10% Happier with Dan Harris Joseph Goldstein + Mark Epstein On: How To Handle Unwanted Experiences, How Not To Waste Your Suffering & The Overlap Between Buddhism + Therapy
Behind the Waterfall
- Retreats reveal suffering patterns and paths to happiness, allowing one to be "behind the waterfall."
- This involves developing stillness and concentration to observe the flow of changing experiences.
Don't Waste Your Suffering
- Suffering arises from unwanted experiences, which are inevitable in life.
- Don't waste your suffering; use it to understand your mind's role in creating suffering.
Gratitude Practice
- Shift from focusing on what's wrong to what's good in your life.
- Expressing gratitude expands perspective and reduces self-obsession.
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Buddhist megastars in conversation.
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.
The night was structured like a late night show, so there was a monologue, and live music with the band Mates of State.
Dr. Mark Epstein 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.
Joseph Goldstein 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.
In this episode we talk about:
- The three month solo silent meditation retreat Joseph had just finished
- How to not suffer in the face of unwanted experiences
- Three exercises for slowing down
- Pragmatic applications of retreat practice for life in the real world
- How to see outside yourself
- How Mark came to Buddhism 50 years ago
- The relationship between Buddhism and psychotherapy
- The Buddhist concept of the two levels of reality
- And a guided meditation from a surprise guest
Related Episodes:
Dr. Mark Epstein On: How To Transform Your Neuroses Into "Little Shmoos"
I Just Did A 10-Day Silent Meditation Retreat With Joseph Goldstein. Here's What I Learned
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Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/joseph-mark-live
Additional Resources:
- The New York Insight Meditation Center
- http://markepsteinmd.com/
- Going to Pieces without Falling Apart: A Buddhist Perspective on Wholeness
- The Trauma of Everyday Life
- Mates of State
- Download the Happier app today: https://my.happierapp.com/link/download