Joseph Goldstein (born May 20, 1944) is one of the first American vipassana teachers, co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) with Jack Kornfield and Sharon Salzberg, a contemporary author of numerous popular books on Buddhism (see publications below), a resident guiding teacher at IMS, and a leader of retreats worldwide on insight (vipassana) and lovingkindness (metta) meditation. While the majority of Goldstein's publications introduce Westerners to primarily Theravada concepts, practices and values, his 2002 work, One Dharma, explored the creation of an integrated framework for the Theravada, Tibetan and Zen traditions.

Chronology

Meditation practice

Goldstein had original experiences of realisation concerning the word 'unborn' and an experience of zero and of no self. He makes a 3-month meditation retreat most years. He says the peace and happiness we experience has to do with the quality of our minds, not our possessions. His book Mindfulness is based on the Satipatthana Sutta, a Buddhist text.

Teachers

Since 1967, Goldstein has practiced different forms of Buddhist meditation under well-known teachers from India, Burma and Tibet. His teachers include: Anagarika Sri Munindra, Sri S.N. Goenka, Mrs. Nani Bala Barua (Dipa Ma), the Venerable Sayadaw U Pandita, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, and Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche.

Publications (partial list, in chronological order)