"We are living in remarkable times. A genuine Western Buddhism is now taking birth", writes Joseph Goldstein, one of America's most respected Buddhist teachers. The birth pangs include controversy and conflict - and fear that genuine teachings may vanish as traditions converge in the melting pot of American practice. But Goldstein recognizes a possibility, indeed a great potential, for the essence of Buddhism to survive on Western soil, in Western minds.
His visionary synthesis points a way for Buddhism to grow and flower while remaining rooted in the teachings of the great Asian schools - from India and Burma to Tibet and Japan. Marked by a simplicity derived from the Buddha's own pragmatic response to life, Goldstein distills the essential question that is at the base of all the traditions: What works to free the mind from suffering?
He provides a brief historical overview of early Buddhism and explores the mind-changing reflections that bring us to the Dharma path - the teachings of liberation, free from sectarian attachments. Upon this foundation Goldstein then shows how the great masters from all traditions have pointed to the essence of ultimate freedom.


One Dharma, Joseph Goldstein, Harper San Francisco, 214 pages,$24.95

Joseph Goldstein (born May 20, 1944) is one of the first American vipassana teachers,[1][2] co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) with Jack Kornfield and Sharon Salzberg,[2][3] 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.[4]