Ep. 166 – Opening to Fear

05/31/23 • 49 min

Joseph Goldstein talks about working with and opening to fear as he pinpoints the three types of deeply conditioned fears that keep us from recognizing our own Buddha nature.

“What happens as proceed along this journey of practice is that we come to our edges, we come up to our boundaries of what is acceptable; what is acceptable in terms of physical sensation, what is acceptable in terms of mind states or feelings or emotions. And those are our boundaries at which fears in the mind begin to reveal themselves. Can we go beyond these boundaries? Can we go beyond the edges? Is there a way of working with fear and understanding it so that it is no longer a limitation for us?” – Joseph Goldstein

In this episode, Joseph explores:

How the practice of Dharma is a path of opening, but fear is often something that closes us down
How fear is a manifestation of aversion
The three types of deeply conditioned fears that keep us closed down: fear of pain, fear of insecurity, and fear of death
How we can work directly with the mind state of fear through loving acceptance and discriminating wisdom

“So we learn how to open, we learn to come to our boundaries, our edges, our limitations; we see the fear that may be operating there, and we learn to work with the fear, we include the fear in our practice.” – Joseph Goldstein

This dharma talk from November 11, 1985, was originally published on Dharma Seed.

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Joseph Goldstein talks about working with and opening to fear as he pinpoints the three types of deeply conditioned fears that keep us from recognizing our own Buddha nature.

In this episode, Joseph explores:

How the practice of Dharma is a path of opening, but fear is often something that closes us down
How fear is a manifestation of aversion
The three types of deeply conditioned fears that keep us closed down: fear of pain, fear of insecurity, and fear of death
How we can work directly with the mind state of fear through loving acceptance and discriminating wisdom

This dharma talk from November 11, 1985, was originally published on Dharma Seed.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Previous Episode

Ep. 165 – The Relationship of Practice and World Peace

Joseph Goldstein explores the relationship of our meditation practice to the establishment of world peace by helping us understand the tendencies of the mind obstructing that peace.

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“There is a very powerful effect; it’s not just for ourselves that we practice, it is for ourselves and it is for everyone else, as well. Because as we free our minds from craving and wrong view and conceit, when we reduce this tendency, this attitude of mind to expand and grab and take and exploit, when we can purify our own minds of these tendencies, we establish peace in ourselves, and it becomes a force of peace in the world.” – Joseph Goldstein

In this episode, Joseph explores:

The relationship of our meditation practice to the establishment of world peace
How we can better understand the three tendencies of the mind that are the root causes of the conditions that obstruct peace: craving, wrong view, and conceit
How the practice of mindfulness can help us uproot those three tendencies of the mind by deepening our insight into impermanence, suffering, and the selflessness of phenomena

This dharma talk from October 18, 1985, was originally published on Dharma Seed.

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Next Episode

Ep. 167 – Self and Self Loss

Extricating us from dualist concepts of self and other, Joseph helps us move from the 'ego-center' to the 'zero-center' through opening to love.

This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/insighthour

“There are so many parts of our experience which we don't like, we don't want to be there. We condemn, we judge, we push away—it can be difficult feelings in the body, difficult emotions, feelings of hatred, rage, unworthiness, loneliness, profound alienation. It can be so many things, so many parts of the mind that are the shadow side. The process of healing, the process of integration, is a willingness to open to all of those sides, to see the shadow in all its manifestation.” – Joseph Goldstein

In this episode, Joseph dives into:

How we create the concept of duality/seperation (self and other, inside and outside, persona and shadow, etc.)
Understanding our practice of Dharma as reintegrating and unifying
Using mindfulness to shine light on our shadow by making the subconscious conscious
Moving from the 'ego-center' to the 'zero-center' using the intermediate space of love (a very deep appreciation, respect, and openness for every moment's experience)
Carlos Castaneda and the relationship between impeccability and emptiness

This episode recorded 11/29/1986 at the Insight Meditation Society was originally published on DharmaSeed

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.