Ep. 217 – External Mindfulness and Objective Experience, Satipatthana Sutta Series Pt. 14
Oct 3, 2024
auto_awesome
In this enlightening discussion, Joseph Goldstein, an influential meditation teacher and co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society, dives deep into external mindfulness. He emphasizes the significance of bare knowing and the interplay between internal and external awareness. Listeners learn how mindfulness can enhance understanding of others' feelings and transform emotions into compassion. Goldstein shares insights on the transient nature of experience and the importance of balancing self-awareness with empathy, encouraging a more connected and insightful practice.
Mindfulness practice involves both internal awareness of one's own feelings and an external understanding of others' emotions to foster empathy.
Recognizing the impermanence of feelings and sensations allows individuals to cultivate freedom and mitigate suffering from attachments.
Deep dives
Tailgating for Game Day Success
Effective tailgating at home involves preparing snacks and drinks that appeal to everyone, ensuring a fun and enjoyable game day atmosphere. Utilizing convenient services like Instacart allows for quick delivery of popular game day items, reducing the hassle of last-minute grocery runs. This means fans can stay focused on the game and enjoy their food without the risk of missing a play. With promotions such as zero delivery fees on the first three orders, this makes it an appealing option for dedicated sports lovers.
Mindfulness of Feelings and External Awareness
Practicing mindfulness involves a two-fold approach of contemplating both internal feelings and those of others around us. Internally, one becomes aware of varied feelings such as pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral experiences as they arise. Externally, this practice allows individuals to develop a deeper understanding of others' feelings through body language and emotional expressions, fostering empathy. By being mindful of external states, individuals can avoid reactive tendencies that may lead to envy or judgment towards others.
The Process of Arising and Passing Away
Recognizing the transient nature of feelings and mind states is crucial for personal insight and awakening. This involves understanding that sensations, emotions, and thoughts arise and pass away constantly, which can help mitigate attachment or aversion to these experiences. This contemplation emphasizes the importance of direct observation rather than intellectual understanding, enhancing the depth of one's mindfulness practice. By observing the impermanence of our emotional landscape, individuals can cultivate a sense of freedom and alleviate unnecessary suffering from attachments.
The Essence of Bare Knowledge in Mindfulness
Establishing mindfulness to the degree necessary for bare knowledge means observing experiences without becoming lost in narratives or judgments. This practice is about returning to a state of natural awareness that recognizes feelings and sensations as they are, without adding layers of interpretation. By simplifying the act of being present, individuals can cultivate a more effortless mindfulness that eventually becomes automatic. Continuous practice of returning to this state fosters a panoramic awareness of change that leads to independence from clinging and a deeper connection to the flow of life.
Simplifying our daily practice into bare knowing, Joseph Goldstein instructs us on external mindfulness and noticing our reactions.
The Satipatthana Sutta is one of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. This episode is the foureenth 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!
In this episode, Joseph Goldstein mindfully explains:
The comprehensive nature of mindfulness practice
Going beyond the division of self and other
Insight from inference and inductive reasoning
Contemplating the feelings and mind-states of others
Being mindful of our reactions to other people's positive and negative feelings
Keeping our lives in balance by not being overly self-absorbed
Contemplating both internal and external mindfulness so that we can see phenomena objectively
The impermanent nature of all feelings
Thoughts as the trigger for emotions to arise
Staying free in the flow of changing experience
The storytelling the mind does versus the Buddha's instruction on bare knowledge
The mantra 'it's already here' for awareness of bare knowing
Don’t forget to grab a copy of the book Joseph references throughout this series, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, HERE
“Contemplating externally not only keeps us in balance so we don’t have this total self-absorption, but we’re paying attention in some way, we’re enlarging the context of our practice. It also helps keep us attuned to how our actions are affecting others so we aren’t just lost in what we’re doing. We’re mindful of the feelings and mind states externally so we see, we’re attuned, we’re aware, in a mindful, non-reactive, non-judgmental way of these states as they arise in other people. We’re paying attention.” – Joseph Goldstein