Shinzen Young is a renowned mindfulness teacher known for his live gatherings, where he uses a scientific, “algorithmic” approach to explain the many aspects of meditation. With Sounds True, he has published the decades-in-the-making book The Science of Enlightenment: How Meditation Works. In the second half of an extensive interview on Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon and Shinzen talk about how to bring equanimity to both pleasurable and painful sensory experiences and how that has a purifying effect on consciousness. In order to ground this experience, Shinzen leads Tami and the audience on a guided practice to help give a “taste of purification.” Finally, Shinzen shares a quick, powerful technique for starting on the path to enlightenment and something intensely personal—his happiest thought. (75 minutes)

Shinzen Young is a renowned mindfulness teacher known for his live gatherings, where he uses a scientific, “algorithmic” approach to explain the many aspects of meditation. With Sounds True, he has published the decades-in-the-making book The Science of Enlightenment: How Meditation Works. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon and Shinzen speak on his approach to mindfulness, including a method of breaking down sensory experience into easily parsed categories. They talk about the three core powers of focused attention—sensory clarity, concentration, and equanimity—and how mindfulness can free us of the impression that our selves are static and unchanging. Finally, Shinzen and Tami discuss the different ways in which we can understand the concept of enlightenment, including an in-depth consideration of what Shinzen calls “classical enlightenment.” (66 minutes)