Looking into the samadhi section of the Eight-Fold Path, Joseph Goldstein clarifies how we can free the mind with right effort, mindfulness, and concentration.
The Satipatthana Sutta is one of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. This episode is the final episode of our in-depth weekly lecture series from Joseph Goldstein that delves into every aspect of the Satipatthana Sutta. If you are just jumping into the Satipatthana Sutta series, CLICK HERE to start at the first episode.
In this episode’s exploration of the Satipatthana Sutta, Joseph Goldstein explores:
- The clearest, most practical definition of Nirvana: freedom from greed, hatred, and delusion
- Cultivating spiritual urgency as a wholesome motivator on the path to awakening
- Uprooting latent defilements that are buried in the mind
- Five methods for dispelling unwholesome thoughts and mindsets, according to the Buddha
- How restraint and delayed gratification support inner discipline and lasting success
- Right mindfulness as the key to all other factors of enlightenment
- Suspending all judgments and interpretations; simply noticing events as they occur
- Stabilizing our attention on a single object or mindfully watching as objects change
- The three characteristics of impermanence, unreliability, and selflessness
- Different concentration practices, such as reflecting on the Buddha-Dharma-Sangha or on peace
- Exploring the nature of all phenomena once we have achieved a clear mind
This episode was originally published on Dharmaseed.
Grab a copy of the book Joseph references throughout this series, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, HERE and check out the other mentioned book from this episode, Kinship with All Life
“It’s not so much a question of doing, it’s a question of undoing all the habit patterns of proliferation, judgement, evaluation, interpretation, can we undo that, and simply come back in the most simple way to be aware of whatever it is that’s arising? It’s only six things, which ever arise – sight, sound, smell, taste, sensation or an object of mind. It’s like we’re listening to a six-piece chamber orchestra.” – Joseph Goldstein
Photo via marcolamberto