<p><em>New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.</em></p> <p><em>---</em></p> <p>Buddhist megastars in conversation.</p> <p> </p> <p>Today, we're dropping a recording of a live event we held earlier this year, during which Joseph Goldstein and Dr. Mark Epstein came on stage for a fascinating set of conversations. We did this event to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Dan's first book, also called 10% Happier. </p> <p> </p> <p>The night was structured like a late night show, so there was a monologue, and live music with the band <a href="https://www.barsuk.com/artists/matesofstate" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mates of State</a>. </p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://markepsteinmd.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dr. Mark Epstein</a> is a psychiatrist in private practice in New York City, and is the author of a number of books about the interface of Buddhism and psychotherapy, including Thoughts without a Thinker, Going to Pieces without Falling Apart, Going on Being, Open to Desire, Psychotherapy without the Self, The Trauma of Everyday Life and Advice Not Given: A Guide to Getting Over Yourself, and The Zen of Therapy: Uncovering a Hidden Kindness in Life. He received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Harvard University. He has been a student of vipassana meditation since 1974.</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="https://www.dharma.org/teacher/joseph-goldstein/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Joseph Goldstein</a> is a cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society and the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, both in Barre, Massachusetts. He is the author of Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening, A Heart Full of Peace, One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism, Insight Meditation and The Experience of Insight: A Simple and Direct Guide to Buddhist Meditation. Joseph has studied and practiced meditation since 1967 under the guidance of eminent teachers from India, Burma, and Tibet and he leads Insight Meditation retreats around the world.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><strong>In this episode we talk about:</strong></p> <ul> <li>The three month solo silent meditation retreat Joseph had just finished</li> <li>How to not suffer in the face of unwanted experiences </li> <li>Three exercises for slowing down</li> <li>Pragmatic applications of retreat practice for life in the real world </li> <li>How to see outside yourself</li> <li>How Mark came to Buddhism 50 years ago</li> <li>The relationship between Buddhism and psychotherapy </li> <li>The Buddhist concept of the two levels of reality </li> <li>And a guided meditation from a surprise guest</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Related Episodes:</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.happierapp.com/podcast/tph/joseph-goldstein-675" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nirvana | Joseph Goldstein</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.happierapp.com/podcast/tph/mark-epstein-10th" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dr. Mark Epstein On: How To Transform Your Neuroses Into "Little Shmoos"</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.happierapp.com/podcast/tph/retreat-episode-829" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">I Just Did A 10-Day Silent Meditation Retreat With Joseph Goldstein. Here's What I Learned</a></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Sign up for Dan's newsletter</strong> <a href="http://www.danharris.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>here</strong></a></p> <p><strong>Follow Dan on social:</strong> <a href="https://bit.ly/3tGigG5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Instagram</strong></a><strong>,</strong> <a href="https://bit.ly/3FOA84J" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>TikTok</strong></a></p> <p><strong>Ten Percent Happier online</strong> <a href="https://bit.ly/46TZglY" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>bookstore</strong></a></p> <p><strong>Subscribe to our</strong> <a href="https://bit.ly/3FybRzD" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>YouTube Channel</strong></a></p> <p><strong>Our favorite playlists on:</strong> <a href="https://spoti.fi/3Qa8kMT" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Anxiety</strong></a><strong>,</strong> <a href="https://spoti.fi/3MjtMxF" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Sleep</strong></a><strong>,</strong> <a href="https://spoti.fi/3QvyA5J" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Relationships</strong></a><strong>,</strong> <a href="https://spoti.fi/3QxZASc" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Most Popular Episodes</strong></a></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Full Shownotes:</strong> <a href="https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/joseph-mark-live" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/joseph-mark-live</a></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Additional Resources:</strong></p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.nyimc.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The New York Insight Meditation Center</a></li> <li><a href="http://markepsteinmd.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://markepsteinmd.com/</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Going-Pieces-without-Falling-Apart/dp/0767902351" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Going to Pieces without Falling Apart: A Buddhist Perspective on Wholeness</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Trauma-Everyday-Life-Mark-Epstein/dp/0143125745" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Trauma of Everyday Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/matesofstate/?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mates of State</a></li> <li>Download the Happier app today: <a href="https://my.happierapp.com/link/download" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://my.happierapp.com/link/download</a></li> </ul> <p> </p>
Actionable Insights
1. Utilize Suffering for Learning
When experiencing suffering or unwanted experiences, view them as opportunities to be mindful, curious, and learn about your habitual patterns, taking responsibility for your mind’s reaction to free yourself from difficulty.
2. Reframe Issues Positively
Practice reframing problems, such as anxiety as excitement or failure as experimentation, to view them in a more helpful light and create an opportunity to learn.
3. Meditate to Manage Inner Voice
Practice meditation to develop a new relationship with your inner narrator, allowing you to respond wisely to situations rather than reacting blindly to neurotic obsessions.
4. Cultivate Happiness as a Skill
Understand that happiness is a skill that can be developed and changed, rather than a fixed factory setting.
5. Switch to Gratitude Channel
When facing difficulties or unwanted experiences, consciously switch your mind to a ‘gratitude channel’ by focusing on the blessings and good things in your life to enlarge your perspective and uplift your feelings.
6. Express Gratitude to Universe
Regularly express gratitude to the universe for the blessings in your life, as this simple act can be meaningful and uplifting, transferring positive feelings to interactions with others.
7. View Distraction as Success
When meditating and noticing distraction, consider it a moment of success rather than failure, as this awareness helps you become familiar with your mind’s workings and observe thoughts non-judgmentally.
8. Practice Loving Kindness Meditation
Sit comfortably with a straight spine and closed or softly gazing eyes. Envision a series of beings (easy to love, yourself, mentor, neutral, mildly annoying, all beings) and send them the phrases: ‘May you be happy, May you be healthy, May you be safe, and May you live with ease,’ connecting the words to the image or felt sense without needing to feel a certain way.
9. Practice Three Walking Meditations
Engage in walking meditation using three frames: 1) Be aware of walking through space, letting your mind become space; 2) Ask ‘Am I dreaming?’ while walking to shift perspective from body identification; 3) Frame your walk as moving through the mind, making awareness the focus.
10. Cultivate Body Movement Awareness
Practice formal walking meditation to develop a habit of being naturally grounded in the movement of your body, even in busy environments, without particular effort.
11. Develop Basic Stillness
Practice developing basic stillness and concentration to avoid being constantly caught up in thoughts and distractions.
12. Adopt Historical/Cosmic Perspective
When faced with overwhelming issues like politics, adopt a historical perspective to see that similar challenges have occurred for millennia, or a cosmic perspective (like Carl Sagan’s Blue Dot) to enlarge your view and avoid getting caught up in thinking the current moment is a disaster.
13. Cultivate Compassion for Difficult People
When dealing with people who upset you, try to cultivate compassion by recognizing their potential suffering and the unskillful actions that stem from ignorance, rather than focusing solely on their actions.
14. Seek Non-Judgmental Holding
Seek out relationships, whether with a meditation teacher or a therapist, where you can express your inner experiences and difficulties without judgment, as this non-judgmental holding is very healing.
15. Use Therapy for Relational Awareness
Engage in psychotherapy to apply the self-awareness gained through meditation to interpersonal relationships, using the therapeutic relationship as a ‘playground’ to observe and understand your own patterns in action.
16. Identify Clinging in Therapy
Utilize therapy to identify instances of ‘clinging’ in your behavior and thought patterns, as becoming aware of it can help you release it and feel better.
17. Explore the ‘Self’ in Therapy
Use therapy as a means to explore and understand how the ‘self’ appears in your own experience, which is a prerequisite for understanding the concept of selflessness.
18. Grasp Two Levels of Reality
Understand the Buddhist concept of two levels of reality (relative and ultimate truth) simultaneously, which can help you avoid taking your thoughts, urges, and emotions too personally.
19. Foster Creative Silence
Understand that the deepest creative expression often emerges from a silent, quiet mind rather than the thinking mind, suggesting that practices that quiet the mind can enhance creativity.
20. Engage in Writing Retreats
Consider doing writing retreats where you alternate between sitting meditation and writing, as this can foster deep creative expression from a silent mind.
Engage in personal growth, self-development, or spiritual work with other people, as this communal aspect can supercharge the effort.
22. Undertake Silent Retreats for Self-Exploration
Engage in silent meditation retreats to explore every part of your mind, gaining perspective and space to understand patterns that cause suffering and bring happiness.
23. Prioritize Remembering Practices
Acknowledge that remembering to apply practices like gratitude or mindfulness in daily life is often the hardest part, and make an effort to do so.