Sharon Salzberg came into my life a few years ago when I stumbled upon her Metta Hour podcast — a chance encounter that revealed the host to be the voice of kindness and compassion in today’s fractured world.
Of all the episodes I’ve listened, my favorite one is called “Foundations of Forgiveness.” Why this particular episode? Because forgiveness is vital for our well-being. When you forgive — both yourself and others — it becomes easier to let go of everything that’s holding you back from the life you want to live.
But how do you do it? How do you even begin to forgive, forget, and let go? From the Buddhist perspective, one of the most effective tools that can help you is lovingkindness meditation. And Sharon Salzberg is the leading expert* in this field. In this article, I cover three best Sharon Salzberg books on lovingkindness.
1. Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness
No one is immune to the fear of intimacy that keeps us from finding a greater sense of connection: both with ourselves and other people. But this pain and longing can create in us the desire for change and willingness to take up a spiritual path.
In Lovingkindness, meditation teacher and bestselling author Sharon Salzberg draws on Buddhist traditions, her own experiences, and mindfulness exercises to reveal the loving heart in each of us.
Read this book and learn how loving-kindness can illuminate a path to equanimity, compassion, and sympathetic joy, helping us to unearth our capacity for wholehearted living and deep connection with the world around us.
The author writes:
The Dalai Lama has said: “My religion is kindness.” If we all adopted such a stance and embodied it in thought and action, inner and outer peace would be immediate, for in reality they are never not present, only obscured, waiting to be discovered.
This is the work and the power of lovingkindness, the embrace that allows no separation between self, others, and events—the affirmation and honoring of a core goodness in others and in oneself.
Related article: “How to Practice Lovingkindness Meditation”
Related article: “Sharon Salzberg on Yin Yang of Fortune and Misfortune and What Makes Life Worth Living”
2. A Heart as Wide as the World: Stories on the Path of Lovingkindness
If you’re looking for a collection of short essays that distill more than twenty-five years of teaching and practicing meditation, you should read A Heart as Wide as the World. In it, Sharon Salzberg shares personal experiences and anecdotes that offer solace and comfort for those on the spiritual path.
The book is full chance moments that shaped the author’s mindfulness practice: hearing a market stall hawker saying, “I have what you need!“; observing hotel guest reactions to a midnight fire alarm; watching Dipa Ma, her teacher, being kind to an aggressive dog.
Overall, I find this book to be a very meditative read that you want to open again and again.
The author writes:
The movement of the heart as we practice generosity in the outer world mirrors the movement of the heart when we let go of conditioned views about ourselves on our inner journey. Letting go creates a joyful sense of space in our minds.
Related article: “I Have What You Need: Sharon Salzberg on Meditation as an Antidote to Your Cravings and Desires”
3. Love Your Enemies: How to Break the Anger Habit & Be a Whole Lot Happier
So much of today’s news is centered around the “us” vs. “them” rhetoric — a false dichotomy created by the ego that feeds on emotional pain, anger, and defensiveness.
Love Your Enemies shows a way to move past this division by teaching us how to identify four types of enemies we encounter in life and, more importantly, how to transform our relationships to them.
To this end, authors Sharon Salzberg and Robert Thurman share stories and exercises based on Buddhist philosophy and modern psychology, guiding us towards peace within and without.
The author writes:
Everyone Can Play is now the precept I live by. We may not agree with one another. We may argue. We may compete. But everybody gets to play, no matter what. We all deserve a shot at life.
Related article: “What Did the Buddha Teach About Loving Your Enemies?”
Complement these best lovingkindness books by Sharon Salzberg with the podcast episode I mentioned earlier and then revisit our guide on how to practice lovingkindness meditation.
About the books’ author: Sharon Salzberg has played a crucial role in bringing meditation and mindfulness practices to the West and into mainstream culture since 1974 when she first began teaching. She is the co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA and the author of Lovingkindness and Love Your Enemies.
I’m a freelance writer and mindfulness advocate behind this blog. What you see here is the combination of my three favorite things: reading, writing, and mindfulness. While you’re here, subscribe to my blog updates and gain access to free mindfulness resources for stress relief.
