Metta Hour With Sharon Salzberg

For episode 143 of the Metta Hour, Sharon speaks with Sarah Jones.Sarah is a Tony® Award-winning performer, writer, comedian and activist. Called “a master of the genre” by ​The New York Times​, Sarah is known for her multi-character, one-person shows, including Broadway hit ​Bridge & Tunnel​, and the critically-acclaimed show ​Sell/Buy/Date​. She has given multiple main-stage TED Talks garnering millions of views and performed for President and First Lady Obama at the White House. Sarah recently launched Foment Productions, a social justice-focused entertainment company aligned with her progressive, intersectional activism. She has appeared in film and TV projects ranging from Sesame Street to ​ Marriage Story,​ and she will next be seen in an upcoming Netflix dramedy series, ​On the Verge.This is the sixteenth episode of the Real Change Podcast series. In this conversation, Sarah and Sharon speak about Sarah’s path and how contemplative practices have informed her work as a writer, director and actor. T

Devon has been committed to meditation since 2000, spending years in retreat in the Insight and Vajrayana traditions, and has been mentored by Joseph Goldstein, Tara Brach, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. Craig began intensive meditation training in 1994, living in a Zen monastery for six years before getting his Ph.D. in counseling psychology. Together they are teachers and mentors in the spiritual community, and they just released their new book, How Not To Be A Hot Mess. You can find about more their offerings at DevonandCraigHase.comThis is episode fifteen of the Real Change Podcast series. In this episode, Devon and Craig examine the ways that the practices of mindfulness can make it through the difficulties we face day-to-day. They speak with Sharon about some of the themes from “Real Change” and how we can embody our best selves through the practices of mindfulness and meditation. The episode finishes with three-minute breath meditation guided by Sharon to close the conversation.Get your copy o

For episode 141 of the Metta Hour, Sharon speaks with Ellen Agler.Ellen serves as the CEO of the END Fund, a private philanthropic initiative working to see an end of the suffering caused by five neglected tropical diseases affecting 1.7 billion of the world’s most impoverished people, including more than 1 billion children. The END Fund actively supports programs with dozens of partners in more than 25 countries, focusing on sub-Saharan Africa. Her book, “Under the Big Tree” was released in January of 2019.This is episode fourteen of the Real Change Podcast series. Ellen starts the conversation by sharing how COVID has impacted the END Fund. They discuss the cycles of systems change and individual change and how the two inform each other. They also discuss some of the themes from “Real Change” and how meditation practice has been essential to balance Ellen’s work in the Public Health Sector. The two share a few of the individuals who inspire them and model how to live with a lightness of being

For episode 140 of the Metta Hour, Sharon speaks with friend and colleague Mallika Dutt.Mallika is a leading innovator in storytelling and culture change, bringing together the power of ancient wisdom and spiritual practices with contemporary technologies and tools for creative connection and transformation. She combines her creative advocacy for a thriving world with a coaching, speaking and strategy practice that connects planet, people, and purpose.This is the thirteenth episode of the Real Change Podcast series. In this conversation, Mallika shares what brought her to the path of activism and human rights, and how contemplative practices have informed her life. She and Sharon discuss some of the themes from “Real Change,” that have been relevant to Mallika’s journey: how identity plays a role in our engagement, working with anger and rage, and how Mallika cultivates resilience in an ongoing way. The episode closes with Mallika leading a guided Metta meditation practice.Get your copy of Sharon's newest boo

For episode 139 of the Metta Hour, Sharon speaks with Jana Kiser.Jana Kiser is a social entrepreneur and Harvard-trained educator. She has more than twenty years of experience partnering with youth, adults, and communities in their pursuit of equity, justice, and peace. Jana founded Global Learning, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to education for peace and justice, and served as Global Learning’s Executive Director for thirteen years. She has also served for six years as the Executive Director of Redwood City 2020. This collective impact organization addresses inequity and the effects of poverty through health and wellness programming.This is episode twelve of the Real Change Podcast series. In this conversation, Jana and Sharon speak about Jana’s work in Puerto Rico to support community healing in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. They talk about Jana’s history and what brought her to the path of meditation and activism. They speak about some of the themes from “Real Change,” particularly

For episode 138 of the Metta Hour, Sharon speaks with David DeSteno.David is a Psychologist who studies the ways in which emotions guide decisions and behaviors fundamental to social living. David is a professor of psychology at Northeastern University, where he directs the Social Emotions Group. At the broadest level, his work examines the mechanisms of the mind that shape vice and virtue. Studying hypocrisy and compassion, pride and punishment, cheating and trust, his work continually reveals that human moral behavior is much more variable than most would predict. The National Science Foundation has repeatedly funded his work and he is the author of several book, “Emotional Success,” “The Truth About Trust,” and co-author of The Wall Street Journal bestseller “Out of Character.”This recording is the eleventh episode of the Real Change Podcast series. In this conversation, David and Sharon speak about how David became interested in his career as a researcher exploring how emotions shapes our lives. They disc

For episode 137 of the Metta Hour, Sharon speaks with Killian Noe.Killian is the Founding Director of Recovery Café, providing a beautiful, safe, warm, drug and alcohol-free space and loving community to anchor Members in the sustained recovery needed to gain and maintain access to housing, social and health services, healthy relationships, education and employment. Before starting Recovery Café in 2004, Killian co-founded Samaritan Inns, a non-profit in Washington DC, which provides transitional and longer-term drug and alcohol-free, community-oriented housing for individuals recovering from homelessness, addiction and other mental health challenges.This is the tenth episode of the Real Change Podcast series. In this conversation, Killian and Sharon speak about Killian’s longtime work as a change-maker and what role compassion has played in her work. They discuss the role that contemplative practice and service have played in Killian’s personal life and how it has informed her career as an activist

For episode 136 of the Metta Hour, Sharon speaks with friend and colleague, Soren Gordhamer.Soren is the founder and host of Wisdom 2.0, and the author of the book by the same name. He has spoken on and taught mindfulness to people around the world–from youth in New York City’s juvenile halls, to trauma workers in Rwanda, to the staff at Google’s corporate headquarters.This is the ninth episode of the Real Change Podcast series. In this conversation, Soren and Sharon discuss the role that meditation has played in Soren’s life and how it has informed his work as a change-maker. They discuss the importance of voting and the role meditation plays in citizenship. Soren also shares about his #VoteKindness initiative for the upcoming US election of 2020. The episode closes with Soren leading a 10-minute guided meditation practice.Get your copy of Sharon's newest book, Real Change, at sharonsalzberg.com or your favorite place to get books or audiobooks!

For episode 135 of the Metta Hour, Sharon speaks with one of her oldest friends and colleagues, Jack Kornfield.Jack Kornfield is a beloved author and meditation teacher who trained as a Buddhist monk in the monasteries of Thailand, India, and Burma. He has taught meditation internationally since 1974, and his books have been translated into 20 languages and sold more than a million copies.A longtime activist, Jack discusses with Sharon the role of an engaged life in the spiritual path, as taught in the Buddhist tradition. They share an intimate conversation with stories since meeting and becoming friends in 1974, and how activism has shaped their teaching and lives. They also discuss voting as a spiritual act and the organization that Jack is supporting to help get out the vote for the 2020 U.S. Presidential election: Buddhists & Yogins United. The conversation closes with Jack leading a guided meditation on Loving Awareness. Learn more about Jack's offerings at jackkornfield.comGet your copy of Sharon's

For episode 134 of the Metta Hour, Sharon speaks with social change agent, Marc Solomon.Marc is a nationally recognized political strategist and campaign leader with 25 years of experience in strategy, campaign management, policy development and execution, messaging and communications leadership, and field mobilization. Marc was one of the key architects of the marriage equality movement and has applied lessons from the marriage equality movement to help secure impactful criminal justice reforms, pass laws enacting automatic voter registration, advance pro-immigrant policies, and build bipartisan support for ending partisan gerrymandering. Learn more about Marc’s public affair’s work at civitaspublicaffairs.comIn this episode, Sharon and Marc discuss his work as an activist, in particular, cultivating resilience working on long-term civil rights movements, and the role that meditation has played in his own life. Marc closes the conversation by leading a guided lovingkindness meditation practice.Get your

For episode 133 of the Metta Hour, Sharon speaks with Anu Gupta.Anu Gupta is a scientist, educator and lawyer. He is the Founder of Be More with Anu, a science-backed, compassion-based approach, after conducting decade-long research on the causes of and solutions to racial and gender inequality.In this episode, Sharon and Anu speak at length about Anu’s personal journey to becoming a meditator, and his work as a facilitator in breaking bias, healing trauma, mending policies, and channeling resources equitably. Anu closes the conversation by leading a guided meditation practice.Get your copy of Sharon's newest book, Real Change, at sharonsalzberg.com or your favorite place to get books or audiobooks!

For episode 132 of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon speaks Diego Perez, known more commonly as Yung Pueblo, for the Real Change Podcast Series.Diego is a meditator, writer, and speaker who is widely known on Instagram and various social media networks through his pen name Yung Pueblo. Online he reaches hundreds of thousands of people every month through his written works that focus on the reality of self-healing, the movement from self-love to unconditional love, and the wisdom that comes when we truly work on knowing ourselves.This is the fifth episode of the Real Change Podcast series. In this conversation, Diego shares his journey of coming to Vipassana meditation. They share stories about the influence that S.N. Goenka has had on both their lives, as well as the role Dipa Ma has okayed for them both. Diego shares about his life as a community organizer and activist before becoming a writer, and they discuss at length the relationship between inner transformation and outer transformation. The conversation cl

For episode 131 of the Metta Hour, Sharon speaks with her close friend, Sylvia Boorstein for the Real Change Podcast Series.Sylvia Boorstein has been teaching Dharma and mindfulness meditation since 1985, and is the author of five books. She is a founding teacher of Spirit Rock Meditation Center, a psychotherapist, wife, mother and grandmother.vIn this conversation Sharon and Sylvia talk about their initial meeting in the1980s through lovingkindness practice, and how that practice has shaped Sylvia’s practice and teaching. They discuss their experiences in the pandemic, and what is still true: the three characteristics of existence from the Buddhist framework. Sylvia shares about her experiences working with worry or other unstable mind energies through the five hindrances.This is the fourth episode of the Real Change Podcast Series, and Sylvia shares her experiences as a longtime activist, and why she considered her spiritual practice in her 20s and 30s to be activism. She also speaks about her arrest in 200

For episode 130 of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon speaks Joel Leon.Joel is a performer, author, and storyteller who writes and tells stories for Black people. Born and raised in the Bronx, Joel specializes in moderating and leading conversations surrounding race, masculinity, mental health, creativity and the performing arts, with love at the center of his work and purpose. He is the author of “Book About Things I Will Tell My Daughter” and “God Wears Durags, Too”.This is the third episode of the Real Change Podcast series. In this conversation, Joel and Sharon discuss love as an agent of change in the world, reclaiming it from its more often romantic definitions. Joel shares how he came to Buddhist teachings and how they have affected his life and art, especially now, during the Coronavirus quarantine in NYC. They discuss many of the themes in Real Change, especially the role that art plays in social change movements, and how differently that is viewed in eastern versus western cultures. The conversatio

For episode 129 of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon speaks with friend and colleague, Sebene Selassie for the Real Change Series.Sebene Selassie has been teaching meditation workshops, courses and retreats for over a decade and her first book, “You Belong” was released in August of 2020 by HarperOne. She has studied Buddhism for over 30 years and received a BA from McGill University in Religious and Women’s Studies and an MA from the New School where she focused on cultural studies and race. Her work has taken her everywhere from the Tenderloin in San Francisco to refugee camps in Guinea, West Africa. Sebene is proud to have served on the boards of New York Insight Meditation Center, the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, and Sacred Mountain Sangha.This is the second episode of the Real Change Podcast series. In this conversation, Sebene and Sharon discuss some of the overlapping themes from their new books, Real Change and You Belong, exploring the ways meditation practice can inform social acti

For episode 128 of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon speaks with Sensei Joshin Byrnes for the Real Change Series.Sensei Joshin Byrnes is a Zen priest, teacher, activist, and the founder of the Bread Loaf Mountain Zen Community in Vermont. Joshin maintains a core practice of bearing witness to homelessness by offering street retreats in cities around the country and has spent much of his career working for social change nonprofits in the areas of AIDS and HIV prevention, child welfare, and community-based philanthropy.This is the first episode of the Real Change Podcast series. In this conversation, Joshin and Sharon discuss some of the themes from her new book, Real Change, exploring the ways that meditation practice can inform social action. They discuss working with anger, pathological altruism, finding long term resilience and joy in activism, and working to find balance. To close the conversation, Joshin leads a ten-minute meditation practice on equanimity.Get your copy of Sharon's newest book, Real Cha

For episode 127 of the Metta Hour, Sharon chats with Bethany Saltman about her new book, Strange Situation.Bethany is an author, award-winning editor, and researcher. Her work can be seen in magazines like the New Yorker, New York Magazine, Atlantic Monthly, Parents, Town & Country, and many others. Her first book, “Strange Situation: A Mother’s Journey Into the Science of Attachment” was just released in April of 2020. In this conversation, Bethany and Sharon discuss attachment theory in the Buddhist perspective, and how it can serve as the ground for tuning into life in a softer and fuller way. To close the conversation, Bethany leads a short Zazen meditation practice.

For episode 126 of the Metta Hour, Sharon speaks with civil rights activist, filmmaker, lawyer and innovator, Valarie Kaur.Valarie is the founder of The Revolutionary Love Project and has won policy change on multiple fronts – hate crimes, racial profiling, immigration detention, solitary confinement, Internet freedom, and more. Her new book, See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love was just released in June of 2020. In this conversation, Valarie talks about her roots growing up as a Sikh woman in the United States, and the experiences that shaped her life as an activist. She and Sharon discuss the role of love in activism, forgiveness, and self-care, and Valarie leads a guided meditation practice to close the conversation. Learn more about Valarie’s work at seenostranger.com.

For episode 125 of the Metta Hour, Sharon is re-releasing a previously released episode of the podcast from 2018, featuring a conversation with colleague Rhonda V. Magee.Rhonda is Professor of Law at the University of San Francisco, and is an internationally-recognized thought and practice leader on integrating Mindfulness into Higher Education, Law and Social Justice. She is the author of the 2019 book, “The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness.”In this conversation, Rhonda and Sharon discuss a holistic approach for compassionate and restorative justice in underserved communities and the different levels of social change that exist– and how to work in those levels for real growth. The episode closes with an eight-minute guided meditation led by Rhonda. Learn more about Rhonda’s work at www.rhondavmagee.com.

For episode 124 of the Metta Hour, Sharon is re-releasing a previously released episode of the podcast from 2018, featuring a conversation with author, teacher, and activist, Ruth King.Ruth King is an international teacher in the Insight Meditation tradition, blending mindfulness and meditation principles with an exploration of racial conditioning and its impact. She is the author of “Mindful of Race,” published in June of 2018. In this conversation, Ruth and Sharon speak at length about racial conditioning and racial justice, the nuance of identity, and Ruth’s work rebuilding communities with new understanding and connection. Learn more about Ruth and her work at https://ruthking.net.