JewBu Joseph Goldstein (Pick-Ax Dhamma)

Pick-Ax Dhamma Q&A: Deep Mining the Four Foundations of Mindfulness | Joseph Goldstein

Mindfulness: A Practical Guide
to Awakening (Joseph Goldstein)

(Clear Mountain Monastery) Clear Mountain Monastery Podcast. JuBu Joseph Goldstein is co-founder (with Jack Kornfield and Sharon Salzberg but not their good friend Sylvia Boorstein) of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts (New England) – a center for tranquility, wisdom, and compassion.

• 00:00:00 Introduction
• 00:01:23 What's the definition of mindfulness? (Munindra-jii)
• 00:02:14 What is the most basic definition and the most profound form of mindfulness?
• 00:06:33 What is your relationship with the German scholar-monk Bhante Analayo?
• 00:10:41 How do the four qualities of ardency, clear comprehension, mindfulness, and concentration work together?
• 00:18:41 How can one keep their purpose aligned in daily life?
• 00:23:05 What was the Buddha's chitchat like?
• 00:30:08 What is the specific elemental meditation you teach?
• 00:38:55 How do you interweave different methods without digging a different hole?
• 00:47:03 How can one transition from mindfulness of the body to rapture and refreshment?
• 00:52:12 What is the relationship between mind knowing mind and Dzogchen teachings?
• 1:05:03 What does the phrase "deathless element" mean?
• 1:08:38 Is it worth speculating about nirvana (Pali nibbāna) before realizing it?

In this session of Pick-Ax Dhamma, Western Buddhist monks Ajahn Kovilo and Ajahn Nisabho interview the great Joseph Goldstein (a student of Indian mother (Dipa's mother) and Buddhist Meditation Master Dipa Ma and her Indian teacher Anagarika Munindra) about his perspectives on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness as taught in the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (suttacentral.net) and elaborated in his book Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening.

This conversation touches on Goldstein's

• personal relationships with his teachers and peers Munindra-jii and Ven. Analayo,
• the meaning of "ardency" (ātāpi);
• the daily life practice of clear comprehension;
• the experience of "not clinging to anything in the world";
• how to relate to "digging for the water" of practice;
• breathing mindfulness;
• walking meditation;
• intuitive practice with the [Four] Elements;
• the similarities and differences between knowing mind as mind and Dzogchen;
• whether nirvana is a state of awareness;
• how to relate to such inquiries;
• and much more!

BIOGRAPHY

Path of Insight Meditation (Goldstein+Kornfield)

Joseph Goldstein has been leading insight- and lovingkindness meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. He is a co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society, the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, and the Forest Refuge (Forest Refuge), a center for long-term meditation practice.

He is the author of: Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening; One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism; The Experience of Insight, among other books. To learn more about Joseph Goldsten, visit: dharma.org.

Tune in with fellow practitioners for Clear Mountain’s weekly online and hybrid events:

• Wednesday Evening Teaching & Discussion (6:00 – 7:30 pm PT, YouTube then Zoom)
• Saturday Morning Meditation, Teaching, & Coffee Social (9:30-11:00 am PT, online & in-person)
• Sunday Evening “Mission Majjhima!” Sutta Teaching & Discussion (5:00-6:00 pm PT, online)
• Website: clearmountainmonastery.org
• Welcome! Visit Clear Mountain Monastery for details.
• #JosephGoldstein #Awareness #Mindfulness #Meditation #PresentMoment #SelfAwareness #MentalHealth #MindfulLiving #Buddhism

• "Mindfulness" defined by Ven. Analayo

• 

  U.S. JewBu (Emily Sigalow)

  American JewBu: Jews, Buddhists, and Religious Change
• Barre Center for Buddhist Studies
• Ardent, Alert, and Mindful: Discussion (Sutta Central)
• EncyclopediaOfBuddhism.org
• Is there any evidence that S.N. Goenka's assertion that the technique taught in his retreat centers was passed down... | Quora

• Joseph Goldstein (dharma.org), Ajahn Kovilo and Ajahn Nisabho (Clear Mountain Monastery, Dec. 17, 2025); Shauna Schwartz and Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Hayden P. dead after exposing Hollywood

UPDATE: Cover up is complete: Hayden Panettiere's cause of death allegedly revealed

(ECHO tv) Hayden Panettiere died after EXPOSING evil Hollywood (Uncle Oscar)

• Anna Paquin makes chilling claim about child stars after Hayden Panettiere, Michelle Trachtenberg’s [mysterious] deaths

Panettiere, Comic Con San Diego

DEATH: Hayden Panettiere, 36, is said to have died from cardiac arrest in an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina, on August 16, 2026 [101, 102].

She was found unresponsive, and first responders pronounced her dead at the scene after resuscitation efforts failed [103].

Police said preliminary findings showed no signs of foul play [104], and an autopsy performed the following day by the local coroner's office found "no signs of trauma" [105].

(Celebrity Press) Britney Spears breaks down revealing what

Diddy and Ashton Kutcher did to Brittany Murphy

TRIBUTES: Panettiere's former co-star, Viola Davis, called her "an amazing talent...so gifted" saying she was an "old, wise soul with such a deep heart" [106].

Bryan Fuller, who wrote on Heroes' first season, said she was "more than an actress, she was a muse"[107].

Wladimir Klitschko, Panettiere's former fiancé, said she had "built an incredible career through immense talent" [108].

Others in the entertainment industry, including former co-stars, also issued tributes on social media... More

Hayden Panettiere rabbit holes

(Supplement diet, avoid phthalates, pass of Johnson & Johnson products)

What is the oldest song in the world?

(Ming) The oldest known song ever discovered

LEAK: Peter Thiel's secret 'Dialog' society

(Breaking Points) Thiel Secret Society Agenda LEAKED: 'Cults, WW III, Sex'

I don't want to drown in American society

(After Skool) Alan Watts on the MYTHS [social conventions] that keep us trapped

(Eddie and the Subtitles) "I Don't Want to Drown in American Society"

(LA's Wasted Youth) "We Were On Heroin" [or what we now call mega-dopamine]

What kind of addictive substance do you mean by "heroin," boys? - C&H White Processed Sugar.

.

Danger, Will Robbing Son, danger!

Yeah, sure, Eddie, but what is "American" society? At least with LA punkers Wasted Youth, they get right to the point, claiming to be as addicted to all-American stuff (junk food, junk TV, junk relationships, etc.) as "heroin" addicts are to heroin. Pretty sure they didn't mean actual opioid, morphine, poppy plant extract from Afghanistan. - You know, "American" society, it's like "whatever." - Okay, well, then, in that case, let's ask Dr. Robert Lustig.

The Hacking of American Mind: Science Behind Corporate Takeover of Our Bodies and Brains

Author and narrator Dr. Robert H. Lustig, MD, has 4.6 out of 5 stars (with 1,159 ratings). This unabridged audiobook "explores how industry has manipulated our most deep-seated survival instincts," says Dr. David Perlmutter, MD, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Grain Brain and Brain Maker.

Dr. Lustig, the New York Times-bestselling author of Fat Chance, reveals the corporate scheme to sell pleasure, driving the international epidemic of

• addiction,
• depression,
• chronic disease.

Metabolical: Lure and Lies of Processed Food

While researching the toxic and addictive properties of white sugar for his New York Times bestseller Fat Chance, Dr. Lustig made an alarming discovery: Our pursuit of happiness is being subverted by a culture of addiction and depression from which we may never recover.

Dopamine is the “reward” neurotransmitter that tells our brains we want more; yet, every substance or behavior that releases dopamine in the extreme leads to addiction.

Serotonin is the “contentment” neurotransmitter that tells our brains we don’t need any more; yet, its deficiency leads to depression.

Idiocracy was prophecy not comedy

(After the Credits) Idiocracy wasn't a comedy, it was a prophecy!

• VIDEO: Dr. Lustig: The Science of Happiness
• VIDEO: Science: Pleasure versus Happiness
• Dr. Lustig: lust, pleasure, craving, addiction
• VIDEO: Idiocracy: Wisdom is Disappearing
• Happiness and Hugging Meditation (Nov. 29)
• Dinah Cancer? Vaccines? iPhones (TJDS)
• "Sugar is TOXIC...like alcohol" (addictive as coke)

Fat Chance; Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity

Ideally, both are in optimal supply in our bodies.

But dopamine evolved to overwhelm serotonin—because our ancestors were more likely to survive if they were constantly motivated. The result has been that constant desire can chemically destroy our ability to feel happiness, while sending us down the slippery slope to addiction.

In the last 40 years, government legislation and subsidies have promoted ever-available temptation (porn, sugar, illegal drugs, social media) combined with constant stress (work, home, money, internet).

The end result is an unprecedented epidemic of mental addiction, anxiety, depression, and chronic physical diseases.

We can hack this cave, build fires, project images

With the advent of neuromarketing, corporate America has successfully imprisoned us in an endless loop of desire and consumption from which there is no obvious escape.

With his customary wit and incisiveness, Dr. Lustig not only reveals the science that drives these states of mind, he points his finger directly at the corporations that created this mess and the government actors who facilitated it.

Fast version: "I Don't Want to Drown in American Society"

And he offers solutions we can all use in the pursuit of happiness, even in the face of overwhelming opposition.

Always fearless and provocative, Dr. Lustig marshals a call to action, with seminal implications for our health, our well-being, and our culture. More

Tao of Not Trying: Alan Watts, Lao Tzu, B Wen

(After Skool) Taoism Founder Lao Tzu on Art of Not Trying

Care about what they all think, prisoner?

Wu wei (Chinese 無為, simplified Chinese 无为, Pinyin wúwéi) is a concept [popular in Zen Buddhism] from ancient Chinese philosophy that literally means "not-acting" or "non-doing," variously interpreted and translated as actionlessness, inaction, or effortless action [1, 2].

• Is it the "flow state" in Western psychology?

If I were Zen, would I thereby be a Taoist, too?

In Taoism, it denotes the nature of Tao, meaning that while the Tao (the way, path, or flow of nature) is the source of all existence and manifestation of all phenomena, its intrinsic formless essence is that it acts or moves in a silent, invisible, ineffable, often-unnoticed manner that may even seem motionless and effortless [3, 4, 5, 6, 7].

Accordingly, Taoists aspire to live their lives in alignment with such a harmonious state of free flowing and unforced activity.

In a political context, it also refers to an ideal form or principle of spontaneous and non-aggressive governance [8]. More

The Path of Least Resistance

(Benebell Wen) Ziran (The Taoist Path of Least Resistance)

Let nature reign and all will be well?

Ziran (Romanized tzu-jan) is a key concept in Taoism and East Asian Buddhism. It literally means "of its own" or "by itself" and therefore "naturally; natural; spontaneously; freely; in the course of events; of course; doubtlessly" [1, 2].

ETYMOLOGY: This Chinese word is a two-character compound of zì (自, "self," "oneself," "from," "since") and rán (然, "right," "correct," "so," "yes"), which is used as a -ran suffix marking adjectives or adverbs (roughly corresponding to English -ly).

What is the most intelligent response? Flow

According to the Shuo Wen lexicon, the character 自 zi means "nose" [one's nose, oneself when not interfered with by outside influences.] In Chinese culture, the nose (or zi) is a common metaphor for a person's own point of view [3]. More

Alan Watts, what's the Philosophy of the Tao?

Alan Watts – Philosophy of the Tao, Pt.1 | Flow, Balance, and the Course of Nature (full talk)

• Pantheon of Taoist Gods (Tao.org)

A decolonized intro to Taoism

(Benebell Wen) Taoism: A Decolonized Introduction

Rothschild DNA: Ashkenazi Jewish incest

(Wise Owl) Jewish Rothschild family's darkest genetic secret

America is Number 1 (The Daily Show)

(The Daily Show) The US is weird, but at least we don't have French fried beaches, condom taxes

(The Young Turks) Israel's 9-11 false flag attack on New York's Twin Towers' BOMBSHELL ties Israeli spy (Mossad Agent) Ghislaine Maxwell to 9/11

• Mossad Asset (IDF's No. 1 fan) Jeffrey Epstein: dropsitenews.com

G.W. Bush painting 9/11 symbols (Epstein's art)

• Cenk Uyghur finally wakes up to fact that 9-11 was an inside job with a pre-planned cover up meant to serve as a pretext for WAR (on Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, and others on a list of at least seven meant to go down like dominos)

(The Damage Report) Jon Stewart destroys Palantir: terrifying leak goes viral

If only John Oliver (Last Week Tonight) would do show on Pedo Files (AI)

Zoom: Poet Mandy Kahn's Peace Class

WHAT HAPPENED?

The meditative music was soothing and immediately set a calming and peaceful tone. Mandy held a mudra of welcome, honoring Zoom participants. She not only spoke of peace but embodied it with a guided meditation/visualization. The format is ever-evolving. It's free. It's weekly. And space is open to come and investigate next Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, at 6:00 pm.

Peace Class

What's peace? Passaddhi (serene inner peace)

Friends in Peace, during this time of war, we are inspired by Aloka and the Buddhist Monks' Peace Walk. How can we bring that inner peace into our hearts, minds, and expression?

Peace activist Mandy Kahn's Peace Class (from the Philosophical Research Society in Hollywood, LA) resumes tonight for 2026.

Mandy and Seven found peace in Los Angeles.

Feel free to share link with friends. All are welcome at Peace Class (prs.org).

To join us, simply click on this Zoom link at the start time: Wednesday, 6:00 pm (PT). 

• PEACE CLASS (Wednesdays)
• FREE, February 4th, 6:00 pm (PT)
• Zoom: us02web.zoom.us/j/82150472713
• Meeting ID: 821 5047 2713
• Mandy Kahn: mandykahn.com

What is "peace" and who cares?

What goddess could make peace?

Peace (passaddhi) is one of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment (one component of the larger Seven Requisites of Enlightenment) the historical Buddha pointed out as the Path-of-Practice (that brings one to calm and insight) to Awaken.

So it holds a very honored place in the Dharma and in American life, at least in the Sixties (because of the Peace Movement and the Hippies) and earlier due to the influence of the timeless Quakers, Transcendentalists, Christian Gnostics, and Catholic monastics, particularly the Franciscans and Carmelites.

I like chanting the Buddha's actual words

In a language spoken by the Buddha (Pali), "peace" (passaddhi) is a noun (Sanskrit prasrabhi, Tibetan ཤིན་ཏུ་སྦྱང་བ་, shin tu sbyang ba) variously translated as "serenity," "calmness," "tranquility," "repose" [1]. The verb is passambhati ([rest], calm, quiet) [2].

In Buddhism, peace refers to tranquility of body, speech, and mind (thoughts and consciousness) on the path to enlightenment. As part of the seven mental factors to be cultivated, peace is preceded by rapture (pīti, bliss, joy, supersensual pleasure) and precedes stillness (samādhi, focus, concentration). More

• The Four Divine Abidings (brahmaviharas) are peace

Inner Peace, World Peace

Publisher, Inner Peace, World Peace: Essays on Buddhism and Nonviolence

Mandy Kahn hosts monthly poetry readings in Manly P. Hall's Library of World Religions (PRS)

.

Inner Peace, World Peace

What can one person do to foster world peace? How does one person's state of mind [heart] affect the state of the world? How can the ideal of nonviolence be manifested in daily life?

Buddhists have been exploring questions like these for 25 centuries, and they are still timely today. Inner Peace, World Peace is the first work in any Western language to examine the Buddhist approach to nonviolence.

Warriors for Peace? Buddhist Peace Walk

Well-known Buddhist scholars, a noted authority on nonviolent struggle, a prominent Thai Theravada Buddhist activist, and other leaders in their fields collaborate to show the contemporary relevance of the Buddhist tradition.

The authors also discuss a new international movement known as "Socially Engaged Buddhism."

• Inner Peace, World Peace: Essays on Buddhism and Nonviolence

Holy Doors: Poems by Mandy Kahn

I love the way Mandy Kahn makes poetry that elevates the ordinary to the sublime (DBM).

 

Holy Doors (Hat & Beard Press)

Mandy Kahn’s third collection of poems is a lyrical, luminous, and highly spiritual journey that explores:

• meditation
• prayer
• the afterlife
• the poet’s love of peace
• ever-accessible grace.

It is also a record of what life is like as our spiritual nature begins to live more fully within the body. Each of Kahn’s poems begins with earnest inquiry and ends with an ecstatic moment of communion with the part of the self that is connected to all things. Holy Doors: Poems by Mandy Kahn

• The Tao of Inner Peace (Diane Dreher)
• Can inner peace be improved by Mindfulness training: A randomized controlled trial (Liu, 2015, Wiley)
• Inner Peace, World Peace: Essays on Buddhism and Nonviolence (Kenneth Kraft)
• Mandy Kahn; Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation) (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Sex and Asian men vs. Aunty Lus

The hottest "woman" in the world? ("Aitana Lopez" AI-creation)

WARNING: Graphic! Adult themes! Candid discussion of sexual matters treated as mere jokes!

Sexual pleasure and the concept of "sin"

British Buddhist Maurice O'Connell Walshe, Buddhism and Sex (edited by Wisdom Quarterly)

AI-generated model "Aitana Lopez" earning up to €10,000 pm (hyscaler.com)

.

Deviant (Wadinagala Pannaloka)

Reduced to essentials, the great debate about sex revolves, for many people, around the [Christian] concept of sin.

To the Puritan, indulgence in sexual activity for the sake of pleasure is evil, wicked, or, as our society tends to say, "sinful" (i.e., displeasing to the God).

To the permissive, this is nonsense. Many reject the term "sin" [which is an archery term meaning "to miss the mark" not all of the attendant connotations now associated with it] as meaningless. Many not only see nothing "evil" in sexual pleasure but regard it as highly legitimate perhaps the highest pleasure there is, certainly something to which, in principle at least, everybody has a right.

Many people who come from a more or less [Judeo-]Christian background with Puritanical overtones, find the true Buddhist attitude to this problem rather difficult to see.

Perhaps they have never even been given a clear explanation of it. If they have, it may have seemed too technical for them, and they have not grasped the point.

The point, in fact, is of considerable importance. So it is worthwhile to attempt to make it clear. It involves a proper and elementary grasp of what is meant by karma — something many "Buddhists" have never had.

What about "sin"?

Buddhism and Christianity

It may be profitable to consider the word "sin."

Sin to Christians is thought of as a breach of some God's commands. This explanation may make sense in Christian theology, but it does not apply in Buddhism, where there are no such commands to infringe.

Buddhist precepts are undertakings to oneself, which is something different. They are on par with the instruction, "Look both ways before crossing the road." There is much agreement between the content of Buddhism's Five Precepts and some of the Ten Commandments. So it may be wise in many cases to behave accordingly, whichever formulation one follows.

However, there is another rendering of the word "sin" itself which, though less well-known, comes much closer to the Buddhist view of things.

In the Bible, "sin" translates Hebrew and Greek words that literally mean "missing the mark," that is to say, behaving unskillfully or inadequately.

Zen in the Art of Archery

The "sinner" person, then, is like an unskillful archer who misses what that person aims at. (Could this be the real meaning behind Zen and the Art of Archery?) This comes very close to the Buddhist idea of akusala karma or "unskilled action."

The Pali word kamma (Sanskrit karma) literally means "action" (volition, intention, underlying motivation, cetana), which can either be skillful (kusala) or unskillful (akusala).

The results of action (karmic results) come back to the doer as resultants (vipaka), which are pleasant when the action previously performed was skillful, unpleasant when it was unskillful.

If I look before I cross the road, I get across safely, which is pleasant; if I don't look both way, I may get run over, which will be very unpleasant.

• The FEELINGS we experience are of the nature of karmic results: They are dependent on past karma. And, of course, we are constantly creating new karma most of the time.

Lust for Enlightenment (Stevens)

It should therefore be noted that the feeling of pleasure (sexual or otherwise) is not an action, not karma, but a result of karma. There is, therefore, nothing either "skillful" or "unskillful" about experiencing such a feeling.

We should therefore not regard it as either "virtuous" or "sinful." So far, so good. Such pleasant feelings can be enjoyed with a clear conscience free of guilt feeling. If this were all, there would be no problem. Puritans would be routed and the permissive justified.

However, there is another side to the matter. We may recall that a few years ago there was a song called "Money is the Root of all Evil." The careful pointed out that it is not money, but the love of money that the Bible calls the root of all evil (of a lot of evil, anyway).

And here is the snag. Sexual pleasure (like money) is not "evil," not unskillful, but attachment to sexual pleasure is. If we can experience the pleasure without grasping and clinging, we are all right; if we become attached to it, we are far from "hitting the mark."

• Is detachment (not being clingy) better? The Buddhist Layman

What mindfulness help? - It is always helpful.

Now of course it is rather difficult, to put it mildly, to experience pleasure of any sort without feeling (or exciting the habit) attachment to it. Attachment is karma, unskillful karma at that. The results of that will inevitably, according to Buddhism, be unpleasant in the future. It needn't be this way.

Many might find this explanation novel. Some might find it puzzling. Some will undoubtedly reject it — without investigation — with the excuse that it is overly subtle, arbitrary, or something of the sort.

What they mean is that they find it inconvenient. But it repays a lot of consideration and mindful investigation.

Careful study, in fact, should show that it is the key to the whole problem. The matter can also be considered in terms of [the 12 causal links of] Dependent Origination:

• "Contact is the basis for the arising of feeling;
• feeling... of craving;
• craving... of clinging;" and so on,
• the ultimate outcome being the continued process of becoming, with all the suffering that entails.

Buddhism and [Regular] Sex (M. O'C. Walshe)

So if we wish to adjudicate between the Puritans and the permissive, we cannot say that either side is entirely right. However, we might suggest that Puritans are partly right for the wrong reasons.

Sexual indulgence is not wicked, but it may be (to some degree) inadvisable. Most people will not feel they are able to refrain altogether (nor are they being urged to), but there is merit in moderation. More

• Deviant Sex and Buddhism (Kindle edition) by Wadinagala Pannaloka

Aunty Lu's internalized Asian racism?

Who are the Aunty Lus who are so against dating Asians?

• Part 1: White worship: internalized Asian racism
• Maurice O'Connell Walshe: Wheel 275/276 — Buddhism and Christianity (with some notes on Judaism)

Funniest sex moves by guys | stand up comedy

(Free Time Movies) Featured Comedians: Tim Minchin | Alonzo Bodden | Rhod Gilbert | Lynne Koplitz. Subscribe to Crack Up 👉 bit.ly/SubToCrackUp | More 👉 bit.ly/WorldStandsUp.

This property is under a non-exclusive license from Rights Booster. All rights reserved. The World Stands Up brings together the best in comedy talent from all over the globe. Each episode features four artists (two from North America and two from the rest of the world) the last of which is musical. More than two hundred and fifty acts from five continents. #TheWorldStandsUp #StandUpComedy #CrackUp #TheWorldStandsUp #CrackUp

• Free Time Movies (stand up comedy), Aug. 17, 2021; Maurice O'Connell Walshe, BPS.lk via accesstoinsight.org; Why Everyone Hates Asian Men; CC Liu, Ashley Wells, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly