September 9, 2022
In this episode, Wendy speaks with renowned and beloved meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg. Sharon has been teaching meditation in the West for over 40 years, and is the co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society. Their conversation covers many topics, including:
- finding Buddhism and meditation as a teenager, and where it led her;
- her experience as a woman in the early contemplative movement;
- loving kindness & metta, and their relationship to prayer;
- love as an ability;
- the role of narrative and story-telling in our world and minds;
- a call for balance and self-compassion on the path;
- the role of the body in meditation;
- why contemplation matters for societal change;
- and living into our interconnection.
Sharon Salzberg is a meditation pioneer, world-renowned teacher, and New York Times bestselling author. She is one of the first to bring mindfulness and lovingkindness meditation to mainstream American culture over 45 years ago, inspiring generations of meditation teachers and wellness influencers. Sharon is co-founder of The Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA, and the author of twelve books, including the New York Times bestseller, Real Happiness, now in its second edition, and her seminal work, Lovingkindness. Her forthcoming release, Real Life: The Journey from Isolation to Openness and Freedom, is set for release in April of 2023 from Flatiron Books. Her podcast, The Metta Hour, has amassed five million downloads and features interviews with thought leaders from the mindfulness movement and beyond.
Resources
Sharon’s website
Insight Meditation Society (Retreat Center)
- Book discussed in the episode: Real change: Mindfulness to Heal Ourselves and the World
- All of Sharon’s books
- Podcast: Metta Hour Podcast
View or download a transcript of this episode
Podcast extra: Sharon and Wendy chat about interpreting scientific research, and touch on studies of meditation’s impact on implicit bias