Joseph Goldstein illuminates the need to fix our wise attention to the five aggregates, which serves as a path to liberation from attachment to the notion of self.
Want to start at the beginning of this series? Listen to Insight Hour Ep. 74
Right View, Wrong View
What is wise attention? Joseph starts this talk by investigating how wisdom, or right view, is ultimately about understanding Dukkha. He talks about how we cling to the five aggregates because we tend to only recognize it on a superficial level, and we are often attached to the wrong view of self.
“So we need to look, we really need to see how this wrong view of self plays out in our own lives, in the world. It is the source of a huge amount of suffering.” – Joseph Goldstein
The Five Aggregates (17:43)
How do we light the candle of wisdom that can dispel the darkness of this great illusion of self? Joseph takes us through the five aggregates and how to cut through our identification and attachment to each one.
“As long as there’s attachment to the pleasant and aversion to the unpleasant, liberation is impossible.” – The Buddha
Wise Attention (46:41)
Joseph goes over the two ways we can practice paying wise attention to our experience with the five aggregates. He ends with a reminder that none of the aggregates are yours, so don’t identify with them. Fully knowing the arising and the passing of the aggregates is a path to liberation.
“We really begin to see where it is that we cling, where it is that we identify. And if we can see it, there’s the possibility of letting go.” – Joseph Goldstein
Image via Oliver.zs