Metta Hour With Sharon Salzberg

For Episode 109 of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon and colleague Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel explore the topic of Faith.Elizabeth is a teacher and author, and has studied and practiced the Buddhadharma for 35 years under the guidance of her teacher and husband Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. She is the retreat master of Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado and has spent over six years in retreat. She holds a degree in anthropology and an M.A. in Buddhist Studies and teaches worldwide. This episode was recorded live in the Spring of 2019 at New York Insight Meditation Center, where Sharon and Elizabeth bring their own unique perspective of faith from each of their respective Buddhist traditions. The episode closes with Elizabeth leading a seven-minute guided meditation. To learn more about Elizabeth’s work visit elizabethmattisnamgyel.com.

For episode 108 of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon sits down with her Director of Operations, Lily Cushman.Lily is a teacher, musician, and author, and for nearly a decade, was the Owner and Director of the Brooklyn Yoga School, a lineage-based school run entirely by donation. Her work is a synthesis of the practices of Classical Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Insight Meditation and her first book “A Little Bit of Mantras: An Introduction to Sacred Sounds” was released in March 2019 from Sterling Publishing.This episode begins with a conversation with Sharon and Lily, and id followed by a live recording from the launch of Lily’s book at Deepak Homebase in New York, NY in the Spring of 2019. This live recording features call and response chanting led by Lily and special guest Krishna Das, as well as an in-depth interview of Lily by The Moth’s longtime artistic director, Catherine Burns. To learn more about Lily’s teaching and music, you can visit her website at lilycushman.com.

For Episode 107 of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon is joined by Mark Epstein and Bob Thurman.This episode was recorded live at Tibet House in 2018. In this recording, Sharon, Mark and Bob discuss the topic of the ego, related to the self, through the lens of Buddhist Psychology, and how that relates to our sense of well-being. Bob leads a guided meditation on the topic, followed by questions from the audience.

For the 106th episode of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon speaks with friend and colleague, Marc Lesser.Marc is a speaker, facilitator, workshop leader, and executive coach, known for his engaging, experiential presentations that integrate mindfulness and emotional intelligence practices and training. He is the author of four books, including his 2019 release, “Seven Practices of a Mindful Leader: Lessons from Google and a Zen Monastery Kitchen.” Marc was the co-founder and CEO of the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute, featuring a mindfulness program he helped develop within Google. Prior to his business and coaching career, he was a resident of the San Francisco Zen Center for 10 years, and director of Tassajara, Zen Mountain Center.In this episode, Marc shares how he came to the path of meditation and discusses with Sharon how his personal practice has evolved to inform his career as a leadership coach. They speak at length about Marc’s new book, and some of the common myths and challenges of leader

For the 105th episode of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon speaks with author and teacher, Diana Winston.Diana Winston is the Director of Mindfulness Education at the Semel Institute’s Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. She is the author of “The Little Book of Being” and the co-author of “Fully Present: The Science, Art and Practice of Mindfulness.”In this episode, Sharon and Diana speak at length about Diana’s new book, “The Little Book of Being” released in the Spring of 2019. They discuss natural awareness and formal meditation practice as well as the nuances of working with a teacher. The podcast closes with Diana leading a 5-minute guided meditation. To learn more about Diana’s work, you can visit dianawinston.com.

For episode 104 of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon speaks with friend and colleague Dr. Judson Brewer MD PhD.Dr. Judson Brewer is a thought leader in the field of habit change and the “science of self-mastery”, having combined over 20 years of experience with mindfulness training with his scientific research.In this episode, Sharon and Dr. Jud speak about how Dr. Jud came to the path of mindfulness and meditation while in medical school, and how that evolved to become a cornerstone of his work. They speak at length about how the brain behaves in various states of connection, disconnection, lovingkindness, or loneliness and how this affects our ability to make choices freely. Dr. Jud also shares some of his work related to cravings and addiction, and rewards-based learning.

For episode 103 of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon speaks with friend and colleague, Susan Kaiser Greenland.Susan Kaiser Greenland is an internationally recognized leader in teaching mindfulness and meditation to children, teens, and families. She is the co-founder of The Inner Kids Foundation and was on the clinical team of the Pediatric Pain Clinic at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital. In this episode, Susan and Sharon speak about how Susan began her work bringing the tools of mindfulness to parents and children, as her personal journey as a practitioner. They discuss many of the challenges that kids today face with the rise of technology as well as the nuances of parenting in today’s fast-moving digital culture. The episode closes with a 5-minute guided meditation led by Susan.

For the 102nd episode of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon sits down with her longtime friend Jerry Colonna.In this episode, Sharon and Jerry speak at length about Jerry’s journey of meditation and self-discovery. Looking at how he has brought those experiences to the field of leadership and business. To learn more about Jerry’s work, visit: rebootbyjerry.com

For the 101st episode of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon speaks with clinical psychologist and author, Dr. Urszula Klich.In this conversation, Sharon and Urszula speak at length about techniques for working with pain by applying mindfulness, compassion and biofeedback. Urszula also leads a 12-minute guided meditation practice as part of this episode. To learn more about Urzsula’s work, visit: MyMindfulWayOfLife.com

Sharon sits down with playwright, Sarah Ruhl.Sarah is a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and is currently on the faculty of the Yale School of Drama. She has been the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, the Helen Merrill Emerging Playwrights Award, and the Whiting Writers’ Award. Sarah is the author of several books, including her collection of essays “100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write,” which was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2014, and “Letters from Max: A Book of Friendship” published in 2012.In this episode, Sharon and Sarah discuss the connection between creativity and practice at length. Sarah also reads from her book, discussing Metta (lovingkindness) Meditation, and Sharon’s childhood dream of writing a play!

For the 99th episode of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon speaks will colleague and friend, Sebene Selassie. In this episode, Sharon and Sebene discuss how Sebene came to the path of meditation, her work as a teacher, identity, community and much more. Sebene also leads a guided meditation to close the conversation.Sebene is a dharma teacher, writer, coach and consultant. She began studying Buddhism over 25 years ago and has an MA from the New School where she focused on race and cultural studies. She is the former Executive Director of New York Insight Meditation Center and is passionate about making the dharma accessible and relevant for our times.

For episode 98 of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon shares a conversation with Dr. Kristin Neff Ph.D.Dr. Kristin Neff is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Neff is a pioneer in the field of self-compassion research, conducting the first studies on self-compassion fifteen years ago. She is the author of Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself and The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook. In this conversation, Sharon and Kristin speak about how Kristin came to specialize in the work of self-compassion, and the nuances between self-esteem and self-compassion. They discuss many of the scientific discoveries about self-compassion that research has uncovered, and how these findings debunk many of the cultural myths surrounding compassion today. The conversation closes with Kristin leading a 10-Minute guided meditation on balancing Compassion Burnout.

For the 97th episode of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon shares a conversation about raising resilient children with Mark Bertin, MD & Christopher Willard, PsyD.Buzz words such as “thriving,” “resilience,” and “mindfulness” may fill headlines and sell books, but what do they really mean, and how do we cultivate these traits in ourselves and our families? Sharon and her guests look beyond the buzzwords and towards the basic concepts of skillful parenting that have been known across cultures for millennia. Together they explore the best of what both science and wisdom traditions have to teach us about cultivating happy, healthy families.

For the 98th episode of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon speaks with Dr. Amishi Jha Ph.D.Amishi is a Neuroscientist, an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Miami, and the Director of Contemplative Neuroscience for the Mindfulness Research and Practice Initiative. Amishi studies the neural bases of attention and the effects of mindfulness-based training programs on cognition, emotion and resilience.In this episode, Amishi and Sharon speak about how Amishi came to the path of meditation, and how that has inspired her career as a researcher. They also speak about Amishi’s programs working with mindfulness training in education, corporate, elite sports, and the military.

For the 95th Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon converses with meditation teacher and author Gary Gach. Gary has been meditating and writing for nearly 60 years, and published numerous magazines and anthologies. He is the author of Complete Idiot's Guide to Buddhism and his moment recent release, Pause ... Breathe ... Smile ~ Awakening Mindfulness When Meditation Is Not Enough. He's been hosting a weekly Zen mindfulness practice group for nearly a decade in San Francisco and is lay-ordained in the Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism. In this conversation, Sharon and Gary speak at length about Gary’s latest book, and how he came to the practice of meditation, as well as the intersection of art, consciousness and social change.

For the 94th episode of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon shares the stage with Ram Dass and Mirabai Bush!Live from the 2018 “Open Your Heart in Paradise” retreat, Sharon speaks with Ram Dass and Mirabai about embracing the dying process. How can we be with one another as souls, to live and die consciously? The group of old friends explore these questions and share a reading from Mirabai and Ram Dass’s final book, Walking Each Other Home: Conversations on Loving and Dying.

For the 94th episode of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon sits down with author and teacher Eddie Stern.

Sharon and Lynn Nottage discuss art as social action and the way that Lynn’s sees her own writing as a way to cultivate more empathy in the world. They also speak about the correlation between the spiritual path and creative process.

For episode 91 of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon speaks with friend and author, 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 1.5 billion people. The END Fund actively supports programs with dozens of partners in more than 25 countries, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa. Ellen’s first book, “Under the Big Tree: Extraordinary Stories from the Movement to End Neglected Tropical Diseases” has just been released from Johns Hopkins University Press with a foreword by Bill Gates. In this episode, Sharon and Ellen speak in depth about Ellen’s work in the public health sector, how to put compassion in action, and maintaining balance in extraordinary circumstances.

For Sharon’s 90th episode of the Metta Hour Podcast, she speaks with longtime friend, Guy Armstrong.Guy Armstrong has practiced Insight Meditation for over 40 years, including training as a Buddhist monk in Thailand with Ajahn Buddhadasa. He began teaching in 1984 and has led retreats worldwide. He is a guiding teacher at the Insight Meditation Society, where he works with three-month retreatants, as well as offering online courses of his teachings. In this conversation, Guy begins by sharing his personal story of what drew him to meditation practice over 40 years ago, and how that path evolved into his long-term study and teaching. Guy and Sharon speak at length about emptiness, the core topic of his 2017 book, “Emptiness: A Practical Guide for Meditators,” by Wisdom Publications. Sharon and Guy also speak at length about the relationship between emptiness and lovingkindness. The conversation closes with Guy leading a brief guided meditation.