I decided I better get my act together and read this book before I retire in a few months! Even though I love my job and my decision to retire is bittersweet, I can always benefit from more peace in the workplace. I adore Sharon Salzberg and appreciate her wisdom.

Real Happiness at Work: Meditations for Accomplishment, Achievement, and Peace teaches readers how to incorporate meditation into their work life to better cope with stressful meetings, pressing deadlines, and difficult people. Sharon presents the Eight Pillars of Happiness in the Workplace, which include balance, concentration, resilience, integrity, meaning, connection, compassion, and open awareness. Each chapter offers stories from her students to illustrate each concept. Sharon provides exercises and meditations that can be performed at work to strengthen our ability to have peace at work. 

Since I’m retiring, I didn’t think I would take away much applicable knowledge from this book. I  was completely wrong! I listened to the stories Sharon shared from her students and applied them to my daily life, not just my work life. For instance, balancing tasks and how I go about completing tasks. I love to-do lists and always have projects in the works; at work and home. The chapter on compassion affected me deeply. Sharon frames compassion regarding how we treat coworkers and customers/clients; however, when I heard the stories, I thought about treating others with compassion regardless of the environment or relationship. There is a story about a taxi cab driver and his last customer of the day. I was in tears driving to work as I listened to this incredible story. Sharon includes stories of people performing all types of jobs. I was surprised to find stories of people who work in a similar environment as I do. I loved this book and see its application regardless of your work status. It’s great for young people starting jobs, people amid a career, or those of us leaving the workforce. 

Real Happiness was waiting patiently in my Audible wishlist when I noticed it could be added to my library for free. I’m so grateful for my Audible membership! Sharon narrates the audiobook, which is the best way to listen to her books. 

I have been learning from Sharon Salzberg for several years. She has a strong presence in the meditation arena and is a leader in the loving-kindness practice. She has a podcast, Metta Hour, which I highly recommend. There is a link in my review on my blog. Please see below.  

My husband and I attended the Ram Dass Mountain Retreat in 2022, where Sharon appeared via Zoom for a lecture. You can read about my retreat experience on my blog. (see link below)

I have photos and additional information that I'm unable to include here. It can all be found on my blog, in the link below.
A Book And A Dog

I meditate again now, and I'm glad I do. The focus is on accepting your current job

Lots of valuable practices and exercises, great for anyone already familiar with Buddhist practices or those interested in applying concepts of mindfulness at work.

An important book during such stressful times for many in the workplace these days.

Sharon Salzberg is a remarkable teacher of Buddhist meditation, thought, and philosophy. I have been on several weekend-long retreats with her and learned a great deal. I admire and respect Sharon. Several years ago she wrote a rather amazing and courageous book, Faith, which approached a subject that most people in the Buddhist world did not wish to touch, faith being seen as a characteristic of deist religions and usually eschewed by those who follow the Buddha. But that book was a triumph, and on more levels than one--it seemed to scratch a very serious itch for her, answering questions that had bothered her for years. It also influenced many people in the way they thought about the idea of faith and what it could mean for them. And it introduced Salzberg to a much wider audience, and vice versa.

Now, I freely admit that this is my interpretation and may or may not resemble the actual course of events. Though I honestly don't think she intended for Faith to be her introduction to the world of self-help, it seems to have been just that. The economic life of an itinerant meditation teacher can't be a very secure one, no matter how prominent one might be. The allure of the easy money to be made in this burgeoning market must be nearly irresistible.

So now you can go ahead and call me a snob. I suspect you want to. But my issue with the self-help genre is not that it is unworthy of consideration. Rather, my issue with it is that, in my experience, it's simply not all that helpful. It seems designed to make us feel better about ourselves without requiring any serious thought or action. Which would be great if it worked to bring about lasting change, but it doesn't.

None of this makes Real Happiness a bad book, not by a long shot. Sharon is still a wonderful teacher, with a deep and penetrating insight into the ways of the Dharma (teachings of the Buddha). And if packing a bunch of platitudes between two covers and interspersing Buddhist principles and meditation instruction throughout is her stealthy way of introducing the broader world to these concepts, I say, more power to her.

And she does remain a skillful and insightful teacher, even in this milieu. A few small examples: "We cannot be compassionate toward ourselves or others when our personal sense of well-being depends on universal acceptance and praise." "Each opportunity to interrupt the onslaught of thoughts and return to the object of meditation is, in fact, a moment of enlightenment." "Equanimity endows loving-kindness with patience and endows compassion with courage."

By all means, read this book if you are struggling at work. Sharon Salzberg is a loving and gentle guide. But forgive me if I harbor the hope that she will soon return to the world of Buddhist principles and lavish some of her wisdom in that genre. For it is there that lasting change truly can occur. And it is there that she is an acknowledged master.

I love Sharon Salzberg and I'll read anything she writes!

This is an excellent book about applying mindfulness and meditation practices to your work life to improve job and life satisfaction. Each chapter focuses on one of eight pillars of happiness at work— balance, concentration, communication, integrity, etc— with general discussion followed by specific suggested meditations or exercises that relate to that pillar. The book is really approachable and practical, and doesn’t feel ethereal or “new age-y” (which I myself wouldn’t mind but I think may be something people might fear in a book on meditation.

I would highly recommend this to anyone looking to find ways to increase their job satisfaction or just get out of a mental rut at work.