In this dharma talk, Joseph Goldstein describes the art of carrying our practice into the world through training in the areas of Right Effort, concentration, and wisdom.
This dharma talk from February 1994 at the Insight Meditation Society Retreat Center was originally published on Dharma Seed.
Carrying Practice Into the World
The main question on Joseph’s mind today is how we can carry our practice into the world. The Buddha laid out three areas of training on the spiritual path that help make our life our practice. Joseph covers the first area, training in Right Effort. He talks about looking at the motivation behind our actions, the Five Precepts, and freeing the mind of remorse.
“You know, the Dharma’s so beautiful because it’s like everything feeds into everything else. And we can really begin to be leading our life with this kind of integration. Dharma practice is not a hobby that we do occasionally, it’s really how we’re living our life.” – Joseph Goldstein
Jack Kornfield digs into Right Effort and loving awareness in Heart Wisdom Ep. 118
Concentration and Wisdom (20:55)
Joseph details the second area of training, the development of concentration, and offers several practical suggestions for meditation practice. He turns to the third area of training, the development of wisdom, and talks about how wisdom comes when we pay attention in our daily lives. Joseph touches on how we learn the most from difficult times and the importance of understanding impermanence.
“One of the important things to remember is don’t judge the quality of your sitting. It’s worth doing no matter what it feels like. Because you’ll sit and your mind will be all over the place. Sometimes you’ll sit and it’ll be nice and calm and clear. Just keep doing it anyway.” – Joseph Goldstein
Ram Dass talks about cultivating concentration through meditation practice in Here and Now Ep. 204
Allow the Discomfort (36:50)
Joseph takes questions from his retreat audience. He talks about the difference between emptiness and indifference, feeling tight around people who are difficult, the role of therapy on the path of mindfulness, getting creative with Metta practice, impermanence and relationships, and dealing with unintentionally hurting someone else.
“Can we take a deep breath and allow the discomfort? And as we do that, we find that it gets a lot less uncomfortable.” – Joseph Goldstein
Gil Fronsdal explores emptiness and letting go in BHNN Guest Podcast Ep. 51
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