Joseph Goldstein

Joseph Goldstein (born May 20, 1944) is one of the first American vipassana teachers, 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. An early promoter of insight practice and awareness, Goldstein is credited as an influence in the rise of mindfulness practices in the US since he started hosting workshops in 1974 (see Chronology section).

Chronology May 20, 1944: Born; grew up in the Catskill Mountains of New York. 1965: Graduated from Columbia University as a philosophy major. 1965: Entered the Peace Corps in Thailand, where he first became interested in Buddhism. After the Peace Corps, he spent most of the next seven years in India studying and practicing Buddhist meditation. In Bodh Gaya India, Goldstein studied Theravada Buddhism with Anagarika Sri Munindra. for long-term personal retreats. 2015: Started the "Insight Hour with Joseph Goldstein" podcast on the Be Here Now Network.

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. His book Mindfulness is based on the Satipatthana Sutta, a Buddhist text. Goldstein has featured talks and sessions available on the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) website.

Teachers and Relationships 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, the Venerable Sayadaw U Pandita,

Goldstein's personal and working relationship to Jack Kornfield is often referenced in scholarship. They are compared as parallels, both of them grew up on the east coast, earned Ivy league educations, went to the peace corps in southeast Asia in the 1965 and began to study Theravada Buddhism in the late 60s and early 70s - Goldstein in India, Kornfield in Thailand. Their collaboration with making Vispanna intelligible and accessible through the IMS is viewed as an important propagator of Buddhism and mindfulness practice in the West.

Publications (partial list, in chronological order) The Experience of Insight: A Simple and Direct Guide to Buddhist Meditation (1976)

Insight Meditation: A Step-By-Step Course on How to Meditate (2002), with Sharon Salzberg One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism (2002) A Heart Full of Peace (2007)