Sharon Salzberg – Metta Hour – Ep. 258 – The Force of Kindness Pt. 1

For episode 258, we bring you the first half of a two-part series on the Force of Kindness.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has stated, “My true religion is kindness.” Although frequently denigrated in our culture as simplistic and weak, the quality of kindness has an inherent power to transform our worldview from one of fear and isolation to one rooted in clarity, courage and compassion in action. Kindness is the fuel that helps us truly “walk our talk” of love. Recording in December or 2024 by the Drepung Gomang Center for Engaging Compassion.

In this recording, Sharon teaches on:
  • The conditioning we face
  • How our culture defines kindness
  • The compassionate witness
  • A ministry of presence
  • Kindness as a motivational state
  • The emergent properties of how we pay attention
  • Who do we pay attention to?
  • Practicing kindness for ourselves
  • Guided meditation on how we speak to ourselves
  • Punitive environments cannot sustain growth
  • How resilience is developed 
  • Sayadaw U Pandita’s trick question

Stay tuned for the second part of this series coming in February of 2025. Join Sharon’s upcoming ten-day wisdom course exploring Equanimity starting March 5th. Learn more right here.

More from Sharon Salzberg:
Jump into the first episode of the Real Life Series with Jon Kabat-Zinn
Tune into Ep. 1 of the Metta Hour to learn about The Buddha Within
Listen to Joseph Goldstein’s Meditative Story, Hosted By Rohan Gunatillake
Hear from Tara Brach and Sharon Salzberg in Ep. 56 of Metta Hour