As a Buddhist study center, we’re committed to ongoing inquiry and reflection. Each newsletter includes a Dharma Resource to support continued study and practice. We hope these offerings are meaningful and helpful to you.
Beyond “I Am”: Joseph Goldstein on Non-Clinging, the Unborn, and the Illusion of Self
Joseph Goldstein joined Dhammadīpā, John Dunne, Guo Gu, Anne C. Klein, and William Edelglass for Liberation: A Dialogue Across Buddhist Traditions, an exploration of how different Buddhist traditions understand liberation and freedom from suffering.
Examining themes such as impermanence, non-self, compassion, emptiness, and non-duality, the retreat invited participants to explore both the shared ground and distinct perspectives of different Buddhist paths, while reflecting on how awakening transforms the way we live and respond to the world.
This month’s Dharma Resource features Joseph Goldstein’s dharma talk, Q&A session, and guided meditation from the retreat.
Dharma Talk
In this wide-ranging dharma talk, Joseph Goldstein explores non-clinging as the heart of the Buddhist path and reflects on how his understanding of “One Dharma” has evolved over time.
Drawing from Theravāda, Dzogchen, Zen, and his own decades of practice, Joseph examines both the common ground and important distinctions among Buddhist traditions, especially around the nature of awareness, nibbāna, and “the unborn.” Along the way, he reflects on attachment to views, meditative experience, and even spiritual insight itself, emphasizing the importance of humility, openness, and continued cultivation on the path.
At the center of the talk is a profound exploration of selflessness: the uprooting of identity view, the persistence of subtle “I am”-ness (māna), and moments in practice when even the sense of being someone experiencing life can briefly fall away. With warmth, clarity, and humor, Joseph offers a deeply grounded reflection on awakening and the gradual unfolding of freedom.
Q&A Session
Following the talk, Joseph Goldstein joins fellow teachers and retreat participants for a lively and nuanced dialogue exploring the themes raised in the teaching more deeply. Drawing from Theravāda, Chan, and Tibetan Buddhist perspectives, the conversation includes reflections on sudden awakening and gradual cultivation, the difference between mindfulness and self-consciousness, and the relationship between insight and transformation.
Marked by curiosity, humor, and deep mutual respect, the exchange offers a rare glimpse into experienced practitioners engaging across traditions while clarifying, challenging, and refining one another’s understanding of the path.
Guided Meditation
In this guided meditation, Joseph Goldstein explores a simple but radical shift in awareness: moving from the familiar sense of “I am hearing” or “I am thinking” to the direct experience of “a sound being known” or “a thought being known.”
Using the passive voice as a contemplative tool, Joseph invites listeners to investigate the selfless and empty nature of experience, pointing toward a way of being in which phenomena arise and pass on their own, without a separate self at the center of experience.
Relaxed, spacious, and profound, the meditation offers an experiential doorway into non-duality, choiceless awareness, and the liberating insight of non-clinging.
