Lion's Roar

  • Meditation
  • Buddhist Wisdom
  • Life & Culture
  • The Magazine
  • Buddhadharma
  • Store

Lion's Roar

DONATE SUBSCRIBE
  • Meditation
  • Buddhist Wisdom
  • Life & Culture
  • The Magazine
  • Buddhadharma
  • Store
LR

Meet a Teacher: Sylvia Boorstein

by Sylvia Boorstein| July 23, 2015

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
Michelle Laporte, Sylvia Boorstein, Painting, Illustation, Lion's Roar, Buddhism, Shambhala Sun, Meet a Teacher, InsightYou can join Sylvia Boorstein, along with fellow buddhist teachers Tsoknyi Rinpoche and Melissa Myozen Blacker, at the Shambhala Sun‘s community retreat at Omega, Waking Up in Every Moment. Click here for details. Illustration by Michelle Laporte.

I was born in 1936 in Brooklyn. Yiddish was the language we spoke at home. My father taught high school mathematics and my mother worked as a stenographer in a municipal hospital. She was a passionate supporter of labor unions, wore wonderful earrings, and had the loudest laugh of any mother I knew.

When I graduated from Barnard in 1956, I’d already been married for a year and was pregnant with my son Michael. I went back to school eight years and three children later to earn a Masters in social welfare and a Ph.D in psychology. I became a psychotherapist and yoga teacher.

I met Jack Kornfield in 1977 at my first mindfulness meditation retreat, and over the next decade I studied with him, Sharon Salzberg, and Joseph Goldstein. In 1985 Jack invited me to be among the first teachers he trained, and I became one of the founding teachers of Spirit Rock Meditation Center.

Seymour and I will celebrate our sixtieth wedding anniversary this June. Our seven grandchildren range from fifteen to twenty-seven years old.

 

Favorite meditation practice?

I use “May I meet this moment fully; may I meet it as a friend,” as a tool for cultivating concentration in formal practice and as a response throughout the day to moments of challenge.

Recommended dharma books?

The book I’ve re-read most is The Vision of Dhamma: The Buddhist Writings of Nyanaponika Thera.

Your favorite virtue?

Confidence. I once heard the Dalai Lama’s translator correct him and His Holiness, looking back at the text, exclaimed, “You are right! I made a mistake!” And he laughed his famous Ha ha ha laugh. In front of two thousand people. That’s confidence.

Your chief characteristic?

I am enthusiastic and energetic. I love helping good projects succeed.

Your principal poison?

I am easily captivated by novelty. I have long been amused by the idea that a phone call inviting me to teach “the first mindfulness retreat on the moon” would immediately be intriguing to me.

Your idea of happiness?

The sense in my mind of not needing anything at all.

If not yourself, who would you be?

I’d be teaching something, somewhere. I love the feeling of learning something that I think is important and teaching it to someone else.

Name three of your heroes.

Physician and humanitarian Paul Farmer, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and my grandmother Leah Kanner, who cared for my father in refugee camps in Poland during and after the First World War until they were able to immigrate to America in 1920 to join my grandfather.

The natural talent you’d most like to have?

I’d like to have Dipa Ma’s seemingly unwavering serenity.

Your favorite music?

Opera. Especially Wagner, especially the Ring operas.

Your favorite TV?

I enjoy watching big sports events like the World Series. I also watch the Cooking Channel with my youngest granddaughter. We like to cook together.

What’s for dinner?

I like every food except celery. I particularly like spicy food.

A motto that represents you?

You are never happier than your least happy child.

Guilty pleasure?

I have lots of pleasures, but I don’t feel guilty about them.

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

Can you help us at a critical time?

COVID-19 has brought tremendous suffering, uncertainty, fear, and strain to the world.

Our sincere wish is that these Buddhist teachings, guided practices, and stories can be a balm in these difficult times. Over the past month, over 400,000 readers like you have visited our site, reading almost a million pages and streaming over 120,000 hours of video teachings. We want to provide even more Buddhist wisdom but our resources are strained. Can you help us?

No one is free from the pandemic’s impact, including Lion’s Roar. We rely significantly on advertising and newsstand sales to support our work — both of which have dropped precipitously this year. Can you lend your support to Lion’s Roar at this critical time?

SUPPORT LION’S ROAR

Sylvia Boorstein

About Sylvia Boorstein

Sylvia Boorstein is a psychologist and leading teacher of Insight Meditation. Her many best-selling books include Pay Attention, for Goodness' Sake and Happiness Is An Inside Job.

Topics: Insight Meditation, Insight Meditation Society, Meet a Teacher, Shambhala Sun - May '15, Sylvia Boorstein, Teachers & Communities, Teachings

Related Posts...

How to Practice Bowing
by Brother Phap Hai
How to Be a Bodhisattva
by Thich Nhat Hanh
Woman floating over the earth.This Floating World
by Joan Sutherland

Welcome to LionsRoar.com

By Lion's Roar Staff

We’re glad to have you here. But first: who are “we”? You may very well know us as the publishers of two Buddhist magazines, the Shambhala Sun and Buddhadharma. Then again, you may not know us at all. Either way, please allow us to re-introduce ourselves: We’re the Shambhala Sun Foundation. We [...]

  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscriber Services
  • Privacy
  • BUDDHIST DIRECTORY
  • About Us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
TEACHINGS
  • Chan & Zen
  • Nichiren
  • Pure Land
  • Shin
  • Theravada & Insight
  • Vajrayana & Tibetan
  • More…
LIFE
  • Death & Dying
  • Difficult Times
  • Everyday Life
  • Food & Eating
  • Love & Relationships
  • Wellness & Psychology
  • More…
EXPLORE BUDDHISM
  • By the Numbers
  • FAQs
  • For Beginners
  • Glossary
  • How to Meditate
  • The Buddha
  • More…
NEWS
  • Breaking News
  • Climate Change
  • Contemporary Art
  • Current Events
  • Politics & Society
  • Teachers & Centers
  • More…

© 2021 Lion's Roar | Email: [email protected] | Tel: 902.422.8404 | Published by Lion's Roar Foundation