In a dharma talk on working with thoughts and emotions, Joseph Goldstein explains the impersonal and empty nature of the mind. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/insighthour and get on your way to being your best self. This week on Insight Hour, Joseph Goldstein teaches us about: Observing how mind states and thoughts mutually condition each otherThe way that thoughts carry us away into different emotional statesLooking at the direct nature and meaning of thoughtNoticing the difference between being lost and being awakeViewing our thoughts just as they ariseNot overthinking and focusing on the simplicity of a practiceThe six things that are ever arising or passing: our sensesMaintaining open awareness and experiencing the flow“Well, what is a thought? It’s quite remarkable because when we look at that level, not on the level of the story or the content, but thought as a phenomenon, we see that it is barely more than nothing. It is so phenomenal. These thoughts arise, and the content can be so compelling, but as a phenomenon, as the nature of thought, it’s just this little energy blip in the mind. If we’re not getting hooked by the content, it has no power at all.” – Joseph Goldstein This 2019 dharma talk from Insight Meditation Society was originally published by Dharmaseed See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.