And the Welcome to the Joseph Goldstein Insight Hour.

This podcast is an expression of our shared interest in self-discovery.

Join Joseph as he shares his deep knowledge of the path of mindfulness.

If you are interested in supporting this podcast, please go to be here now network.com slash Joseph.

We often think of meditation as being the very heart of the path of awakening. And of course in many ways it is. The cultivation of mindfulness, the cultivation of

concentration is what makes possible the wisdom that liberates our hearts and our minds.

But the Buddhist teachings are also more inclusive of life experience

than the specialized circumstances

of intensive retreat where these insights develop.

And as essential as these insights are, the path as a whole is larger and embraces more.

And we see this with unmistakable clarity in the various steps of the eightfold path.

Now having established ourselves to some degree

in right understanding,

and then have. in right understanding. And then having cultivated and discerned

and practice right thought,

you know, thoughts of renunciation, of love and

kindness and compassion. The Buddha then lays out the consequences of these steps in how we live our lives.

And these are the next three steps of the path.

Right speech, right action, and right livelihood.

Now as we examine our own commitment to awakening, we might notice a tendency to make this part of the path

somewhat of a lesser endeavor, not quite at the same level as our commitment to meditation practice.

But if we hold it in this way, what happens is that we are really fragmenting our lives,

...