A 90-minute live conversation with Sharon Salzberg, hosted by Justin Kelley, PhD
What if love—not pressure, performance, or fear—were the true foundation of learning? In this special 90-minute event, Tergar Schools welcomes Sharon Salzberg, one of the most influential meditation teachers of our time, for an intimate and wide-ranging conversation on lovingkindness, education, and human flourishing across the lifespan.
For over five decades, Sharon has been a guiding force in bringing mindfulness and lovingkindness (metta) meditation into mainstream Western culture. A pioneer, teacher, author, and co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society, her work has shaped how millions understand meditation—not as an escape from life, but as a way of meeting it with clarity, warmth, and courage. From her early years studying in India and Burma to her leadership in establishing enduring institutions for contemplative practice, Sharon’s life embodies a rare blend of depth, accessibility, and joyful wisdom.
This event brings Sharon’s lifelong insights into dialogue with the Tergar Schools Model of Learning, which integrates contemplative depth, emotional resilience, and an altruistic ethic into education. Together, we will explore how the same inner capacities Sharon has cultivated and taught to adults worldwide can be nurtured from an early age, shaping not only how children learn, but who they become.
Conversation Themes
During this 90-minute session, our dialogue will explore:
- Lovingkindness as the Ground of Learning
Why care, safety, and inner warmth are not “extras,” but the conditions that allow curiosity, resilience, and genuine understanding to arise. - From Adult Practice to Child-Centered Education
How the insights Sharon has cultivated through decades of teaching adults inform Tergar Schools’ approach to educating the whole child—heart, mind, and body. - Kind Karl, by Sharon Salzberg: Wisdom for Children
Reflections on Sharon’s first children’s book, Kind Karl, and how playful storytelling can carry profound teachings about emotions, empathy, and belonging. - Looking Ahead
Sharon’s reflections on what the future may hold for meditation, education, and compassionate engagement in an increasingly complex world.
What You’ll Take Away
Participants will leave this event with:
- A clear understanding of why lovingkindness is pivotal for effective learning, not only in schools but in families, workplaces, and communities.
- Inspiration for introducing contemplative values to children in ways that are developmentally appropriate, joyful, and transformative.
- A lived sense of how inner transformation and outer education can support one another.
- A forward-looking perspective on the evolving role of mindfulness, compassion, and wisdom in the years to come.
This event is an invitation—to educators, parents, practitioners, and lifelong learners—to reimagine learning as an act of love, and love as a trainable, teachable capacity. Join us for a conversation that bridges generations, traditions, and possibilities.
Your local time: 7:00 a.m. PDT (San Francisco) | 10:00 a.m. EDT (New York) | 4:00 p.m. CET (Berlin) | 10:00 p.m. HKT (Hong Kong)