The Boundless Heart
It takes courage to open your heart. It also takes practice.
An online course with Sharon Salzberg
A masterclass on opening the heart
Join bestselling author and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg in The Boundless Heart, an eight-week course on Buddhism's Four Immeasurables: lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. In this carefully structured program, Sharon will offer practical methods for bringing these heart-opening qualities, so fundamental to the Buddhist path, into your everyday life.
Live your path
In this carefully structured program, Sharon will offer practical methods for bringing these heart-opening qualities, so fundamental to the Buddhist path, into your everyday life—whether you’re idling in traffic, in the checkout line, or appreciating the simple beauty of children at play.
The practices taught in this course will help you cultivate these positive mental states and enable you to turn them into lasting habits. Video dharma talks and guided audio meditations will lead you through each teaching. You will also have the opportunity to become part of a wider community of learners and discuss the nuances of these practices with Sharon and fellow practitioners.
About Sharon
Sharon Salzberg is a central figure in the field of meditation, a world-renowned teacher, and New York Times bestselling author. She has played a crucial role in bringing meditation and mindfulness practice to the West and into mainstream culture since 1974, when she first began teaching. She is the co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts and the author of nine books including New York Times bestseller Real Happiness; her seminal work Lovingkindness; and most recently, Real Love: The Art of Mindful Connection.
Known for her down-to-earth teaching style, Sharon offers a secular, modern approach to Buddhist teachings, making them instantly accessible. She is a regular columnist for On Being, a contributor to the Huffington Post, and hosts her own podcast, The Metta Hour. For more information, visit www.SharonSalzberg.com.
Testimonials
I loved the tone Sharon set—this is ongoing work and is supposed to be done with ease. That doesn't really come through in written materials anywhere and it was a gift to be able to relax with it.
I found the videos extremely informative and inspiring...
I really liked the videos that Sharon posted because it's so helpful to hear her explain things—better, for me, than just reading.
In this course I started to understand the places where I feel I fall short of compassion as the places to practice rather than the things to blame myself for. What a gift!
The course supported my newfound interest in meditation, my aspiration to achieve greater mindfulness, and my wish to more intuitively recognize the many reasons I should frequently be filled with gratitude. As a result of the course, I feel calmer, more accepting. I am particularly drawn to Sharon. I find her to be warm and engaging, wise and practical.
I really love metta practice and have made it a part of my daily sitting. It's been very revealing, especially for seeing the harshness with which I tend to treat myself.
How the course unfolds
In The Boundless Heart, Sharon Salzberg will guide you through four qualities of mind that will be of great and lasting benefit to you and those around you.
Each unit will include video dharma talks and guided audio meditations to provide structure for your meditation practice. It is recommended that you set aside 20 minutes for daily practice, or more if you wish. There will also be quizzes to help you check your understanding of subtle concepts, and opportunities for reflection. There will also be suggested take-home practices, including guided audio meditations, for you to explore in your own practice.
You are invited to study at your own pace. Once you register, you will retain access to the course and can revisit it indefinitely. There are no 'live' components to The Boundless Heart, so you can take the course entirely at your own pace to suit your own schedule.
Detailed curriculum
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- Welcome to The Boundless Heart (7:22)
- Course Features
- Remembering the Good Within You (2:40)
- Taking the Practice Into Everyday Life (1:03)
- Check Your Understanding
- The Qualities Support Each Other (1:21)
- Assumptions and Expectations (3:14)
- Getting the Most Out of the Course
- Introduction Complete
- Downloads
- What is Loving-kindness? (8:20)
- Far Enemy, Near Enemy, Proximate Cause (12:05)
- Check Your Understanding
- Intention and Skill (9:11)
- Sit Comfortably
- Loving-kindness Practice (4:41)
- Four Phrases (8:39)
- Writings on Loving-kindness
- Extending Loving-kindness to Others (2:07)
- Practice Instructions
- Reflection
- Introduction
- Widening the Circle (9:00)
- Sleepiness and Restlessness (1:29)
- The Revolutionary Art of Happiness
- Self-Timed Loving-kindness Meditation (2:05)
- Others on Loving-kindness
- Offering Loving-kindness to a Difficult Aspect of Yourself (1:55)
- Street Loving-kindness: Grand Central Station
- Taking Loving-kindness With You (2:14)
- Looking Towards Compassion (0:51)
- Practice Instructions
- Reflect
- Introduction
- Don't Give Up (1:20)
- The Metta Sutta (2:53)
- Using a Phrase to Nurture Compassion (7:14)
- Responding to Bodily Pain (0:48)
- Developing the Compassionate Heart
- Self-Timed Compassion Meditation (2:07)
- Street Loving-kindness: Blowing Bubbles
- Sharing Merit (2:48)
- Turning Towards Sympathetic Joy (1:14)
- Practice Instructions
- Reflect
- Introduction
- Sympathetic Joy (7:30)
- Joy and Gratitude (1:37)
- Try Keeping a Gratitude Journal (2:44)
- The Near Enemy of Sympathetic Joy (4:58)
- Check Your Understanding
- Experiencing Sympathetic Joy Through Compassion (5:52)
- Sympathetic Joy Meditation (3:19)
- Writings on Sympathetic Joy
- Self-Guided Meditation (1:34)
- Practice Instructions
- Reflect
- Introduction
- Reflections for Cultivating the Brahmavihāras (3:41)
- Street Loving-kindness: Stuck in Traffic
- Remembering the Good Within You (2:40)
- Writings on Equanimity
- The Gift of Equanimity
- Reflect
- Group Discussion
- Check Your Understanding
- Practice Instructions
- Continuing Your Practice (5:49)
- Reflect
- Discover Tricycle: The Buddhist Review
- Refer a Friend
- Your Next Course (3:12)
