The following talk was given at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California.

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So welcome to this fifth talk that introduces the topic of insight.

And today, I would like to emphasize that the classic teachings on insight meditation

are offered for a purpose.

Or to say it differently, that insight meditation is designed for a purpose, maybe you can say many purposes,

but the purpose to institute, to instigate a certain degree of change, transformation within us. And the most classic Buddhist

purpose is to become free of suffering, to become free of attachments and clinging. And it's a

remarkable goal in how thoroughly it changes the foundational operating system of a human being.

It's an amazing that this is possible and that people experience this.

Other people will see it as more modest goals, purposes.

To live without stress is a common thing. And these days,

mindfulness is offered as stress reduction, to understand oneself better, to be more self-accepting,

to be, to just to get settled enough and secretly enough, to be able to see the

world with eyes of love and kindness. So there's many, many purposes people can have, but the purpose

is to have some transformation and change. And so part of practicing inside meditation is to have some sense of what purpose you have for it.

Do you have a vision for how you'd like to change, how you'd like to be different?

Do you have a sense of why you're doing this practice? And it's not necessary to have

that, there was a period of time when I practiced that I didn't know why I practiced. I just knew

that I was doing it. But sooner or later, as inside practice, one of the foundational element of it is to have a directionality, a purpose, a some motivation for doing it that's more than just being present in a clear, full way.

It's to have a transformation.

And it's kind of a, meant to be a natural motivation,

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