Customer Reviews

Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Lovingkindness : The Revolutionary Art of Happiness by Sharon Salzberg is by far one of the best books ever written. And contrary to what others have said in their reviews, I believe that this book can be read by anyone. If meditation makes you uncomfortable, thing of it as a positive affirmation. Ms. Salzberg teaches us how to appreciate life and those around us. It really is a great book: one of three that I always keep by my bedside and refer to frequently! I highly, highly recommend it!!

Loving-kindness meditation is unique to our Buddhist traditions, and in this book Sharon Salzburg presents us with an informative body of work on it's practice. She uses her understanding and know-how drawn from many years of practice to point each and every one of us to the realization that the light of love is already within us all. Loving-kindness must be aimed at two sources: ourselves and all beings.

Sharon talks a bit about what holds us back from this realization, ranging from our attachments to antagonism. One of the first rules to breaking down these impediments is the act of giving, not just giving in a material sense but ultimately giving the breadth of our very being; compassionate action, not just loving-kindness thoughts. This book should speak to all of us, and for this reason alone I give it 5 stars.

Sharon Salzberg is such a capable, warm, and inspiring voice for Western Buddhism. This work beautifully weaves together Buddhist philosophy and practice, reality and practicality, compassion and joy. She fleshes out concepts of meditation and mindfulness using her own experiences, often amusing, without drawing attention to herself. Rather, she is a skilled teacher who guides the student on his/her own journey.

Whether Buddhist or not, beginner mind or monk, most readers will celebrate this work.

This is a kind and gentle book. It has been one of my favorite books for many years. Metta practice is a beautiful practice that shows us where we contract and hold. I would recommend this book to anyone.

This is one of the few books I would actually read over and over. It's incredibly down-to-earth and is full of great quotes you keep in mind all day long. It invites you to think about your perception of yourself and others in a very different light. There is so much common sense in the buddhist way of relating to each other, but we don't often use our common sense.

Practice compassion, and heal the Earth. Kindness is the balm of Gilead, the salve of sadhus, the alchemy of avatars. Practicing loving kindness (and compassion) is so basic that it bypasses most of us. We often just don't "get" it, and then cause pain and suffering for ourselves and others.

Send love and compassion and kindness to all through prayer and meditation. The Earth will change in response. Guaranteed!!

Reading this book forces the reader to embark upon a journey of opening the mind, and the heart (if there is a real difference). A Journey that questions the conditioned states many of us have become used to as our reality. With a mastery of deep understanding and humility, Sharon Salzberg gives people one of the most important gifts in the world. It is something most of us just seek unconsciously. It is something that we don't usually remain aware of in our every day life, but we all would be willing to do anything to "get" it. It is happiness.

As a dharma teacher for 18 years and a practioner for 30 plus years I find Sharon's book a beautiful and lucid insight to one of the most profound teachings of the buddha-dharma

Sharon Salzberg has produced a clear and very concise guide to the actual practice of the four Brahma Viharas (sublime abodes), which are the cornerstones of lay Buddhism. We westerners typically cannot devote our lives to meditation and study, but we can learn to spend some time each day on awareness, and on the simple spiritual practice of lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. This book gives real, day-to-day, usable suggestions for how to make this work in your life. Self help books fill the shelves, but this is one of the best I've ever come across.

While self-help books abound, promising deliverance from all that ails us, Sharon Salzberg's "Loving Kindness, refreshes. Her writings burn themselves clean...in that, one is not tangled up with an author presenting her version of a spiritual path, rather she is the path itself, unfolding for who ever wants to journey. From the opening lines in chapter one: "We can travel a long way and do many different things, but our deepest happiness is not born from accumulating new experiences. It is born from letting go of what is unnecessary and knowing ourselves to be always at home." to the last chapter, entitled, "Living Our Love", Ms. Salzberg writes with dignity and care about that which she deeply knows.