Joseph Goldstein explores the Buddha’s life and journey, reflecting on the four stages of this mythological unfolding of awakening and how we can all achieve the enlightenment that is the end of craving.

This dharma talk from May 5, 2004, at the Insight Meditation Society – Forest Refuge, was originally published on Dharma Seed.

“On this archetypal level, the Buddha’s life is not simply the strivings and realizations of a particular individual, we can also understand his life as the unfolding of a great mythological journey. Now, mythological here does not mean unreal, it doesn’t mean imaginary. The great power of myth in our lives is that it connects our individual experiences with more universal principles.” – Joseph Goldstein

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