Real Happiness

By: Sharon Salzberg

Narrated by: Sharon Salzberg

Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's Summary

Thousands of years prove it, and Western science backs it: Meditation sharpens focus. Meditation lowers blood pressure, relieves chronic pain, reduces stress. Meditation helps us experience greater calm. Meditation connects us to our inner-most feelings and challenges our habits of self-judgment. Meditation helps protect the brain against aging and improves our capacity for learning new things. Meditation opens the door to real and accessible happiness.

There is no better person to show a beginner how to harness the power of meditation than Sharon Salzberg, one of the world’s foremost meditation teachers and spiritual authors. Cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society, author of Loving kindness, Faith, and other books, Ms. Salzberg distills 30 years of teaching meditation into a 28-day program that will change lives. It is not about Buddhism, it’s not esoteric - it is closer to an exercise, like running or riding a bike. From the basics of posture, breathing, and the daily schedule to the finer points of calming the mind, distraction, dealing with specific problem areas (pain in the legs? falling asleep?) to the larger issues of compassion and awareness, Real Happiness is a complete guide. It explains how meditation works; why a daily meditation practice results in more resiliency, creativity, peace, clarity, and balance; and gives twelve meditation practices, including mindfulness meditation and walking meditation. An extensive selection of FAQs cover the most frequent concerns of beginners who meditate - “Is meditation selfish?” “How do I know if I’m doing it right?” “Can I use meditation to manage weight?”

©2011 Sharon Salzberg. Recorded by arrangement with Workman Publishing Company, Inc. (P)2011 HighBridge Company

Critic Reviews

“Salzberg speaks from experience . . . an extraordinary teacher.” ( O, The Oprah Magazine)

“Sharon Salzberg has offered a gift of peace to the world.” (Alice Walker)

“To those who have taken her courses (like me), [Real Happiness] contains all of the jewels of Sharon’s teachings plus more.” (Ram Dass, author of Be Here Now)

Beautifully written and read by the author.

What did you love best about Real Happiness?

I find Sharon Salzberg's gentle words transmitted beautifully in "Real Happiness." As they were in "Lovingkindness." The significant difference is that this audiobook is unabridged, so that all of her loving wisdom and teachings in this book are shared in the audio version. And, as with "Lovingkindness," this is a book to which one can listen while driving, not just while being still with no outside distractions. it has been a wonderful addition to my library, and I enjoy listening to it again and again.

18 of 18 people found this review helpful

Excellent material for an audiobook, titled chapters would be great.

As the listener will likely want to refer back to various sections of the book, particularly the guided meditations, the lack of section titles (simply listed as chapters 1-33) makes this difficult. For example, an example meditation 'chapter' may be only 3 minutes long, whereas a true chapter may be 30 minutes. The meditations are interspersed throughout the book, which is beneficial as they appear in context rather than as a separate physical CD, as would accompany the paperback form. The reader is advised to add title bookmarks to each chapter to assist with navigation.

14 of 14 people found this review helpful

worthy

An excellent starter for someone wanting to explore meditation. It's probably the next best thing to attending a class, but because it is an "online class" so to speak, one wants to go through it all in one sitting, which isn't feasible. But I will reuse this again and again to help me get started and try to maintain a commitment to meditation. Her voice is gentle and calm, her pauses, at first surprising, are well timed. I enjoyed my time with Sharon.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

Amazing for understand and start meditation

If you could sum up Real Happiness in three words, what would they be?

Compassionate, simple and practical.

What other book might you compare Real Happiness to and why?

I can't think of anyone as this one.

What about Sharon Salzberg’s performance did you like?

Yes. Her voice is very calm. It's nice.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Meditate and start being happy

Any additional comments?

I really recommend it. I have hear and read a lot of different approachs to meditation, but no one has been as simple, compassionate and practica as this one. It is amazing for someone that wants to start meditating or even to improve your actual meditation practice. The only thing I would suggest to audible.com is that they make the authors add a index with the chapters and sub-chapters and the minutes and seconds in which you can find it. It would make it easier to get back to a especific theme.

26 of 28 people found this review helpful

A pleasure to read and experience

This is probably my 6th or 7th book on mindfulness and this is among my favorites so far. All are pretty good - I'm really liking Ronald Siegel' Mindfulness Solutions.

Like many books, written and recorded of this genre, the wisdom is communicated through explanation, metaphor, thought exercises, homework and guided meditations. Mindful practice as it seems to exist in the west is a bit like ballet - there are the basic positions -- in this case assumptions, practices, organizing principles from which each person creates a new and unique expression. Some resonate more than others. Sharon's approach and personal style really resonate with me. Her book is extremely well written, credible without going into the details of neuropsychological and behavioral research -- She reports the trends and collective wisdom of the research community and I trust and believe her. Thank you Sharon for telling me everything you know about neurology.

Sharon's writing is clear and direct. Her voice is compassionate without being too bohemian and new age. In reading this book it is easy to see why Sharon is one of the more popular Buddhism influenced mindfulness meditation practitioners and teachers. She comes across as interested as motivated to write to give others the benefit of what she has learned and experienced. But she does not come across as needing to sell you on anything or get anyone to admire her. She connects with her audience by being someone you could idenfify with -- a regular person who really seems comfortable in her own skin. She shows up as caring and insightful in her anecdotes and illustrations and you feel that, through the book, she is a friend. I must admit, I can't attest to what happens in 28 days. I didn't test that aspect out.

22 of 24 people found this review helpful

Meditation made easy!

Would you consider the audio edition of Real Happiness to be better than the print version?

I am a hands on person so some times its easier to incorporate audio into my day than print. I sometime need to slow down and don't spend as much time with "print" so I was able to take away more meaning and understanding with the audio version at this time.

What did you like best about this story?

The practical application. I was able to slow myself down when I wake up at night and my mind is racing. I used some of the practices to go back to sleep.

Which character – as performed by Sharon Salzberg – was your favorite?

Don't really thave a favorate.

What did you learn from Real Happiness that you would use in your daily life?

To except, acknowledge, and move on. She gave several practical ways to do this.

Any additional comments?

I have already listen once and am now going back to listen to again to see what I may have missed the first time!

12 of 13 people found this review helpful

So Practically Helpful!!!

I have read many different books on meditation. Some are extremely esoteric and philosophically complicated, aimed at becoming enlightened or a bodhisattva. This was beautifully practical, and kind of aimed at more earthly beings, like me, who need help finding equanimity in every day challenges. I have been going through an extremely tough time, caring for my elderly mother with dementia. I discovered, the loving kindness mediation, directed at myself first (!!!) gives me the patience and equanimity to deal with all the difficulties and challenges. I also had the insight, that what this world needs more than anything right now is loving kindness. May all beings live in peace.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Great introduction to meditation and mindfulness

What did you love best about Real Happiness?

I was looking for an introduction to meditation and mindfulness and 100% found what I was looking for in this book. The how-to on doing meditation was incredibly helpful, as well as the discussion of the benefits that meditation can bring. I definitely feel this book has helped to bring more calm and balance into my life. I read through a few other books on meditation and mindfulness and would recommend this one first and foremost over those others.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Real progress

What did you love best about Real Happiness?

it gives you step by step instruction on how to reach your goals with meditating

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Real happiness

What did you love best about Real Happiness?

Very infomative

What other book might you compare Real Happiness to and why?

Living the full Catastrophe, Authentic Happiness

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Sharon Salzberg?

Anyone, she wasn't a good narrator. Her voice was monotone and boring.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No

Any additional comments?

Good info, but hard to listen to. The author is seldom the best person to read the text. Did anyone listen to this before it was distributed?

9 of 14 people found this review helpful