Sharon Salzberg is a central figure in the field of meditation and a world-renowned teacher and author. She is the cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, and the author of ten books, including the
New York Times bestseller
Real Happiness.
He new book is
Real Change: Mindfulness to Heal Ourselves and the World.
At Lit Hub, Salzberg shared
five books that brought her closer to mindfulness, including:
Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind (Shambhala)
Social change begins from within, with a look into the heart, into what’s behind the emotions of anger, grief and sorrow before you know what you can do. Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind is a place to start 
this examination. What was important to me about this book is that it is incredibly simple; in it, I saw how something simple could be profound. Through his light and joyful voice, Suzuki Roshi explains the importance of the breath and the posture, encouraging us not to be hard on ourselves when our posture slumps, or our minds wander, but simply to begin again. In this way, through this simple practice, he increases our tremendous capacity for compassion and, day by day, shows us in our actions how we expand it further. Roshi does not offer up an outcome as a reward for practice, saying simply that we practice not to attain Buddha nature but to express it. I read this book very early in my study of Buddhism and, in re-reading it today, it still gives me hope.
Read about
another entry on the list.
--Marshal Zeringue
Sharon Salzberg is a central figure in the field of meditation and a world-renowned teacher and author. She is the cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, and the author of ten books, including the New York Times bestseller Real Happiness.
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