Taking your path to liberation is your responsibility; even the Buddhas can't intervene.
Balancing renunciation with worldly pleasures is key; mindfulness leads to awakening and liberation.
Deep dives
The Challenge of Practicing for Liberation in a Lay Life
Practicing for liberation in a lay life poses a unique challenge as it goes against conventional understanding. While monastics renounce more, many lay people aspire for freedom, awakening, and enlightenment. Finding a middle way between renunciation and worldly pleasures is crucial. The training in mindfulness helps in relating to sense experiences in a way that leads to awakening rather than further entanglement.
Understanding the Gratification, Dangers, and Release from Sense Pleasures
The Buddha's teaching on the gratification, dangers, and release from sense pleasures delves into the transient nature of seeking happiness solely from pleasurable experiences. While these pleasures provide momentary joy, they are unreliable for lasting fulfillment. Unmindful indulgence in pleasurable experiences can strengthen desires and lead to unskillful actions, causing suffering for oneself and others.
Foundation in Ethical Behavior and Concentration
Establishing a foundation in ethical behavior (Sila) through precepts guides one's life journey and protects from unwholesome actions. Ethical conduct frees the mind from remorse and allows for deeper concentration, leading to a more wholesome and fulfilling experience. Concentration suppresses hindrances, fostering insight into impermanence and the unsatisfactory nature of phenomena, paving the way for liberation.
Experiencing Impermanence and Selflessness Through Mindfulness
By being fully aware in daily activities, one can cultivate mindfulness and experience impermanence and selflessness more profoundly. Mindfulness in activities like walking and engaging with elements such as earth and air can offer insights into the ungovernable nature of phenomena and the inevitability of unwanted experiences. Understanding selflessness enhances the comprehension of Dukkha, leading to a deeper realization of the path to liberation.
Joseph Goldstein discusses the challenges of practicing liberation, awakening, and enlightenment in the context of a lay person’s life.
“The Buddha said, ‘I have shown you the path to liberation. Now, liberation depends on you.’ This is really true. If you don’t take your life into your own hands, not even the Buddhas can make a difference. It’s up to you.” – Joseph Goldstein
In this talk, Joseph Goldstein offers insights into:
Finding a balance between monastic renunciation and worldly pleasures
Impermanence and the inherent instability of existence
The Four Noble Truths as they relate to the concept of Duḥkha
The understanding of selflessness
Taking your path into your own hands
This dharma talk from May 12, 2023, was recorded at the Insight Meditation Society and originally published on Dharma Seed.