Practical Guidance On Mindful Living & Overcoming Common Obstacles – Joseph Goldstein
Practical Guidance On Mindful Living & Overcoming Common Obstacles – Joseph Goldstein
Joseph Goldstein has been a pioneer in bringing eastern wisdom to the west and is certainly one of the worlds most respected Buddhist teachers. Joseph has studied and practiced meditation for over 40 years under the guidance of eminent teachers from India, Burma, and Tibet.
Joseph is a cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society and the Barre Center for Buddhist studies in Massachusetts. He is the author of several practical and powerful books about Mindfulness, Meditation and Buddhism.
In this interview Joseph offers us practical guidance on walking the path to mindful living with more wisdom ease and lightness. You will discover today…
- The common challenges and pitfalls on this path and how to overcome them.
- What ‘waking up’ really means.
- The stages on the path of mindful living
- The common misconceptions and misunderstandings people have about what meditation is and what it can deliver.
- Profound and simple advice for those starting out with mindfulness practice.
Plus enjoy a 15 minute practice of mindfulness led by one of the worlds most respected teachers.
Show Notes
Join the ’31 days of mindfulness challenge’ here
Come and join the community discussions at any time on our Facebook page
Learn more about the Barre Centre For Buddhist Studies.
Check out Josephs upcoming retreats and the Insight Meditation Society.
If you want to explore Josephs books you can also check them out here.
Audio
Video
Transcript
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Purchase a full access pass to unlock downloads for the full interview transcripts, audio, video and separate audio meditation tracks.
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Purchase a full access pass to unlock downloads for the full interview transcripts, audio, video and separate audio meditation tracks.
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Great advise, be simple and easy. What a concept! Thanks for organizing this!
Listening just to the audio solves only part of the difficulty as others have noted – we put a Post It over the picture of Melli so we can concentrate on thoughts and experience of the guest speaker [that’s not being personal to yourself Melli].
That done, there are still the constant ‘yes’ ‘I love that’ etc by Melli. This is not a dialogue, the speaker is talking to all of us. Could Melli please restrict herself to the interesting lead up to each of her questions and the question itself? Then keep quiet while the speaker responds?
we do appreciate what the speakers have to say
Thank you.
I think It is a wonderful initiative and such a positive thing to put out into the world. You are doing a great job.
Totally agree!
I agree that Melli’s constant comments are distracting. I think her questions are terrific but would like to focus on the speaker after the question. Otherwise, I think this has gone well so far, although I found that I could relate better to the speaker the first day than today. His focus on forgiveness was very reassuring and helpful.
I absolutely love Melli’s comments. They are not distracting, but engaging.
I just highly enjoyed this interview! Looking forward to watching the rest of this great experience.
Boa noite, no primeiro dia, a transcrição da entrevista estava disponível. Hoje não está mais ? O que houve ? Tenho que comprar o passe para ter acesso ?
Oi Luciana. Eu acessei o primeiro email e onde dizia ‘click here for day 1’ no segundo dia apareceu automaticamente a entrevista do Day 2. Foi facil! Nada de password!!!
I agree with you, Melli’s habitual responses are distracting.
General rule of the internet… for each person who complains, there are twenty of us simply enjoying, so don’t be discouraged, Melli. 🙂 I loved this talk! And I also loved his interview with Sam Harris! Thanks for providing this.
I rather enjoy the structure with Melli responding to there answers. Feels like your watching a genuine conversation instead of some scripted rehearsed BS. Thankyou Melli and Matty for bringing this amazing information to us all!
Totally agree!
I agree there are likely many people that love the interviews just the way they are. And I am one of those people. I found Melli’s comments in the interviews wonderful because she seems to be being her authentic self and connecting with the interviewee. Thank you so much Melli. I am looking forward to Day 3.
Me pareciò que lo màs relevante fuè hacer enfasis en que màs que meditar es un acto pasivo, meditar es un acto muy Activo, que como tal, hay que practicar para vivir los resultados. Gracias!!!!
I listened carefully and I think I caught the main gist of what they were saying — something along the lines that if you take some time to be a little more aware of your thoughts and feelings, you can come to grow a little bit less mean and rude and arrogant and inconsiderate. Maybe not in just one lifetime, but progressively as eternity unfolds all beings can also unfold to greater levels of goodness and kindness and compassion etc.
I totally agree with you Jeff, unfortunately I cant concentrate when she is nodding or says UHA or Right constantly! I hope she stops that!!!
How horrible of you to insult her. She is interviewing these speakers. The speaker is talking to her. We are blessed to listen. She did all this work for us to have this summit. How horrible of you to be anything less than grateful.
I enjoy the conversations between Melli and the speaker. I was able to connect with both of the speakers in a meaningful way. Thank you!
Get over yourself and just enjoy the FREE summit that has been offered.
Is this summit”free” or do I have to pay…if do the advertising is very misleading… Many thanks. Eileen
Sat Nam ???? it is perfect that this is free and we are all doing it together. Thank you
I agree that the sounds made by Melli are very distracting and it would be a much better experience with questions only and less of those ums and ahs
I hope the interviewer reads this feedback before the next interview. With experienced experts such as are on the roster for this summit, the interviewer need only ask a couple of short straight forward questions and then turn off her mic. I want to hear the wisdom of the speakers.
So true that we often try to avoid suffering instead of acknowledging it and trying to understand it. Adversity only makes us stronger…. All in how we view it.
I have been using mindfulness in my counselling for many years. It is a practice and a modality that I love and have seen transform the most awful trauma into calm living. I have a question though, one that is often asked of me and that I do not really have a good answer for: why? what is the point of mediating? Time ‘just passing’ whilst waking is often seen as ‘a waste’ and not productive? I can describe how to meditate and even do it for a few minutes with clients but more than that it is seen as charging ‘money for nothing’… I would love to hear from our experts how they would answer these questions. Thank you for such a beautiful offering, to Melli and to all of the experts.
Thank you for an amazing session. To know there is a way in which to make our day to day involvements more easier and valuable, to be able to value every experience no matter how small, and that our perceived complications can be reduced by more mindful thinking, is just inspiring!! ‘Keeping it simple and easy’ seems such an easy thing to do, but was easily overlooked for a more complicated ‘mindless’ way of doing things. Thanks for the guidance to redirect how one can look at things. Looking forward to what is yet to come.
Thank you Melli, I am so happy to have found this opportunity and be part of it. Such a gift, thank you, namaste
All I can say is that I simply enjoyed it … Looking forward to the rest of the month … 🙂
very nice indeed….. enjoyed sharing the experience……i like the audio, and mindfully “knit” until time to share a practice….
Good evening . Thanks for the opportunity to learn more about mindfulness . I’m a relative novice and have found both talks ( what I was awake for ) interesting but they both extremely soporific and I wonder how more experienced practitioners prevent themselves from dropping off ? ( I invariably fall asleep when I listen to the exercises anyway ! Maybe the power naps help though not sure if this is how it’s meant to work !)
Think the Summit is a great idea, enjoyed the first speaker, and found it great to be able to listen to the audio and look at the transcript at the same time. People learn and absorb things in different ways. Find the videos distracting, and not as good. That said, the fact you cannot access audio or pdf unless you ‘donate’ is a joke. I am unemployed, and you expect me to pay more than half of my weekly payments of €188 (in Ireland) to access it. Tell me, will mindfulness feed me next week?
As for donations, if you are going to charge a fee, call it that. Donations are not something I ever thought of as fixed. If you offer a charity €10, they are not going to turn you down, because they only accept €20 donations.
Really disappointing that you are using Mindfulness and holding techniques and wisdom from those without the means to pay for it. So much for the entire concept of helping people.
Really? it’s free. All you have to do is show up each day. I get it that it would be nice to have the transcript, but, the summit is free!
Each talk is available to stream for free for 24 hours, you just have to try and have time to listen to the scheduled talk each day. You only have to pay if you want to be able to download them later.
I agree. It seems unethical to advertise this event as (what looked like) an open, caring, and mindful summit with the aim of making mindfulness mainstream.
In reality, putting such a cost on accessing the content will stop anyone who happens to be of lower socioeconomic status and does not have the availability to access the videos every 24 hours for a month, to watch it, as well as anyone who has a hearing problem, a learning problem, or a memory problem which affects their ability to listen effectively.
The people described above are quite often the ones who are most in need of some compassion, care and kindness being afforded to them – such as the openness and acceptance offered by the practice of mindfulness itself.
I agree with the comments that suggest leaving the main part of the discussion to the speaker rather than the interviewer’s comments. One further suggestion, I am not a strong auditory learner. I was able to find the transcript of last night’s presentation and read along with it which was really helpful to me in getting the most out of the information.
Lorraine,
You are not compelled to pay for any of the 30 day program unless you choose to purchase them at the end of the Summit. These types of summits are generally intended to profile the speakers and authors so as to promote and sell their books and the program. I would use the month and make notes of what you have heard and learned and just do the practices. We were given free audio downloads at the beginning of the summit which is all you will need to continue after it is over. I think this is a golden opportunity to commit to modality that will benefit you if you continue to practice it. If you need other free meditation practices, go to Youtube.
Best wishes from Canada 🙂
Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu, Knowing the four noble truths and investigating our reactions brings wisdom, as the path is certainly not linear… begin again and agin and again accept and investigate to the root. This does take courage and perseverance. The path is there, just keep it simple and easy and begin again.
I have reached a crisis in my life as I am supporting a family member who is bipolar and find myself getting stressed and I’m hoping the techniques I learn can help me relax and in turn my son. Feel this who,ex programme would be useful to him have suggested it but no avail
Thank you for the organisation and the gift you have brought to us Mel
The sounds Melli makes can be distracting ….I’m trying to overcome this by practising at being not so judgemental and when I do judge noticing the positives which are, she is very polite and does ask some good questions. This is also free which is quite rare. I often miss out due to financial constraints. This is going very well with another free course I am doing with future learn on mindfulness . I am enjoying both and both seem to originate in Australia … 🙂
I deeply appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this Summit. My humblest thanks to both organizers and presenters for your time and energy you have committed to share your insights with all of us. Metta, Diane
Today resonated so much more for me than yesterday. Thank you, Joseph. My nuggets from today’s conversation:
Times of greatest suffering can lead to the greatest insight
Act without attachment to the fruit of the act
Be simple and easy
Another one here who learns better by listening to the audio and reading the transcript. I was thrilled with that option for Day 1. And disappointed that we didn’t have that option for Day 2. The video, with the interruptions by Melli, is too distracting. Please give us the PDF transcript again !! (In fact, if I had a choice, I’d rather have the PDF than the video.)
Thanks. I would agree that because of constant interruption we missed out on listening more to Joseph. I hope it will be taken positively and necessary changes brought. But may be we can start our mindfulness of speech right here. Maybe we can be mindful of the irritation. Importantly the irritation should not lead us to miss out on the genuine wealth of information available here. They are like pearls of wisdom.
I was suddenly reminded of it and would like to share with you all. I started meditating while i was doing my graduation based on whatever information i could gather from books. no formal training. and there was this aha moment. seeing that light. Days after i kept on practicing with the expectation to feel it again, wishing it to happen again. but it wasn’t happening and infact in pursuit of that the mind would wander more often. ” why is it not happening, will it happen if I sit longer, What do I do”. Ultimately I left the practice and didn’t pick it up till much later. years after I came across a saying from Swami Vivekananda which meant what was outlined by Joseph today but it was more easy to grasp. So dont get disheartened and keep practicing. that is the only ground rule.
Love and peace to all.
2nd day and totally enjoying this. We have to listen at the end of the day. Seems to stay with us through the night and into the early morning. Thank you and see you tomorrow.
I have learned a lot this evening. Answered some questions and raised more 🙂 thank you.
Wow, this is so wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing all of this beauty and wisdom.
My lifelong quest to get to the bottom of my suffering and depression has lead me to the mindfulness summit. I am very impressed and grateful for the wisdom and teachings of the first two speakers. I am looking forward to the rest of the summit and my journey towards enlightenment, and continued curiosity of self.
To the critics of Melli and her comments etc. Let me say that there are interviewers and there are interviewers. Be mindful of the way Melli conducts her interviews, she draws out the interviewee, makes them feel relaxed and they respond to her by perhaps opening up with more information than perhaps another interviewer might get out of them. Melli is an excellent interviewer. Also remember that mindfulness is about moving away from negative comments, if you are distracted by Melli pracitice mindfulness.
Thanks Melli for a thought provoking series so far..As a long time journeyer on this mindfulness path, I’ve got to say Wow! You first two guests were fantastic..pearls of wisdom for me. I also like your enthusiasm for this subject and enjoy your questions and interactions with the guests. It makes me feel like we’re just sitting down for a spontaneous chat and not such a formal interview. Keep being you! The 31 day commitment to sit is a great tool to make a consistent commitment to this practice. Thank you!
Thank you for an insightful look at your many years of practice, Joseph Goldstein. I will remember to be “simple and easy” as I walk along my paths in every area of my life.
What a wonderful conversation! It has so much useful advice. Melli is an excellent host. She was asking questions I would have and made the whole interview so easy to relate to. I found her interview style very real. Her interaction with Joseph brought other things to mind for him. They fed off of each other’s responses and you could see how much both of them enjoyed the talk. Which made me feel a part of it! It all flowed well. I am grateful! Joseph’s advice was so reassuring. It’s ok to start over and over. It is a long term commitment and not this hard to attain mystical state of mind but something we can incorporate into our lives. And the part about not only acknowledging something that comes up but accepting and looking deeper at it, so appreciate that part!!!
Thank you for having this wonderful summit!
I’m not only distracted, but even quite annoyed by “ye” and “oh” s
Thank you for inviting us all to the wonderful buffet table of experience and wisdom that your guest speakers provide. I have been practicing on and off for several years and this summit helps me to resolidify my practical involvement in a daily routine of self exploration and reminds me to be kind to myself and others.
I have much to learn. Grateful that I can participate and carve out the time for myself in a hectic, distracting, depressed time in my life. Thank you.
Hi,
I have slow connection and not much data available. Downloading MP3 file was a great idea but for the Day 2 it doesn’t exist, is that so? How can I get audiofiles?
Thank you in advance,
Sergei
I can appreciate what people are saying, however, it’s an interview, not a straight lecture. I would use the distractions as practice.
Thank you for the opportunity. Good luck and blessings to all.
Think of it as an interview, not a meditation. Then the interviewer won’t bug you. The meditation is only at the end part where they call it a meditation. I really like the format.
I was listening to today’s interview, and Goldstein speaks of it as being a way of life. I recently started to try a more spiritual way of life, by guiding my actions with religious values (christianism). After this video, I do see a parallel between the compassionate philosophy of mindfulness and the loving philosophy of christianism. I however acknowledge the solution is acceptance of any sort of emotion (even negative) in mindfulness, whereas the solution is forgiveness and repentance in my religion.
I am therefore wondering if the pursuit of these two ways of life simultaneously is possible, and am very curious of what others in this community think about this issue.
i do not find Melli distracting. I really appreciate this. Will this be a yearly thing? Thanks for doing this.
Thank you for this opportunity to learn about the true nature of mindfulness. I think you are doing a wonderful service.
I would encourage those who are feeling challenged by the way the videos and conversations are being held and presented to sit some more. This is a tremendous undertaking and a gift to us all. Mine is the task to accept with grace and take in the offering as it is presented. Such is the journey of life.
I concur wholeheartedly!
I completely agree . I feel very grateful for these talks are presented by all those teachers I heard about. Thank you for the lively presentations: it makes it accessible to new practitionners.
I too felt more in tune with yesterday’s speaker , but took away the” simple and easy ” piece to add to my daily practice. I started daily practice in 1995 and find this community practice interesting.
I am truly loving this experience! The feeling of connection, warmth, and heart are palpable. Melli, you have set a beautiful space of intention. The privilege of being led by two masters was such a joy! Like different flavors of ice cream.
I’m fascinated by those who feel compelled to criticize or control the experience. I would encourage folks to set aside the compulsions to compare and point out any negative experiences…just be with them. That’s irritating you? Okay, notice that. Explore that!
This is such a gift! Don’t get hung up on the small things, just be!
Thanks Melli for organizing this. My impression of Melli’s comments is that she is encouraging and responding to the speaker. As the format is one of question and answer, I feel it is appropriate that she lets the speaker know that she is listening and identifying. I am sure there are videos online of many of these speakers that people could probably listen to if they just want to hear the speaker. Your questions Melli, are personally interesting to me –questions I might not think to ask when presented with the opportunity. Thank you for asking the right questions for me.
Thank you Mindfulness Summit Team. Learning & loving this. 🙂
Thanks for this second session… I loved the way it was explained!! Really an invitation for us as beginners.
Thanks once again, Melli for this summit #2. So far, so good. You and your guests are keeping us on The Path by being with us everyday…….so helpful. I think you are so special Melli!
Simple and easy – wonderful message, and something I will carry with me and remind myself of. Thank you.
I have enjoyed the two speakers tremendously! I also like the dialogue back and forth, including Melli’s comments. I love the difference between these two men and their ways of expressing their beliefs and teachings. Both are very engaging and happy to share their knowledge. I’m new to meditation and am very grateful for this summit and the accessibility it is giving me to a variety of teachers. Thank you!
Thorougly enjoying these presentations and practice….thank you
I enjoyed today’s speaker although i did enjoy yesterdays more…i think that each speaker is going to bring something different to the plate for us to learn from. I enjoyed yesterday meditation technique much more but i enjoyed Josephs comments on cultivating interest in whats happening in our lives…investigation why i am upset for example. I am going to put this into practice in my life to help me become more mindful. For me it also resonated with me when he spoke about becoming mindful of our speech and practicing mindful communication. Im looking forward to becoming mindfully aware of what is behind my communication.