05/29/2026
Krista Tippett: One of the things that I’ve heard you say across the years, and I think have never taken it in so gratefully, and it has never been so helpful before — the healing is in the return, not in not getting lost in the beginning. But that’s such a relief. That is such a liberation.
Sharon Salzberg: Well, I think it’s powerful because I actually think it’s true. When I started meditation, like most of us, I had a different idea of success [laughs] and what it would look like and that it would be very much about accumulation, like if I could be with two breaths in the beginning, without my mind wandering, then surely, by today, I should be with eight. And then, tomorrow, I should be with 15. And then, eventually, my mind won’t wander. And I found that the most unbelievable thing — that that wasn’t the point, that learning how to let go more gracefully was the point. Learning how to start over with some compassion for yourself, instead of judging yourself so harshly — that was the point. And it’s so funny, because really, it was like Lesson 101, for me, and it’s probably —
Krista Tippett: Well, it’s a Lesson 101 in life, too, right?
Sharon Salzberg: And it’s the most precious thing. I use it every day. [laughs] It’s still the most significant thing I’ve ever learned from meditation and that I use it every single day, because we do. We have to start over and do a course correction, or pick ourselves up if we’ve fallen down, every day.
Hear complete interview here: https://onbeing.org/programs/sharon-salzberg-the-healing-is-in-the-return/
