Buddhist Personality Types
Uncover your purified nature
with Sharon Salzberg
Find your path
Buddhist tradition names three personality types that are refined through meditation and understanding as we heal and grow.
Greed becomes faith
Aversion becomes wisdom
Delusion becomes equanimity
An invitation
Hi, I'm Sharon Salzberg. For those of you who don't know me, I'm a meditation teacher and author. I've been meditating since January 1971 and teaching meditation since 1974. I'd like to invite you to join me in an online course on one of my favorite topics in Buddhism, the three Buddhist personality types. This is a topic that doesn't often get a lot of coverage but I think is well worth your time, as it can help you to approach the varieties of practices available to best serve you on your unique path to awakening.
If you've been practicing for some time—or are new to Buddhism—you may have noticed that it is not exactly a one-size-fits-all offering. In fact, the Buddha emphasized that his teachings would land differently for different people based on their own personalities, histories, and habits. And then each of us would be best served by the way forward that was most appropriate for our own needs.
To this end, the three personality types were originally taught in a 5th-century Buddhist commentary as a way to find the appropriate tools to help each individual student based on their personality. Each of the personality types has both an unpurified and a purified form, and many of us operate from the unpurified forms of our personality types, causing us suffering and pain.
I'm hopeful that the topics we cover in this course will help you to better relate your own unique experience in a way that uncovers the purified gems of your unique personality type. I hope you'll join me in this exploration.
–Sharon Salzberg
Be who you want to be
A much-loved teacher
Sharon Salzberg is one of Buddhism's most inspiring communicators. Her books and online courses have motivated thousands of people to develop and deepen mindfulness and loving-kindness.
Find joy in personal growth
Buddhist tradition defines the three main personality types as a tendency to fixate on the pleasant, or on what's wrong, or to space out entirely. What's even more interesting is that these traits have positive aspects that can be refined into faith, wisdom, and equanimity.
Entertaining inquiry
The Buddhist personality types can be enormously fun to explore. As you learn about each of the three main types, you'll laugh as you recognize yourself and your friends. But there's something deeply freeing here too. As we shine a light on these patterns, they slowly begin to shift. . . .
Revealing insights
As our personality traits come into mindful awareness, they are purified so that their wholesome aspects shine. Sharon will help you understand your natural tendencies so that it's easier for good intentions to come forth.
Take the personality quiz
The course culminates with a fun quiz you can take to identify your Buddhist personality type. Which type best describes you? Which practices bring out your best traits? Discover how your personality type influences your outlook.
Talks, meditations, and more
Through Sharon's talks, meditations, and reflections, we will learn about the three personality types: how to recognize them, how to work with them, and how to develop their positive qualities. This understanding frees us to be who we really are.
Live Q&A Sessions
Enroll now to ask questions in two live Q&A Sessions with Sharon, hosted on Zoom on the following dates.
- Live Call 1: Wednesday, July 23rd at 12pm EST
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Live Call 2: Thursday, August 7th at 1pm EST
Praise for Sharon's Tricycle Online Courses
Sharon has the experience, knowledge, wisdom and compassion to really connect with people. Excellent course content and delivery.
I loved this course! I've been practicing meditation for many years, but Sharon's explanations are so clear and wise, I learned many new things.
This was my first introduction to Sharon Salzberg's teaching, and I couldn't have been more satisfied. She's practical, kind, and down-to-earth. I really feel like I understand.
Sharon is an amazing teacher. She expresses complex teachings succinctly and with great care. I learned so much from this course and am thankful for it and for Sharon’s willingness to share her wisdom.
Excellent course. Great insight into meditation and mindfulness techniques! Sharon is a wonderful teacher and very knowledgeable.
This course was the perfect antidote for dealing with difficult times; and even more importantly, helped instill the qualities needed to live our lives more skillfully as we move forward.
How This Exploration Unfolds
Go deeper than podcasts and one-off videos. This easy-to-use online course is a five-week program of instruction, meditation, and inquiry. Each unit contains around 45 minutes of material to study as well as contemplative exercises. After the course begins, a new unit will be released each Monday. You are free to study at your own pace, and will retain access to the material ongoing.
You can follow the course on a computer, tablet, or phone.
Sharon Salzberg
Sharon Salzberg is a meditation pioneer, world-renowned teacher, and best-selling author. She is among the first to bring mindfulness and loving-kindness meditation to mainstream American culture fifty years ago, inspiring generations of meditation teachers. Sharon is cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, and the author of thirteen books, including the bestseller Real Happiness and her seminal work, Lovingkindness. Sharon’s podcast, The Metta Hour, has reached 7 million downloads. sharonsalzberg.com
Learning, meditation, and inquiry
This is a hands-on exploration of who we are and who we can become.
Click the arrow below to see the full curriculum.
Sharon's online courses
Life, loving-kindness, mindfulness. It's all here.
