Joseph Goldstein, co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society and a respected meditation teacher, shares his insights after a three-month silent retreat. He discusses the three proliferating tendencies—craving, conceit, and attachment—that contribute to an unhealthy sense of self. This conversation dives into the concept of non-self and how understanding it leads to liberation. Goldstein emphasizes the importance of language in shaping our experiences and introduces practical mindfulness techniques to help lighten one's ego and cultivate joy.
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insights INSIGHT
Three Proliferating Tendencies
The three proliferating tendencies (papancha) perpetuate an unhealthy sense of self.
These tendencies, explored in Pali, are craving, conceit, and wrong view.
insights INSIGHT
Buddha's Teaching to Rahula
The Buddha taught his son, Rahula, that everything should be viewed with wisdom: "This is not mine, this I am not, this is not myself."
The three proliferating tendencies are connected to the sense of "mine," "I am," and "self."
question_answer ANECDOTE
Craving in Walking Meditation
During walking meditation, even while mindful of sensations, a subtle sense of "leg" or "my leg" can arise.
This illustrates craving, where we take things to belong to us, leading to wanting and suffering when they change.
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In 'The Code Breaker,' Sally Pierson Dillon tells the story of Donnie, a young boy who, after breaking his leg, discovers intriguing secrets from his family's past through the sounds he hears in the old house. The book explores themes of family history, personal growth, and the importance of understanding one's roots.
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Every year, Joseph Goldstein does a three month silent meditation retreat by himself at his home in Massachusetts. In this conversation you're about to hear, Joseph had just emerged from one such retreat with a bunch of thoughts on what are called the three proliferating tendencies or three papañca to use the ancient Pali term.
These are three ways in which we perpetuate an unhealthy sense of self. Joseph has explained that you can think about the process of going deeper in meditation as a process of lightening up or getting less self-centered. You're about to get a masterclass in doing just that.
For the uninitiated, Joseph is one of the co-founders of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. His co-founders are two other meditation titans, Sharon Salzberg and Jack Kornfield. Joseph has been a teacher at IMS since it was founded in the seventies and he continues to be the resident guiding teacher there.
In this episode we talk about:
The framework for understanding the three proliferating tendencies; the basic building blocks of our experience in the world
Six things that make up what the Buddha called “the all”
What non-self means and why it's essential to the Buddhist teaching of liberation
The two levels of truth: conventional and ultimate
Why language is so important in conditioning how we experience things
How the three proliferating tendencies provide a very practical guide to understanding how we manufacture our own suffering
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