The Common Ground of Letting Go
Joseph Goldstein on liberation across traditions
Joseph Goldstein, a co-founder of the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, has spent decades exploring how the Dharma is understood and practiced across traditions. His new article, The Common Ground of Letting Go, reflects this ongoing inquiry.
At the center of the piece is a question that guides the entire exploration: What frees the mind?
Drawing on teachings from early Buddhism, as well as later Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, Joseph considers how different traditions present diverse perspectives and use shared terms in different ways. Rather than trying to determine which perspective is ultimately correct, he describes the relief of not needing to resolve that question, and instead turning toward a more immediate and practical inquiry.
He writes:
“I realized that one way to approach the diverse philosophical descriptions across traditions was to explore a common understanding of what frees the mind.”
From this perspective, the focus shifts from comparing views to understanding the conditions for liberation. Across traditions, Joseph highlights a shared emphasis:
“Most Buddhist traditions agree that liberation is experienced in a mind free of clinging—to the body, the mind, or even awareness itself.”
The article explores how different teachings—whether framed in terms of impermanence, non-self, or non-dual awareness—can function as skillful means for cultivating this freedom from clinging. While traditions may differ in their language, methods, and descriptions, they often converge in pointing toward the ending of suffering through the cessation of craving and clinging.
You can read the full article here:
A Living Inquiry: Liberation Across Traditions
This inquiry into liberation continues in the upcoming BCBS program:
Liberation: A Dialogue Across Buddhist Traditions
Online | April 23–26, 2026 | Dāna Program
With teachers including Dhammadīpā, John Dunne, Joseph Goldstein, Guo Gu, Anne C. Klein (Rigzin Drolma), Ruth Ozeki, and William Edelglass, this program explores how different Buddhist traditions understand liberation and the path leading to it.
Through dharma talks, guided meditation, and dialogue, the program examines key features of the path—impermanence, non-self, compassion, and non-dual awareness—while remaining grounded in practice and lived experience.
In the spirit of Joseph’s article, the program does not attempt to resolve differences between traditions. Instead, it offers an opportunity to explore how diverse approaches can each serve as skillful means for cultivating non-clinging and realizing freedom from suffering.
Join the Online Program
Offered freely in the spirit of dāna, this program makes the teachings available to all, regardless of financial circumstances, while inviting participants to support the BCBS community through generosity.
