Showing posts with label Joseph Goldstein. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joseph Goldstein. Show all posts

Thursday, February 22, 2024

seeing through the "I" concept

 






After a summer storm, the sunlight comes out and we see a rainbow in the sky.
And generally, we feel happy at seeing a rainbow. It's a beautiful object of sight.
But the question is, is there a thing in itself which is the rainbow?
When we look more carefully, we see that what we're calling a rainbow
is the coming together of certain conditions of light and moisture and air.
And when these conditions come together in a certain way,
there's an appearance of a rainbow, but there's no thing in itself
which is the rainbow other than the appearance
arising out of these conditions.

Self is like a rainbow. There is an appearance of Bob, of Joseph,
of each one of us. There's an appearance which comes together,
which appears because of the conditions of all our mental, physical phenomena
coming together in a certain pattern. And we recognize the pattern.
We call it Bob, Joseph, rainbow. And on a relative level, we are experiencing it.
When we see a rainbow, we are responding to something.
On a relative level, we can say rainbow exists, but on a more ultimate level,
we see that there's no essential substratum which is rainbow.

There's no essence.

One Vipassana teacher really expressed this beautifully. Somebody asked him,
"Is the self real?" And he said, "Yes, the self is real. But not really real."
That captures these two levels. It is real on the relative level,
and we interact on this level, it's the level of our conventional reality.
We're not dismissing that. But we just see that on a deeper level,
there's another whole way of perceiving things.

Let me give you one more example.




You go out at night and, if it's a clear night and the stars are out,
most people can recognize the constellation of the Big Dipper.
The question then is, is there really a Big Dipper up there? …


Big Dipper is a concept which we're overlaying on a certain pattern of stars,
but there's no Big Dipper.

So, self is like Big Dipper. The notion of self is a concept,
just like Big Dipper is a concept, and we're overlaying that concept of self
onto this pattern of mental, physical, emotional content.
We're putting a name, we're giving a designation
of Joseph, Bob, Big Dipper.

But what's interesting is that, even though we know Big Dipper is a concept
and there's no Big Dipper in the sky, to go out at night, look up at the sky
and see if it's possible not to see the Big Dipper—
it’s very difficult, because we've been so conditioned to see
in a certain way.

It's helpful to realize that the concept of Big Dipper can be useful,
just like the concept of self can be useful. One of the stars of Big Dipper
actually points to the North star. If you're out in the middle of the ocean
and you want to navigate, you need to find the north,
the concept can be helpful.

We're not suggesting—either with Big Dipper or self—to get rid of the concept,
but to understand that that's what it is. ...

When we see that Big Dipper is a concept, even though we use it,
what happens is when we look up at the sky, we see the sky undivided.
It's possible to see all the stars as part of a unity.
Imagine what it would be like if we could experience the whole world
not bound or limited by the concept of the self.
We need to use it to operate on the relative level,
but if we have a deeper wisdom that it is just a concept,
then so many aspects of our separateness falls away.



~ Joseph Goldstein
from Mindfulness Interviews
by Robert Wright



Sunday, July 16, 2023

pain - healing - integration

 
 
 
 

 ~ Joseph Goldstein



Friday, June 30, 2023

the power of speech

 
 
 

 
 
Speech is such a powerful influence in our lives because we speak a lot.
Speech conditions our relationships, conditions our minds and hearts, and
to a great degree conditions consequences in the future.  
 
 The Buddha outlined a practice for staying mindful
 of how another person is addressing us, without getting caught up in our own reactivity, 
remaining compassionate for their welfare, with a mind of lovingkindness.

... there are five courses of speech that others may
use when they address you: their speech may be timely or
untimely, true or untrue, gentle or harsh, connected with
good or with harm, spoken with a mind of lovingkindness
or with inner hate....
 
you should train yourselves thus:
Our minds will remain unaffected, and we shall utter no
evil words; we shall abide compassionate for their welfare,
with a mind of lovingkindness...
 
One speaks at the right time, in accordance with facts,
speaks what is useful,,,
 
 
 
 
 
 ~ Buddha
 from Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening
by Joseph Goldstein



Saturday, January 28, 2023

nature of mind

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
~ Joseph Goldstein
 
 
 

Sunday, December 4, 2022

speech from the heart - mindful listening

 
 



 

If one is to do good,
it must be done in the minute particulars.
General good is the plea of the hypocrite,
the scoundrel and the flatterer.
 
~ William Blake


Pay attention when you speak the rest of the time, the best you're able, 
and listen to your heart. See if you can begin practicing 
letting your words come from your heart.
 
 A good clue for this is if you're in a conversation that lasts more than five minutes, 
so you've been talking for awhile, pause, or wake up for a second
 in the middle of it, and ask inside, "Now, what does my heart really want to say?" 
You're having this conversation. "What's in there that really wants to be said?
 Maybe I won't see this person ever again. What do I really want to say?" 
That can begin to empower your speech, to transform it 
from automatic pilot to the place where you start to wake up.
 It's fantastic. It's really wonderful to work with.


Most of us value integrity. It really lights up the heart
 to think about living in a way that comes from inside, 
where our actions, our words, and our inner being are connected. 
It's very precious. In the Buddhist tradition they're given as training precepts,
 training precepts which we practice. It's not some God -- given law that we must follow,
 but precepts which we begin to practice -- 
to begin to learn to live our life from our hearts, 
to live our life, as I said, with an uprightness of heart.

 


Only when the inner dialogue stops
 can the hidden parts of ourselves be seen and revealed.

~ Carlos Castenada 
as Don Juan
 
 

What we call the beginning is often the end,
and to make an end is a beginning,
To make a beginning.
the end is where we start from
and every phrase and sentence that is right,
where every word is at home,
taking its place to support the others,
the word neither dissident nor ostentatious.
An easy commerce of the old and the new,
the common word exact with vulgarity,
the formal word precise but not pedantic,
the complete consort dancing together.

When every phrase and every sentence
is an end and a beginning,
every poem an epitaph,
and any action is a step to the block,
to the fire, down the sea's throat,
or to an illegible stone,
that's where we start.
We die with the dying.
See them depart and we go with them,
and we are born with the dead.
See, they're returned and bring us with them.


~ T.S. Eliot
from Four Quartets
 
 

The Buddha outlined a practice for staying mindful
 of how another person is addressing us, without getting caught up in our own reactivity, 
remaining compassionate for their welfare, with a mind of lovingkindness.

... there are five courses of speech that others may
use when they address you: their speech may be timely or
untimely, true or untrue, gentle or harsh, connected with
good or with harm, spoken with a mind of lovingkindness
or with inner hate....
 
you should train yourselves thus:
Our minds will remain unaffected, and we shall utter no
evil words; we shall abide compassionate for their welfare,
with a mind of lovingkindness...
 
 ~ Buddha


~ Joseph Goldstein
excerpts taken from various talks



 

Sunday, May 1, 2022

love and kindness

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Friday, August 13, 2021

painting tigers

 
 
 
 



Wednesday, July 14, 2021

abandoning the self-center

 
 
 
 

 ~ Joseph Goldstein
 
 

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

behind recognizable patterns

 
 


The Buddha described what we call “self” as a collection of aggregates -
 elements of mind and body - that function interdependently, 
creating the appearance of a woman or a man. 
 
We then identify with that image or appearance, taking it to be “I” or “mine,”
 imagining it to have some inherent self-existence.
 
 For example we get up in the morning, look in the mirror,
 recognize the reflection, and think, “Yes, that’s me again.” 
We then add all kinds of concepts to this sense of self:
 I’m a woman or a man, I’m a certain age,
 I’m a happy or unhappy person –
the list goes on and on.

When we examine our experience, though,
 we see that there is not some core being to whom experience refers;
 rather it is simply “empty phenomena rolling on.”
 It is “empty” in the sense that there is no one behind 
the arising and changing phenomena to whom they happen. 
 
A rainbow is a good example of this. 
We go out after a rainstorm and feel that moment of delight 
if a rainbow appears in the sky. Mostly, we simply enjoy the sight
 without investigating the real nature of what is happening.
 But when we look more deeply, it becomes clear that there is no “thing” 
called “rainbow” apart from the particular conditions of air and moisture and light. 
 
Our sense of self is like that rainbow - 
an appearance, arising from causes and conditions, 
that we cling to as ourselves, "my identity."
 
 
 
 
 
.- Joseph Goldstein
from  Tricycle
 
 
 
 

Saturday, October 31, 2020

metta

 
 
 
 


 
 Joseph Goldstein



 
 
 
 

Friday, October 9, 2020

coping with challenging times

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
~  Joseph Goldstein
 
 
 

Sunday, August 16, 2020

karma and reinforcing mental pathways















understanding karma has to do with the quality of mind in the very moment of action. 
When we experience a mind state of love, there comes naturally, along with it,
 a feeling of openness and love that is its immediate fruit; similarly, 
when there are moments of greed or hatred, in addition to whatever future results 
will come, we also experience the painful energies that arise with those states.
 Our direct awareness of how the karmic law is working in each moment 
can be a strong motivation to develop skillful states of mind that create happiness
 for us in the moment, as well as produce the fruit of well-being in the future.


Another dimension of the law of karma helps in understanding 
how individual personalities develop. While it is true that there is no enduring entity, 
no unchanging self that can be called “I,” it is also quite obvious that each of us
 is a uniquely changing and recognizable pattern of elements. This comes about
 because each of us has in our own way, both consciously and unconsciously,
 cultivated different mind states. If we cultivate lovingkindness, we experience 
its taste in the moment and at the same time are strengthening it as a force
 in the mind, making it easier for it to arise again. When we are angry, 
we experience the suffering of that anger as present karma and are also strengthening 
that particular pattern of mind. Just as we condition our bodies in different ways 
through exercise or lack of it, so we also condition our minds. Every mind state, 
thought, or emotion that we experience repeatedly becomes stronger 
and more habituated. Who we are as personalities is a collection of all
 the tendencies of mind that have been developed, the particular energy
 configurations we have cultivated


We tend not to pay attention to this conditioning factor of our experience, 
thinking instead that once an experience has passed it is gone without residue or result. 
That would be like dropping a stone in water without creating any ripples. 
Each mind state that we experience further conditions and strengthens it.



People sometimes wonder whether reflecting upon the law of karma 
will lead to feelings of guilt for past unwholesome actions. Guilt is a
 manifestation of condemnation or aversion toward oneself, which does not
 understand the changing transformative quality of mind. It solidifies a sense
 of self by being nonforgiving. Understanding the law of karma leads us
 to reflect wisely on the skillfulness or unskillfulness of our actions.
 In the infinite time of our births, through all the realms of existence, 
we have done so many different kinds of actions, wholesome and unwholesome.
 In view of karmic law, guilt is an inappropriate feeling, and a rather useless burden. 
It simply creates more unwholesome results. Coming to an understanding
 of karma is the basis for a very straightforward development of the wisdom
 to know whether our actions will lead to happiness and freedom,
 or to further suffering. When we understand this, it allows us to take responsibility
 for past actions with an attitude of compassion, appreciating that a particular act
 may have been unwholesome or harmful, and strongly determining
 not to repeat it. Guilt is a manifestation of condemnation, wisdom an expression
 of sensitivity and forgiveness. . 



.
~ Joseph Goldstein
from Cause and Effect - Reflecting on the law of karma 
printed in Tricycle
 .

Friday, August 14, 2020

essential points









~ Joseph Goldstein


 

Saturday, August 1, 2020

interview - simple but not easy









~ Robert Wright, Joseph Goldstein



Wednesday, July 22, 2020

compassion









~ Joseph Goldstein



Tuesday, July 7, 2020

without identity









~ Joseph Goldstein



 

Sunday, June 28, 2020

water and ice










~ Joseph Goldstein



 

Thursday, June 25, 2020

mindfulness










~ Joseph Goldstein