Ep. 257 – Fireside Chat with Christina Feldman

Metta Hour with Sharon Salzberg

For episode 257 we are continuing the Fireside Chat Series on the Metta Hour with guest Christina Feldman.

This series features intimate conversations with longtime dharma teachers about the early days of their practice and the most impactful moments with their own teachers. Hosted by IMS Online, the seventh episode in this series. Christina is of the generation of dharma teachers that began teaching in the west in 1975 after spending some years in Asia studying and practice in both the Mahayana and Theravadan traditions. She is a co-founder of Gaia House and served as a guiding teacher of IMS beginning in its early days. She teaches Buddhist psychology in several university settings in Europe, and she teaches both traditional retreats and study programs. Christina is the author of Boundless Heart: The Buddha’s Path of Kindness, Compassion, Joy, and Equanimity and co-author of Mindfulness: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Psychology, among other books. The conversation begins with a guided practice led by Christina.

In this conversation, Christina and Sharon discuss:

• How Christina accidentally ended up in India
• First encountering Tibetan refugees
• Christina first learning meditation
• Dharma as an immersive experience
• Sharon’s first attempts to meditate
• Different techniques in Christina’s early practice
• Goenka’s impact on Sharon
• Secular Mindfulness
• Practice versus Path
• Definitions of Dukkha
• What Christina is teaching lately
• Bodhi College
• Sharon’s work with caregivers
• Equanimity as embodied understanding
• How Christina has developed as a teacher

The conversation segues to questions from the audience with a guided meditation from Christina. Sharon and Christina then take questions on specificity of intention, working with physical pain, emptiness as a practice, moving from knowing a truth to living a truth, and Christina’s yearly intentions.

You can learn more about Christina’s work right here. Learn more about IMS Online right here.

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