Joseph Goldstein leans on his decades of study and practice of the Dharma to answer a diverse range of spiritual and existential questions from his students and online retreat attendees.
This dharma talk from May 14, 2023, was recorded at the Insight Meditation Society and originally published on Dharma Seed.
“We think our lives are so complicated and so confused in the modern world, in the ancient world and – at any point in time, there are only these six things happening. It’s a sight, its a sound, it’s a taste, it’s a sensation, it’s something going on in our minds. So, I like to think of all life, and the unfolding of our lives, as a six piece chamber orchestra. It’s just playing the music.” – Joseph Goldstein
In this Q&A style talk, Joseph answers an assortment of questions concerning:
- The stages of enlightenment
- Being mindful of positive and wholesome mindstates
- Realizing selflessness
- Concepts, the nature of consciousness, and reality
- Practicing mindfulness in modernity
- Karma and reincarnation
About Joseph Goldstein:
Joseph Goldstein has been leading insight and loving-kindness meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. He is a co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, where he is one of the organization’s guiding teachers. In 1989, together with several other teachers and students of insight meditation, he helped establish the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies.