In a dharma talk on working with thoughts and emotions, Joseph Goldstein explains the impersonal and empty nature of the mind.
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“One of the things that’s interesting to observe is how mind states and thoughts mutually condition each other. I’m sure you’ve had the experience many times, sitting quietly, minding your own business, and then a thought may arise in the mind of some past difficulty, some difficult interaction, and just this tiny little passing thought, as soon as it hits the awareness, it can explode into a very powerful emotion.” – Joseph Goldstein
This week on Insight Hour, Joseph Goldstein teaches us about:
- Observing how mind states and thoughts mutually condition each other
- The way that thoughts carry us away into different emotional states
- Looking at the direct nature and meaning of thought
- Noticing the difference between being lost and being awake
- Viewing our thoughts just as they arise
- Not overthinking and focusing on the simplicity of a practice
- The six things that are ever arising or passing: our senses
- Maintaining open awareness and experiencing the flow
“Well, what is a thought? It’s quite remarkable because when we look at that level, not on the level of the story or the content, but thought as a phenomenon, we see that it is barely more than nothing. It is so phenomenal. These thoughts arise, and the content can be so compelling, but as a phenomenon, as the nature of thought, it’s just this little energy blip in the mind. If we’re not getting hooked by the content, it has no power at all.” – Joseph Goldstein