• Real Love

  • The Art of Mindful Connection
  • By: Sharon Salzberg
  • Narrated by: Sharon Salzberg
  • Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (534 ratings)

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Real Love  By  cover art

Real Love

By: Sharon Salzberg
Narrated by: Sharon Salzberg
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Publisher's summary

This program is read by the author.

The New York Times bestselling author and a central figure in the field of meditation, Sharon Salzberg, uses ancient Buddhist wisdom to redefine love and experience it in a more profound way.

You are a person worthy of love. You don’t have to do anything to deserve all the love in the world.

Real Love is a creative tool kit of mindfulness exercises and meditation techniques that help you to truly engage with your present experience and create deeper love relationships with yourself, your partner, friends and family, and with life itself.

Sharon Salzberg, a leading expert in Lovingkindness meditation, encourages us to strip away layers of negative habits and obstacles, helping us to experience authentic love based on direct experience, rather than preconceptions. Across three sections, Sharon explains how to dispel cultural and emotional habits, and direct focused care and attention to recapture the essence of what it is to love and be loved.

With positive reflections and practices, Sharon teaches us how to shift the responsibilities of the love that we give and receive to rekindle the powerful healing force of true connection. By challenging myths perpetuated by popular culture, we can undo the limited definitions that reduce love to simply romance or passion, and give the heart a much needed tune-up to connect ourselves to the truest experience of love in our daily lives.

©2017 Sharon Salzberg (P)2017 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Sharon Salzberg is the superstar of lovingkindness meditation. No one has done more to spread this powerful method for kindling universal love in our hearts." —Daniel Goleman



"Sharon Salzberg is an amazing teacher, and her words and inspiration in Real Love illuminate the way to love wisely, a treasure for your heart." —Jack Kornfield, author of A Path With Heart

"Sharon's teachings on awakening a loving heart have touched students and readers around the world. In addition to her wonderful wisdom, Sharon's very presence inspires: She is generous and kind, through and through." —Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha

What listeners say about Real Love

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Book is awesome, interface needs improvement

Would you listen to Real Love again? Why?

Real Love is an expertly written book and Sharon Salzberg's relatable voice and stories are engaging and meaningful. A resource to be drawn from over a lifetime.

Any additional comments?

Unfortunately the Audible format does not break the book up into chapters by tracks or digestible portions. It's all one long audio file. This makes the book less useful for guided meditations, to know where you are in the book, and to refer back to specific portions. I was pretty astonished this was not the case.

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44 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful life changing book

My husband picked this book from the bookstore by the title thinking it would help with some marital issues we were having and it sat on the shelf. I got him hooked up with audible and this book and he started listening. At first he was not getting much because he was expecting a book about marriage, for me having been involved with self help for years already I just laughed and told him no silly, this is about YOU! And it clicked and he listened to the whole book and loved it! He has been working very hard to put Sharon's words to practice. And he is listening a second time now. Thank you Sharon for your words of wisdom and presenting them in a way that made sense to a hard headed man who had never read more than 2 pages of a self help book in his life.

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15 people found this helpful

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Life changing.

This book was on time! I felt it was specifically written for me, i did not want it to end. I was in a deep depression and listening to this audiobook has allowed me to really dig deep and 1 face my fears, allow compassion to permeate me and let go. This book has also taught me the difference between empathy and compassion. I’d recommend this book to anyone on a journey of self healing and understanding. I like how practical her prompts were! Awesome listen! Purchasing the physical copy! This was my first audiobook experience and it has opened me up.!!!

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11 people found this helpful

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cut right through my mind and into my heart.

could listen to Sharon all day. she brings a reality to the subject that some others lack.

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9 people found this helpful

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Incredible book about love in all forms

I thought this book was all about relationships, but it discusses love from all angles. From self love, to loving your partner, to rebuilding relationships and letting go of anger. I learned so much from this book and think everyone can relate to it.

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8 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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will definitely pass it on to friends

I will share this with my family and friends. would have preferred a different reader though

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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great message, hard to listen

it has a great message and great lessons that seem to hit me right when I need them. But it can be hard to listen to for extended periods of time since her voice is very soft and soothing.

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3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • D
  • 08-27-17

Good information

The author has good examples that register in one's mind to heal from any hurt.

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3 people found this helpful

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Brilliantly Beautiful

“Real love comes with a powerful recognition that we are fully alive and whole, despite our wounds or our fears or our loneliness. It is a state where we allow ourselves to be seen clearly by ourselves and by others, and in turn, we offer clear seeing to the world around us. It is a love that heals.”

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Awesome content but awful performance

Great topic, great examples and very clear written delivery. Unfortunately the author is just dreadful to listen to, I had to buy a hardback version to be able to actually enjoy this wonderful Real Love book. Sharon, you are an amazing human being and a wonderful author. Please, please, please don’t narrate your books! Love you anyways, -Tatyana

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2 people found this helpful