Metta Hour with Sharon Salzberg
Be Here Now Network
The Sharon Salzberg Metta Hour features Buddhist philosophy in a practical, common sense vernacular. Sharon’s natural wisdom, sense of humor and the ease with which she translates these teachings forge an intimate connection with the listener. From everyday experiences to pithy revelations, each podcast is a journey on the path of self-discovery.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. www.sharonsalzberg.com
Episodes
Mentioned books
Oct 5, 2015 • 50min
Ep. 27 – Introduction to Metta
“It is the truth that liberates, not your efforts to be free” - J. Krishnamurti
Sharon helps us to appreciate the sense of clarity that naturally arises when our view is no longer distorted by our fears, biases, and judgments of the world around us. This truth is born of and sustained through the versatile wisdom that comes from the cultivation and subsequent embodiment of a genuine balance of the mind and heart. Meditation serves as a method of manifestation for the conditions necessary to promote and support this awakened state. Our capacity to open is innate and requires only that we uncover and nurture these qualities through our commitment to practice
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Sep 21, 2015 • 56min
Ep. 26 – Going Home
How can we be passionate while remaining at ease, moving forward in our investigation without losing our center? Sharon describes meditation as a means for learning how to sit in the heart of the paradoxes that we encounter on our path. We have to remain whole-hearted, to be daring in our efforts to explore that longing we feel toward something deeper. Right-effort is crucial in maintaining the balance and avoiding the strain and self-judgment that can often accompany such endeavors. Our aspiration is both the challenge and the inspiration that we need to shift our energy and identity to something much greater than the roles we play.
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Aug 24, 2015 • 56min
Ep. 25 – Compassion, Sympathetic Joy and Equanimity
Sharon discusses some of the qualities that often accompany Metta, and explains the synergistic and supportive relationship they promote. When brought together these forces generate a sense of balance that is both genuine and sustainable. Equanimity is essential in understanding the potential for these qualities to become boundless in nature. We begin to open to suffering through compassion, and discover joy in the understanding of our shared experience.
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Aug 23, 2015 • 54min
Ep. 24 – Proximity (featuring Raghu Markus)
Raghu Markus returns to the Metta Hour to discuss a recent blog from Sharon regarding the role of proximity in understanding the ubiquitous nature of our lives. There is a capacity within us to see ourselves in one another as we begin to explore the intrinsic vulnerability under which we operate. The power of compassion is highlighted as a means for avoiding demonization, and enacting an energetic and compassionate response to the suffering that we encounter. Our ideas about one another are just that, ideas, and the more we are willing to investigate our pretenses through genuine interaction the more we find they are often misleading. The secret to success is found in paying attention.
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Aug 10, 2015 • 60min
Ep. 23 – Practicing in the World
Experiences come and go with a dreamlike flow that often leaves us wondering how we ever got so lost in the moment. The miracle of mindfulness comes through its ability to bring greater perspective to the full spectrum of emotions that will undoubtedly arise throughout our lives. Awareness has the power to provide refuge in every moment and we need only to remember this ever-present potential. Sharon reminds us that mindfulness can go anywhere and isn’t dependent upon circumstance
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Jul 27, 2015 • 55min
Ep. 22 – The Cloud of Delusion
Delusion clouds our judgment and prevents us from seeing things as they truly are. It often carries with it a sense of apprehension or uncertainty, which strips us of the energy required to look deeply at our lives. One of the greatest dangers is its ability to block empathy, which can be viewed as the root of caring. If we can’t open to our own suffering, then we become incapable of opening to the suffering of others. Sharon discusses the ways that we can both recognize and dismantle delusion in an effort to gain clarity and confidence in where we chose to put our faith.
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Jul 1, 2015 • 58min
Ep. 21 – Suffering as an Opening to Faith
What is it that happens within certain individuals that allows an emergence from a place of suffering into a space of greater faith and trust in the world in which they navigate? This alchemical process seems to be born of an understanding and appreciation of the larger universe in which we exist. Perhaps this expansion of our very being provides a larger space in which to hold the suffering. We can’t always prevent painful experiences from occurring, but we can learn to be present with them, to merge with our suffering in a way that encourages balance and equanimity.
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Jun 17, 2015 • 55min
Ep. 20 – The Five Hindrances
‘The mind is naturally radiant and pure. The mind is shining. It is because of visiting forces that we suffer’ - The Buddha
Sharon identifies and thoroughly deconstructs some of the more common obstacles encountered in practice, emphasizing the non-local aspect of these intruding forces. The implications of this discovery, and continued remembrance through practice, help us to better understand the importance of knowing who we truly are. When we are at one with our true nature we no longer feel the pull toward identification with these frequent visitors. We can learn to skillfully acknowledge their presence and even invite them in, knowing and trusting that they are not to become permanent residents
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Jun 6, 2015 • 57min
Ep. 19 – Greed, Hatred, and Delusion
Sharon outlines a few of the more powerful conditioned forces that can often motivate and form the basis for our intentions. Thankfully, she also provides some methodology for the purification of these mental states, and offers practical advice for integrating these fresh perspectives into our everyday lives. Not surprisingly, the power of practice is highlighted as a means for overcoming our more self-centered relationships to the world around us.
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May 25, 2015 • 56min
Ep. 18 – Balance
An exploration of the potential role of balance in bringing liberation from the tyranny of the form of practice, by looking beyond the various methods employed into the essence of our purpose in doing the work. All of our ‘skillful means’ are, in truth, toward some end, the discovery of which is the very balance we seek. The path itself is an unfolding of balance, where we create the conditions that allow us to be with absolutely anything.
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