Joseph Goldstein On: How Not To Try Too Hard in Meditation, Why You Shouldn't "Waste Your Suffering," and the Value Of Seeing How Ridiculous You Are
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It's always a big deal when we get the maestro Joseph Goldstein on the show. He's one of the greatest living meditation teachers—and we cover a lot of ground in this conversation both related to meditation and to life.
This is the third installment in a series we've been running this month on the Eightfold Path. If you missed the first two episodes, don't worry. Joseph starts our conversation with a brief description and explanation of this pivotal Buddhist list. The list is basically a recipe for living a good life.
In this episode we talk about:
- How to strike a balance between trying too hard and trying too little in meditation
- How to handle your doubts about whether you're meditating correctly
- What the Buddhists really mean when they say “let it go”
- What Joseph means when he says, don't waste your suffering
- Why he uses the word ridiculous so much to describe the way our minds work
- How the eightfold path encompasses both daily life and formal meditation
- The simplest possible definition of mindfulness
- How mindfulness can prevent unwholesome or unhealthy states of mind from arising
- What to do when unwholesome states have already arisen
- Being mindful of seeing, which is an often overlooked
- A simple explanation of the tricky Buddhist concept of not self
- The Buddhist concept of wisdom
- And the importance of having a sense of humor about your own mind
A note that we initially conducted this conversation live via Zoom as part of a benefit in support of an organization called the New York Insight Meditation Center, which is an offshoot of IMS.
Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/joseph-goldstein-598