Title: Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation
Author: Sharon Salzberg
First published January 1, 2011
225 pages, Kindle Edition
Rating: 3.96
Overview
Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation by Sharon Salzberg is a must-read guide for anyone looking to start and maintain a meditation practice. This world-renowned teacher, acclaimed for her down-to-earth style, offers a comprehensive approach to meditation based on three key skills: concentration, mindfulness, and lovingkindness.
With simple breathing and sitting techniques, Salzberg shows readers how to transform their lives by bringing greater resiliency, creativity, peace, clarity, and balance. This updated edition includes new exercises, journal prompts, and ten guided meditations available for download online and through scannable QR codes.
With this book, readers can find an inviting gateway to profound well-being and wisdom.
About the Author
Sharon Salzberg, a prominent spiritual teacher and author in the United States, is known for her role in introducing Asian meditation practices to the Western world. She co-founded the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) in Barre, Massachusetts, and her work is based on the ancient Buddhist practices of vipassana (mindfulness) and metta (lovingkindness).
Editoral Review
Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation by Sharon Salzberg is a self-help book that focuses on the benefits of meditation. Salzberg is a well-known meditation teacher and New York Times bestselling author.
The book was first published on January 1, 2011, and has since been widely read and praised for its pragmatic approach to meditation.
The book is written in a straightforward and accessible style, with Salzberg using personal anecdotes and scientific research to explain the benefits of meditation. She covers topics such as stress reduction, emotional regulation, and mindfulness, providing readers with practical exercises to help them develop a regular meditation practice.
Salzberg’s writing is engaging and informative, and she manages to make complex concepts accessible to readers of all levels of meditation experience. The book is divided into three sections, with each section focusing on a different aspect of meditation practice.
The first section covers the basics of meditation, the second section focuses on the benefits of meditation, and the third section provides guidance on how to incorporate meditation into daily life.
One of the strengths of the book is Salzberg’s ability to connect meditation to the wider world. She draws on examples from her own life and from the lives of her students to show how meditation can be used to cultivate compassion and empathy, and to promote social change.
She also provides a historical and cultural context for meditation, explaining how it has been practiced in different traditions around the world.
While the book is largely successful in its aims, there are some areas where it falls short. For example, some readers may find the book overly prescriptive, with Salzberg’s approach to meditation feeling rigid and inflexible at times.
Additionally, the book could benefit from more emphasis on the potential challenges of meditation, such as the difficulty of maintaining a regular practice.
Overall, Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation is a valuable resource for anyone interested in meditation. Salzberg’s writing is engaging and informative, and her pragmatic approach to meditation is likely to be helpful for readers who are new to the practice.
While the book is not without its flaws, it is a valuable addition to the literature on meditation and mindfulness.
For those looking to improve their mental health and overall wellbeing, this book is highly recommended. It is a practical guide that provides readers with the tools they need to develop a regular meditation practice.
As such, it is likely to be of interest to a wide range of readers, from beginners to seasoned meditators. We give this book a rating of 4 out of 5, with the caveat that it may not be the best fit for readers who prefer a more flexible approach to meditation.
