Joseph Goldstein explores the nature of the mind, hindrances, doubt, and aversions. He emphasizes letting go into non-clinging, noticing seductive energies, and transforming attitudes towards difficulties. The podcast delves into acceptance, wisdom, and cultivating mindfulness amidst challenges.
Recognize struggle as feedback, not a problem, indicating non-acceptance and underlying issues.
Understand doubt's allure and manifestation, ranging from wise inquiry to hindering skepticism.
Deep dives
Feedback from Struggle Indicates Non-Acceptance
Struggle serves as feedback, highlighting a lack of acceptance towards something. It signifies a sense of striving, tension, or resistance. Recognizing struggle as feedback, not a problem, reveals underlying issues in body, mind, emotions, or thoughts due to non-acceptance.
Sudden Awakening versus Gradual Cultivation
Sudden awakening refers to recognizing the mind's open, empty, aware nature, already present and not needing development. Gradual cultivation complements awakening by addressing deep-rooted habits and hindrances. Understanding the empty nature of awareness entails non-identification and non-clinging.
Dealing with the Hindrance of Doubt
Doubt can manifest as wholesome inquiry or unwholesome skepticism, hindering progress. Recognizing doubt's allure and towards self-understanding is vital. Doubt's seduction may masquerade as wisdom or stem from fear of not knowing. Addressing doubt with compassion and wisdom supports liberation from its entanglement.
Working with the Hindrance of Aversion
Aversion, manifested as anger, hatred, or fear, arises in response to unpleasant experiences. Recognizing various forms of aversion and investigating its source aids in understanding and liberation. Transforming aversion through compassion, recognizing its impermanent nature, and anchoring in awareness lead to freedom from its grip.
Explaining the ways our minds can be seduced, Joseph Goldstein teaches us how to let go into non-clinging.
This 2007 talk was originally published on Dharmaseed.
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In this episode, Joseph Goldstein teaches listeners about:
Letting go into the wisdom mind of non-clinging
Awakening to the nature of the mind
Working with the hindrances of mind
Noticing how the mind can be seduced
Skeptical doubt and being frozen in indecision
The ways that doubt can masquerade itself as wisdom
Telling ourselves that it is okay not to know
Resting in experience rather than being caught in thought loops
Investigating our aversions and their hold on the mind
Seeing everything with perfect wisdom
Transforming our attitudes about our aversions
Being inclusive to our difficult experiences
“Struggle is a great feedback because it signifies non-acceptance of something. Because if we were accepting, we wouldn’t be struggling. Whenever we’re in that sense of striving, of struggle, of tension, take that as a feedback, not as a problem. That’s telling us something. That’s saying something is going on in the body, in the mind, in the emotions, in the thoughts, in our external experience, something is going on that we’re not open to, that we’re trying to exclude, and that’s why we’re struggling.” – Joseph Goldstein