth of suffering and how we can heal our relationship to all phenomena.

The Satipatthana Sutta is one of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. This episode is the thirty-sixth part of an in-depth 48-part weekly lecture series from Joseph Goldstein that delves into every aspect of the Satipatthana Sutta. If you are just now jumping into the Satipatthana Sutta series, listen to Insight Hour Ep. 203 to follow along and get the full experience!

Continuing his look at the Satipatthana Sutta, Joseph describes:

• Contemplating the dhammas in terms of the Four Noble Truths 
• The way of the cessation of dukkha (suffering)
• All conditioned phenomena as dukkha
• The meaning of the word dukkha and its etymology
• The unsatisfactory and unreliable nature of all things
• Setting the wheel of the dharma in motion
• Stepping back and reflecting on the nature of our minds
• Naturally painful/unavoidable experiences versus optional mental suffering
• The suffering that comes from living in anticipation of what comes next
• Suffering from daily tasks we do for survival and personal upkeep (aka the dukkha of life as work)
• Not regarding form as self and finding relief in the truth of dukkha

Grab a copy of the book Joseph references throughout this series, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, HERE

This episode was originally published on Dharmaseed

“Surprisingly, reflecting in this way on the truth of dukkha, simply seeing how things are, free of hope and free of fear, brings a great lightness of heart. When we reflect in this way, it’s a great relief to be out of the grip of diluted enchantment.” – Joseph Goldstein

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

Offering deeper insight into equanimity, Joseph Goldstein explains the benefit of maintaining mental equilibrium at all times.

The Satipatthana Sutta is one of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. This episode is the thirty-fifth part of an in-depth 48-part weekly lecture series from Joseph Goldstein that delves into every aspect of the Satipatthana Sutta. If you are just now jumping into the Satipatthana Sutta series, listen to Insight Hour Ep. 203 to follow along and get the full experience!

This 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.

In this episode, Joseph elucidates:

• The universal beautiful factors of mind
• Equanimity as total neutrality of mind
• Maintaining equilibrium and being unaffected by events and emotions
• How equanimity is born out of concentration and secluding the mind from hindrances
• The ups and downs of life that we all face
• Treating others with impartiality whether they praise us or blame us
• Abiding compassionately for the welfare of all people
• Recognizing the dissolution of all things in reality
• Relating to all things as if they have already changed
• Developing equanimity through inclining our mind towards neutrality

Grab a copy of the book Joseph references throughout this series, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, HERE

This talk was originally published on Dharmaseed

“The characteristic of equanimity is evenness of mind. When it is highly developed, it manifests as an unshakable balance. It is a mind that’s not moved. It serves to prevent either excess or deficiency of the other factors of awakening.” – Joseph Goldstein

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

Focusing on awareness of the breath, Joseph Goldstein explores what the Buddha said about continuous attention.

The Satipatthana Sutta is one of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. This episode is the thirty-fourth part of an in-depth 48-part weekly lecture series from Joseph Goldstein that delves into every aspect of the Satipatthana Sutta. If you are just now jumping into the Satipatthana Sutta series, listen to Insight Hour Ep. 203 to follow along and get the full experience!

This week on Insight Hour, Joseph elucidates:

• The Buddha’s instructions for concentration
• Not judging ourselves or our practice
• Why morality is the basis of concentration
• Good and bad memories that arise during practice
• Simple awareness of our inward and outward breath
• Learning the patterns and tendencies of the mind
• The natural arising of concentration out of tranquility of mind
• Lessons from Upasika Kee Nanayon, a renowned Thai Buddhist teacher and laywoman
• How the knowing of the breath can open us up to the whole range of changing experiences
• Thought as a vehicle for deepening our wisdom

Grab a copy of the book Joseph references throughout this series, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, HERE

“It’s mindfulness which actually notices that a thought is present. Without mindfulness, we don’t know. It’s continuity of mindfulness, many moments of mindfulness in a row, that strengthens the steadiness of mind and the factor of concentration. Concentration arises from continuity of mindfulness.” – Joseph Goldstein

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