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No Foothold

Joseph Goldstein · Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge · April 2017 at IMS - Forest Refuge · 17 April 2017 · 57 min

0:02 Tonight I'd like to speak about some of the things that were of interest to me on my own recent retreat. And maybe they'll be of interest to you. We'll see. Suggest a fix

0:24 I just always find, you know, after all these years of doing retreats, it's just such an endlessly interesting journey. You know, when we take the time to look into our own minds, And bodies and see what's going on. And very often when I come out of retreat, people will ask me, well, how was it? And every year it's the same. It's everything. It's just everything. We see it all. So one of the biggest challenges for dharma practitioners is the integration in our lives of the levels of relative and more ultimate truth. You know, because a lot of the teachings are expressed in very conventional language and we live our lives very much on the level of relative conventional reality. Suggest a fix

1:26 And yet in our dharma practice we're also exploring what could be called the more ultimate level of truth or reality. And the Buddha described this more ultimate level in several... In different ways, which you're very familiar with. You know, he talked about understanding reality in terms of the five aggregates. You know, of the body, form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, consciousness. So that's one template for understanding the more ultimate level. Another template is these six sense spheres. You know, the eye and ear, no smell. Nose, tongue, body, mind. Is that six? And their respective sense objects. Suggest a fix

2:25 So the Buddha described in one very succinct sutta, which is really quite remarkable, he described all of our experience and he called the sutta the all. It's quite remarkable that he described every aspect of our experience in six phrases. He said, the eye in visible objects, the ear in sound, the nose in smell, the tongue in taste, the body in sensations, the mind in mind objects. And he challenged anybody to say, is there anything other than that in our experience? So it's quite remarkable. You know, we live in these very complicated stories of ourselves and of the world. And yet it's always only these six things that are ever happening. Suggest a fix

3:29 So being here on retreat, you know, in this very protected and peaceful environment, it's really a chance to explore this more ultimate level of reality, to drop out of the more usual relative or conventional level, even though, you know, as we live in the world, We do need to engage in a very conventional way. We need to relate to people as people, not as a conglomeration of aggregates or sense fears. That would be rather odd. Suggest a fix

4:16 So our challenge is to integrate the two levels so that even when we're involved in the world, as we all are in one way or another, We don't Lose sight of completely the underlying, empty, insubstantial, selfless nature of it all. So it might be something like a lucid dream. In lucid dreaming, which some people experience, there's dreaming, but we know that we're dreaming, even in the midst of the dream. We know that it's a dream. So can we live our lives like that? You know, to know that on one level it's a dream, and yet at the same time we're in it and we're acting and we're relating. So this gives us a chance to experience life in a much freer way. Suggest a fix

5:20 The more we understand these two levels, relative and ultimate or more ultimate, and how they work together, you know, with the integration of them, we begin to experience compassion. In two different ways. And the compassion starts to come not particularly as a practice or as a stance, but really as the natural response to the suffering. So Suggest a fix

6:01 we can experience compassion for the suffering, both mental and physical, that we and everyone else goes through. In this dream -like existence. You know, there is a lot of suffering in the world and there's a lot of suffering in our own lives. And so as we are more open and less self -centered, Suggest a fix

6:31 this response of compassion comes more and more effortlessly. And then when we awaken even a little bit to the fact that it really is all a dream, it's all empty and insubstantial, We can have compassion for ourselves and others who are still lost in the dream. And so then we begin to see that the real freedom is not in changing the dream, but in waking up. And so that's really what our practice here is about. Suggest a fix

7:16 One of the great misconceptions that we have throughout our lives as we're in the dream Suggest a fix

7:32 Is that the ordinary perception we have of ourselves and others is somehow accurate and true. And that our perceptions reflect some true, stable, ultimate reality. As if the world is solid and fixed and we know what's what. So this misconception that the world is as we perceive it. Leads to tremendous suffering, both globally and individually. There's a Buddhist scholar named Rune Johansson, and he just expressed this very clearly. He said, things are seen through the lenses of our desires, prejudices, and resentments, and are transformed accordingly. So we're seeing the world, we're perceiving the world through the lenses. Suggest a fix

8:41 Of our desires and our resentments. And then we're taking that to be the reality. So just one somewhat humorous example. Years ago I was on a retreat in Australia practicing with Saira Upandita. And I was doing walking meditation in the parking lot where all the cars were parked. I was doing walking meditation and then I saw this bird right at the back of a car. And it saw its reflection in the chrome bumper. And every time it saw its reflection, it flew into it and hit the bumper and then fell back. And then it saw its reflection again in the bumper, thinking it's another bird. Flew into it, attacked it, fell back. Suggest a fix

9:38 Now, I do not want to slight birds. But this particular one had a bird brain. Because it kept on doing this. I mean, you would think it would learn. But how often are we doing the same thing? You know, we're just flying into the world as we perceive it and getting involved in all kinds of suffering, not seeing that much of what we see is seen through the filter of our wants and likes and dislikes. Just think about A very common situation. Of all the assumptions we have about other people, I'm sure each one of you has plenty of ideas about everyone else in this room. And you're not even speaking to them. But all kinds of, you know, good or bad or like or dislike. Suggest a fix

10:55 And it's all just assumptions. We're making it up. But then here there's not much. But out in the world, we're often relating to people based on these assumptions. Suggest a fix

11:11 And my experience is that they're very often inaccurate. When we get to know somebody, we begin to understand them in a completely different way. Suggest a fix

11:25 So we can also understand how one very common perception or misperception informs and influences both our meditation practice, And this one is so deeply rooted. I think probably everyone here shares in this misperception. And that is the deeply conditioned view that pleasant is good and unpleasant is bad. Suggest a fix

12:08 Almost all of us, probably all of us, have this preference for what is pleasant. and avoidance of what is unpleasant. Suggest a fix

12:23 Yet, as the Buddha said very directly in the teachings, and this particular statement always kind of makes me sit up straight. He said, as long as there's attachment to the pleasant and aversion to the unpleasant, liberation is impossible. Suggest a fix

12:49 That's a very strong statement that runs counter to this deeply held perception that we have. Suggest a fix

13:02 It's so counter to our experience. So then how to work with this? Because the Buddha was so clear in what he's saying. Suggest a fix

13:19 For myself, I found that rather than simply holding this as some far -off goal, Well, maybe someday, in 500 lifetimes, I'll be in the place where there's no preference, where pleasant and unpleasant, fine. But instead of thinking of it as some ultimate goal, I began to see that we can actually practice that for short moments. We can all taste the truth of that and the peace of that. Even if it's for short moments at a time. Suggest a fix

14:08 And as we do that, we become a little more familiar with the possibility of it. Oh, this is the mind that is non -reactive to pleasant or unpleasant. So a few reflections that just over the years have helped me explore this possibility. Because if we are really interested in liberation, not simply in making the dream better, But if we're really interested in freeing the mind, this is something we have to address, we have to look at in ourselves. So how can we begin just to play, to explore what this possibility is? So there's one teaching in the suttas. It's a phrase that comes up a lot when the Buddha is visiting someone who is very sick or dying. Suggest a fix

15:09 And, you know, the dialogue will often go, you know, how are you feeling? Are your pains diminishing? And the person will often say, no, Bhante, they're not diminishing, they're getting stronger. And then these descriptions of how, you know, their heads feel like they're going to explode and the pain is getting so intense. And so very, very strong descriptions, you know, of the body. In difficult circumstances, in painful circumstances. And the Buddha's comment, which is very simple but profound, where he'll say, though your body is afflicted, may your mind be unafflicted. So even to think of that as a possibility. You know, we think that for us to be at peace somehow, The body has to be unafflicted. But it's not like that because that's not the nature of the body. It will be afflicted at different times as we grow older or ill or dying. Suggest a fix

16:23 So can the mind remain unafflicted even as the body is afflicted? So we can take this as a point of investigation. So what would this mean? Can we look inside at the nature of the mind? That might remain unafflicted. I had quite an interesting experience of this. This happened a number of years ago. It was in January and I had gone with some friends for a week vacation in the Caribbean. Pleasant. Every scent store pleasant. Pleasant sight, pleasant sound, pleasant everything. It was just pleasant. And then I come back to Barry in January. And that particular January, it was freezing cold. I mean, it can get sometimes really, really cold here. You know, maybe it was 20 below zero and biting icy wind. Suggest a fix

17:34 You know, so exceedingly unpleasant. So as I was walking, you know, in this really unpleasant, I just began to contrast two experiences. And what I saw was, and this was really interesting, that the nature of the knowing mind was the same. The nature of the mind to know, simply to know what's happening, Suggest a fix

18:10 it was knowing pleasant, it was knowing unpleasant, but the quality of the knowing was the same. The quality of knowing was not affected or afflicted. It simply knew. Suggest a fix

18:26 So it's turning the attention to the very nature of knowing, the very nature of awareness. So even as unpleasant things are arising, if we can say abide in or understand the Suggest a fix

18:48 mind that knows what's happening, it gives us a taste. It gives us the glimpse of a possibility, oh, this is how my mind can be unafflicted. Even as the body is afflicted. Suggest a fix

19:07 Another way of just turning the mind to this possibility is, and I found this practice very helpful over the years at different times, when the body is suffering in some way, there's some pain, there's some distress, and I can see the mind tightening or contracting or having aversion to that experience, which is... A common response. So then I start reflecting, can I be with this experience of pain or discomfort as if these are my dying moments? So it's like practice for dying. It's very likely, or it's not unlikely, that when we are dying, it may not be comfortable. It most likely won't be. So can we practice for that? Suggest a fix

20:10 And what's so interesting, as soon as I reframed it from the more conventional perception, oh, my body's killing me, I don't like this, you know, my back hurts or my knees hurt or whatever, to, okay, these are the dying moments, how do I want to be with it? Just that reframe settled the awareness, it settled the mind back, oh, okay, I can be with this. In a more equanimous way. So it's a very good practice. And the Buddha talked about this. The reflection on dying, not an intellectual reflection, but actually relating to experience in the moment as if this is our dying moment. And how do we want to be with it? And I think you may be surprised at how much clarity How much stability comes from that reframing. Suggest a fix

21:25 We carry this same preference for pleasant and avoidance of unpleasant into our meditation practice too. It's not just, you know, in our life experiences. Suggest a fix

21:43 There's a commonly held view and I'm sure at least at times all of you have had this perception. Suggest a fix

21:55 That a pleasant sitting is good and a painful sitting is bad. You know, maybe it's not in retreat, but maybe, you know, you're out at home and practicing. You get up from a sitting and somebody asks you, oh, well, how was your sitting? If it was pleasant, oh, yeah, it was a good sitting. And if there was a lot of, oh, this is really a bad sitting. Because we're laying on this misperception that pleasant is good. And unpleasant is bad right onto our meditation. Suggest a fix

22:34 So even though we know intellectually that this is not so, and we've all heard it so many times, you know, the quality of the sitting has to do with how mindful we are, not how pleasant or unpleasant it is. But still this misperception keeps coming because it's rooted In the latent tendencies of desire and aversion. We want what's pleasant and we don't want what's unpleasant. So we interpret it as good and bad. Suggest a fix

23:17 Of course, a very obvious question arises. Why not crave what is pleasant? Doesn't that seem like a normal and natural thing to do? That we want what's pleasant and we don't want what's unpleasant. So obvious that that's a reasonable way to live. But what the Buddha pointed out over and over again is that even pleasant experiences are not ultimately satisfying precisely because they change. They're impermanent. They're not lasting. And so then we're left craving for another pleasant experience, which doesn't last. Crave another one and another one. And so this is the endless cycle of saṃsāra. This is what keeps us on the wheel. Because we think the goal is to have as many pleasant experiences as possible. Suggest a fix

24:30 And they don't last. So we want another. It doesn't last. It's like, you know, one of these animals on the revolving wheel. And we miss the opportunity to experience The peace and the freedom of not wanting. As long as we're living with the misconception, pleasant is good, I should have as much pleasant as possible, so we keep wanting it, keeps disappearing, we want more. As long as we're on that cycle, or in that way of understanding things, we're missing the chance to experience the peace of not wanting. So a very interesting experiment for you to make. The next time a desire should happen to arise in your mind. Suggest a fix

25:33 You know, maybe it'll be in a few days. Suggest a fix

25:39 Whenever the next desire arises, and if you can be mindful, even if it's not right at the beginning, even if somewhere in the middle you become aware, mindful, pay particular attention To how that wanting mind, to how the desiring mind feels. Without a preconception. Just explore it for yourself. Don't believe anything. Really see, how does this feel to be wanting, to be desiring? And then, at a certain point, that desire is going to go away. It's going to change. Then, in the moment of it changing, the moment of it disappearing, Notice how it feels when the mind doesn't want and just compare the two. Very interesting. Suggest a fix

26:39 You know, because we're living in the illusion that the desire or the wanting itself is pleasant. You know, our whole society is basically feed your desires and, you know, as if desire itself is a good thing to have because we're not paying attention to actually how it feels. Especially in contrast to how it feels when it's not there. I've just found it very remarkable. When I can remember to do this, it always feels like we're being let out of the grip of something. You know, the desire is gripping us. So we begin to see and feel for ourselves, not as an intellectual concept. We're actually experiencing the peace that the Buddha is talking about. And again, short moments many times. Suggest a fix

27:45 We don't have to frame it in terms of, oh, I have to be free of all desire for all time. Suggest a fix

27:54 I hope it happens soon. But most likely it won't. But we can experience each one of us for ourselves in these short moments. And that reinforces the understanding. Suggest a fix

28:14 What makes the Buddhist teaching so powerful is his recognition and pointing out that because our perceptions are conditioned by our mental habits, we can also train our habits and train our perceptions in a way that leads to greater freedom, that leads to greater peace. We can actually train our minds. Very few people in the world know this. Even though, hopefully, it's obvious to all of you, most people are living their lives as if, well, this is just how my mind is. You know, and it's probably some mixture of skillful and unskillful. It's only when we really start paying attention inwardly, as you are all doing, that we see, yeah, the mind can be trained. Suggest a fix

29:13 We can let go of those patterns, those ways of perceiving, like pleasant is good and unpleasant is bad. Let go of those ways of perceiving that simply cause suffering to ourselves and others. So this itself is a great insight, you know, and it really fuels all of our practice. Suggest a fix

29:48 So that's one way we can taste the peace of not wanting, you know, of non -reactivity, freeing ourselves from going after pleasant and pushing away the unpleasant. Also, in our meditation practice, as it develops, you know, in a classical way, there is a stage of practice, a stage of insight, which is called equanimity about formations. And so this is when the mindfulness and concentration and the other factors of enlightenment are all quite well developed. And the mind can abide in a flow of equanimity for long periods of time. People can spend hours in this place where there is just no reactivity in the mind. So Ajahn Jamnian, who's Thai meditation master, he described this state. Suggest a fix

30:50 He said, at some point the mind becomes so clear and balanced that whatever arises is seen and left untouched with no interference. That's just a great little reminder. Can we just let everything arise and be there without interfering, without trying to do anything about it? Seen and left untouched with no interference, one ceases to focus on any particular content and all is seen as simply mind and matter, an empty process arising and passing away of its own, a perfect balance of mind with no reactions. There is no longer any doing. Suggest a fix

31:42 So this is possible. This is not some super state of awakening or Buddhahood. This is just the natural development of our meditation practice. We can develop the mind to this extent. Suggest a fix

32:07 But there's another way to Suggest a fix

32:14 really experience non -reactivity. Even before the development of this stage of insight. And this particular way I've mentioned earlier, last week sometime, is very powerful because this particular way of paying attention really undercuts in quite a profound way the very creation of the notion of self. Suggest a fix

32:53 So if you remember, I think I spoke briefly about Having the intention in the sitting, but even more so perhaps in walking or as you're moving about, to really pay attention to the quickly passing thoughts. You know, these thoughts, so many thoughts are arising. Many of them are very light. They're not heavy thoughts. They're not particularly disturbing. They come and they go and they pass through. And because they're so light and no big drama, Mostly we're not paying attention to them, and we hardly even know they're there. Suggest a fix

33:44 But each of these thoughts, even though it's just maybe for a few seconds at a time, each one of them, when they're unnoticed, is reconditioning our minds in a particular way. It's the creation of the ongoing inner environment in which we live. Suggest a fix

34:13 You know, by themselves, the thoughts, they're little more than nothing. They're just little passing blips of energy. And that's why it's hard to notice them. We have to have a very specific intention. Let me keep an eye out for these. Otherwise, they will pass unnoticed. So as I was paying attention in this way to these, I noticed that light as they were and Not that disturbing. The content of most of them was self -referential in one way or another. Suggest a fix

35:00 And so because or when we're not noticing them, we are continually through the day reinforcing or recreating this sense of self. Suggest a fix

35:16 So I can see it particularly, this just ongoing incessant flow. flow of mind worlds, is very much fueled Suggest a fix

35:32 by the concepts, the deeply held concepts we have of past and future. If Suggest a fix

35:44 you kept track of the content of your thoughts, my guess is, and I know this from watching my thoughts, I don't know, I'm making this number up, but maybe 90 % are either thoughts of the past or thoughts of the future. And who's the star of this past and the future? Moi. Suggest a fix

36:14 But what is, you know, it's so interesting and it can be tremendously liberating if we really look and invest, well, what is it that we call past? You know, we think the past has this big reality. But what is it? We have certain thoughts in the moment of memories, remembrances. We put a concept past. We call that past and then, I don't know, with some mental gymnastics, toss the concept back behind us as if the past is a reality back there someplace. But really all that's happening is that it's a thought in the moment. And we do the same thing with future. You know, planning, imagining, fantasizing. Suggest a fix

37:01 We label all of these kind of thoughts future. And then we believe the concept. We give a reality to the concept. We toss it out ahead of ourselves. As if there's a future. Whereas our only experience of past and future is as a thought in the moment. This is tremendously liberating to see. Because most of us carry the concepts of past and future as a huge burden in our lives. It's like we're carrying mountains on our shoulders. Past and future and all the worries and anxieties or hopes or fears or whatever. Suggest a fix

37:48 And all of those are arising because we're not seeing the past. They're just concepts. They're just a thought in the moment. A thought is very light. It's gone. Past and future. So we can see this. We don't have to be super yogis to see this. We just have to look at the nature of our thoughts, of these particular thoughts. Suggest a fix

38:26 We can also see our attachment to time with regard to the present. It's not only past and future. So this gets a little more interesting just because so much of spiritual practice and spiritual language will be in the present and stay in the present. But even the concept of present can be the cause of a lot of selfing. You know, we see it particularly Not in thoughts of past and future, but in terms of the comparing mind. You know, even here, you're on retreat, but obviously you're seeing all these other people here. How often when we see somebody else here or outside in our lives, does the mind immediately go to a comparison? I'm better than, I'm worse than, I'm the same as. Suggest a fix

39:31 And it can be with reference to physical appearance, It could be with reference to personality. Here on retreat, it could be in reference to the meditation practice itself. Maybe you see somebody who's just being exquisitely mindful. Oh, they're such good yogis. I'm such a bad yogi. And then you see somebody who's kind of walking around in a somewhat casual way. Oh, I'm such a good yogi. That's such a bad yogi. We're just creating self in that comparison. in the present. Suggest a fix

40:17 Okay, so here the Buddha talks about time in the two ways I mentioned. So first he reminds us, past has already gone, future not yet come, abide in the present, not clinging to anything. And then he says, this is in the Dhammapada, let go of the past, let go of the future, Let go of the present and cross over to the further shore. I love that. You know, it's so, let go of the present. Suggest a fix

41:01 So what does that mean? Suggest a fix

41:16 I may not get to the end of this talk. Suggest a fix

41:22 Okay, by paying attention to the quickly passing thoughts that are arising in the mind, you know, whether sitting or walking, moving around, we slowly begin to weaken their conditioning on the mind. You know, all the past thoughts of self, all the future thoughts of self, I was, I will be, present thoughts of self in comparing, when we see those thoughts as being just thoughts. So we're weakening their power. We're weakening this conditioning of self. Yet as seductive as these thoughts are, and as I said, it takes an intention. To really become aware of them. You have to set the intention. Maybe at the beginning of a walking. Or at the beginning of a sitting. Or just as you're moving around. Okay I'm going to really keep an eye out for these. Suggest a fix

42:18 So then it becomes possible to do it. But as seductive as these thoughts are. Suggest a fix

42:27 Even if it's just for a few moments at a time. There is something that we identify with even more than these thoughts. Suggest a fix

42:41 And that is. Our identification, creation of a sense of self through identifying with consciousness, with awareness. So this is even more subtle than identification with thoughts. We identify with the one who's knowing all of this. Who's knowing the thoughts? Who's knowing the sound? And so it's very easy to become, well, I'm the one knowing it all. We might see the passing nature of all these arising phenomena, but then we settle back, we create a little nest, we create a home of self in awareness. I'm the one knowing. Suggest a fix

43:38 This is the most fundamental sense of I am, even more than being identified with our thoughts, our emotions, or our body. It's identifying with consciousness, with awareness of this is who I really am. I'm the knower, the observer, the witness. Suggest a fix

44:08 This is what the Buddha said about understanding this I am. He said, by rightly understanding I am, one makes an end of suffering. Suggest a fix

44:24 The eradication of I am. is the attainment of Nibbāna here This is the most fundamental, this is the core belief of self. I am, the identification with consciousness, with knowing. The eradication of this sense I am is the attainment of nibbāna here and now. Suggest a fix

44:58 So these words of the Buddha point to the importance of understanding this. Suggest a fix

45:07 As we're doing our practice, we're building all the tools for investigating this I am, the I am -ness. So the question is, how can we begin to really explore this for ourselves? Suggest a fix

45:28 So one way is to see how this felt sense of I am, being the knower, is showing itself, is manifesting right in our meditation practice. You know, we think we're meditating, and yet unknowingly we may be reinforcing the I am -ness. Suggest a fix

46:00 You know, when there's a strong sense of being the knower, the observer of experience, very often it's that sense of I am, it pulls us into, in our meditation practice, it pulls us into An unskillful, ambitious striving. Okay, I am going to get something. I am going to have this new experience. It's all rooted in the belief that there is an I am in the first place. And we forget that freedom and the practice of freedom, moment to moment, is in letting go. It's not in getting. Oh, you know. Suggest a fix

· · ·

47:04 I think I'll repeat that. Freedom. And it's not as something far off. Freedom in the moment and what we can practice moment to moment is in letting go. It's in this rather than that, rather than getting something. Suggest a fix

47:27 But one of the most interesting things that I found in my practice is to see how often in my meditation I'm in the moment. But leaning into the process. Leaning in. It's like an energetic. Suggest a fix

47:49 It's being with this in order for this to happen. And it can be with something so simple. We can be feeling the breath. Suggest a fix

48:01 But how are we with it? You know, we're with the breath in order to become more concentrated. Or in order to be more calm. Or in order to feel the next breath. So the Buddha called this craving for becoming. It's like we're in this moment and on some level. And sometimes it's very obvious and sometimes it's really subtle. Just an energetic craving for becoming something. Suggest a fix

48:41 It's like we're waiting for the next moment to fulfill some expectation of a result. Suggest a fix

48:57 So there's a common expression in the suttas, which I mentioned sometime, I think it was last week or this morning or sometime. See, pest is dissolved. And the older you get, the more it dissolves. So that's kind of one of the good things of aging. Suggest a fix

49:19 So this one phrase is found often in the suttas, is the expression that people used to express their awakening, their enlightenment. And the phrase is the understanding that whatever has the nature to arise will also pass away. And so I spoke of this with regard to impermanence. Everything has the nature to arise will also pass away. Well, on this recent retreat, this phrase came to mind and I started using it in a different way. And it was really perhaps the most interesting part of my retreat. Instead of taking it simply as a statement, That everything changes, which we all know. I took it as an instruction. So as I was just with my moment -to -moment experience, this phrase would come to mind, whatever has the nature to arise will also pass away. Suggest a fix

50:23 And what it did in the moment was cut through the craving for becoming anything. Because whatever would arise. Will also pass away. There's nothing to want. There's nothing to crave. Because whatever it is that we're wanting or craving, it's just going to pass away like everything else. So the power of the phrase for me in the practice, applying it in the practice, was that there was no exception. It's like there was no back door. Well, everything but this. Suggest a fix

51:11 Everything changes, but this is worth craving. There's no exception. Whatever has the nature to arise. And so by bringing that phrase to life right in the moment -to -moment experience, it was remarkable. It was like there is nothing to want, nothing to lean into, nothing to crave for the moment. It's not that it's... Effected some huge super enlightenment, but for the moment could really feel that stepping off the wheel. Stepping off the wheel of becoming. Because what keeps us on the wheel is craving. And so the Four Noble Truths became so vivid. It's like, yes, what keeps the whole thing going... Suggest a fix

52:16 On a big level and on a moment -to -moment level, it's just this craving for becoming. In this moment, wanting something else. And that the freedom is available in any moment. It's not, it's always available. If we remember, oh, whatever has the nature to rise will also pass away, Suggest a fix

52:45 stepping off that wheel of wanting, dropping back. And everything keeps flowing on. Suggest a fix

52:55 But there's no craving or wanting involved. And so we experience that peace, that freedom, even if it's for short moments. Suggest a fix

53:17 So when the Buddha said, let go of the present and cross over to the further shore, he's not suggesting that we go someplace. Suggest a fix

53:31 The further shore is in letting go of the craving. And this points us then in the direction It puts us in the field or in the arena of what the Buddha was pointing to when he used such terms as the unborn or the unformed or non -occurrence. Suggest a fix

54:08 You know, we get a feel for it, for what he meant. And this opens up a whole different understanding of what our practice is about. Suggest a fix

54:23 It's not about getting. Suggest a fix

54:28 It's about letting go. Suggest a fix

54:40 So I'll just close with, I'll skip to the end. There's some interesting stuff here, but maybe next week. Suggest a fix

54:56 So I'll just close. This is also the Buddha's words from one sutta. We can practice this very profound instruction that the Buddha gave when he said, Nothing whatsoever is to be clung to as I or mine. Not the body, not thoughts, not emotions, not sights, not sounds, not awareness, not consciousness itself. That's the letting go of the I am. Nothing whatsoever is to be clung to as I or mine. It goes on to say, whoever hears this has heard all of the teachings. Whoever practices this has practiced all the teachings. Whoever realizes this has realized all the teachings. Suggest a fix

56:02 So again, it goes very deep and profound, but all of us can really explore the experience of this in moments. Maybe just for short moments, but if we keep it in mind, It becomes short moments many times. And it really starts to transform our understanding of ourselves and how we're living in the world. Suggest a fix

56:37 So let's just sit for a few moments and let everything fade away. Suggest a fix

Talk by Joseph Goldstein, recorded at Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge, 17 April 2017. Original at Dharma Seed: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/40392/. Licensed CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Transcript generated automatically and may contain errors; the audio is the authoritative version.

Listen on Dharma Seed · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0