About this Program

Friday, January 28, 2022

7:00 pm - 9:30 pm ET 

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Saturday, January 29, 2022

12:00 pm - 2:30 pm ET 

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and

 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm ET 

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This program is now closed to new registrations.

The Buddha identified ten qualities of character that were necessary for the development of an awakened life. Today, the cultivation of these ten virtues is more important than ever as we individually and collectively seek to navigate an increasingly complex world.

This January, join Sylvia Boorstein and Sharon Salzberg for the second gathering in a series of special events exploring the ten virtues. In Part II of A Direct Path to Happiness, we focus on the qualities of renunciation and wisdom.

Renunciation is traditionally defined as freedom from craving. Today, we might think about the ways in which our senses chain us to patterns of behavior. What is attractive to the eye? Agreeable to the ear? Pleasing to the tongue? Enticing to the skin? Pleasant to the nose? In the realm of our senses and their sense objects, what do we seek, and what do we avoid?

Clear seeing allows us to monitor these and other patterns of our mind. When mindfulness and clear seeing lead to insights about this patterning, we call this phenomenon “wisdom.” Wisdom then invites us to make choices that might otherwise be governed by attachment or aversion to whatever we are encountering with our senses.

In this way, wisdom and renunciation are deeply interconnected. Together, they invite us to consider that we don’t need to react to every phenomenon; every disappointment is not a calamity, and every perceived success is not cause for a victory lap. Instead, by cultivating the qualities of appropriate renunciation and wisdom, we discern skillful action, and free ourselves from endless cycles of suffering. This becomes our most direct path to happiness.

This program will be recorded and made available for on-demand viewing after the live sessions. On-demand videos will be available for 90 days following the live event.

Meet Your Teachers

Sylvia Boorstein

Sylvia Boorstein, PhD, has been teaching Dharma and mindfulness meditation since 1985. She is a founding teacher of Spirit Rock Meditation Center, a psychotherapist, wife, mother and grandmother. She is particularly interested in emphasizing daily life as mindfulness practice and including informed citizenship and social activism as integral to spiritual maturation.

Sharon Salzberg

Sharon Salzberg is a meditation pioneer, world-renowned teacher, and New York Times bestselling author. Sharon is co-founder of The Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA, and the author of twelve books, including the New York Times bestseller, Real Happiness, now in its second edition, and her seminal work, Lovingkindness. Her forthcoming release, Real Life: The Journey from Isolation to Openness and Freedom, is set for release in April of 2023 from Flatiron Books. Her podcast, The Metta Hour, features interviews with thought leaders from the mindfulness movement and beyond.