A Heart as Wide as the World

The author is an American Buddhist; I’ve previously read and reviewed another of her books – Lovingkindness. I loved that one; and this one too, but found this one in places more difficult to grasp.

The book deals with mindfulness, wisdom and compassion.

Wisdom and compassion consistently guided the actions of the Buddha. Norhing seemed to limit his compassion; he had “a heart as wide as the world”.

The author tells us that the essence of the Buddha’s teaching is that we all have the same capacity for compassion and for peace; we can learn how our own heart can become as wide as the world.

She conveys her personal experiences, and tells us of her various teachers; this makes the book very readable.

When we practise meditation, show more we learn to let go of all the voices telling us what we need. We already have what we need, We should let the world go, and when we practise meditation we let go.

Sharon tells us that we can “discover the treasure of our original nature” and be free.

We practise meditation to be aware, no matter what we are doing.

Sharon went to India to learn meditation and to learn to love people the way the Buddha did. She found out she was seeking the ability to love herself “with clear seeing yet with undiminished compassion”.

We are told about her teacher, Dipa Ma, who endured a great deal of suffering, and it was this that led her to meditation practice. She transformed her personal grief into love for all beings. “As she meditated, she looked deeply at her suffering and found great compassion for herself and for all beings.”

We learn about Anapana, awareness of the breath; this is one of the most fundamental objects of concentration that the Buddha taught

The four Brahma Viharas are practices that inspire and deepen our connection to each other.

The first Brahma Vihara, lovingkindness, is the practice of friendship.

The second Brahma Vihara is compassion.

The third Brahma Vihara, sympathetic joy, is the practice of actively taking delight in the happiness of others.

“When the happiness of others is our own happiness, we are acknowledging our connection to each other, We become part of a community.

The fourth Brahma Vihara is equanimity; the predominant tone of equanimity is one of calm.

Sometimes when learning to meditate, we're told to sit like a mountain – this is an image of equanimity.

These four practices are accomplished by inclining the mind toward love and compassion. We begin with someone for whom it is easy for us to feel lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy or equanimity. Then we include others we care for, those to whom we are indifferent, those we dislike, and finally all beings everywhere.

“Mindfulness is a quality of awareness that sees directly whatever is happening in our experience and meets it face to face.”

I found the present book more difficult than “Lovingkindness”, but it too is wonderful and bears reading more than once.

If you are interested in mindfulness, lovingkindness, compassion, meditation or the like, I highly recommend that you read this and the other books by Sharon Salzberg. You will not be disappointed. show less