Heart Wisdom with Jack Kornfield (Be Here Now Network)

Jack is joined by actress and comedian, Natasha Leggero, for an enlightening conversation about maintaining composure in seemingly chaotic times. Jack explains that our outer progress must be matched with an inner change in human consciousness; a process that evolves through the recognition of our interconnectedness. The two also touch on fundamentalism, evidence for hope, and the importance of routine ritualistic practice in unlocking the deeper dimensions of our being. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

“When Love meets sorrow it becomes compassion” As we become silent we start to awaken to the mystery of this human realm. We begin to open to and acknowledge all of the unfinished business that often permeates our being. Through practice we can learn to offer love in the presence of pain. In these moments of loving-kindness we feel a connection to the web of life and discover the more objective nature of our struggles and sorrows. As Jack explains, no matter what level you are practicing on, you cannot fully open without compassion. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

An exploration of the ways in which the quiet mind and open heart lead to wisdom, depth, and love. Our practice itself is an act of Love that gives us the ability to be present for all of humanity. Our growing capacity to feel our joys and sorrows allows us to live more freely in the energies of our life. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In attempting to draw light into our lives, we inevitably encounter the intrinsic darkness that surrounds our existence. Our task, as honorable beings, is to avoid letting the ignorant darkness take over our hearts, while simultaneously not averting our gaze. In meditation, we confront the full spectrum of experience, acknowledging these darker forces, and discovering the capacity to respond from a place of loving awareness. It will require the courage to act, but as the Buddha said, “If you can learn to dwell in your heart, offering love to all beings, that will be protection wherever you go’. Episode Outline: • 2 Kinds of Darkness - Fertile (From which all things arise - contains the potential of creation) and Blind/Unconscious (Operates below our basic level of awareness, often requires uncovering/recognition) • Practice - When we honor our meditation practice, we see everything - the full spectrum of our experience • Our Task - As honorable beings, we mustn’t let the outer (ignorant) darkness consume our hearts, while, simultaneously, not averting our eyes. • Violence - Has almost always been a part of our culture - What are the causes and conditions that create these negative aspects? We have to mourn tragedy, but also stand up for a different world. The darkness must be met with an equal force of love and courage • Dwell in the Heart - Never cease to offer love to all beings See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jack offers up several stories to emphasize the ways in which mindfulness consistently returns us to a radical capacity for presence that can truly change our lives for the better. The natural freedom revealed through the quality of compassionate awareness is itself an act of respect. The understanding and integration of right livelihood lays the groundwork for gratitude in ourselves, and serves to inspire others who encounter its compelling energy. There are many ways to approach the work we are given, but through honoring our tasks we can bring to them a spirit of dignity, care, and beauty.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jack delivers a talk on how identity leads us to suffer and shares the Buddha's path towards freedom from that suffering.   The Buddha's teachings are a path to end suffering. Part of this is our identity, which is caused by our clinging to impermanence. Jack shares these teachings, along with an ethical system which enables us to let go of our suffering by living with integrity.   See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our fundamental wakefulness can be described by certain qualities of enlightenment that speak to our inherent nobility. It is in the remembering of these factors that we can taste the freedom of reconnecting with the openness and luminosity of mind that is our true nature. Mindfulness is the seed from which all other qualities can grow. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Drawing from Buddhist text, Jack tells the story of the last year of Buddha’s life, and the teachings he imparted to his followers and future seekers on the path. Guidance for practice, and instructions for building and sustaining wise relationships were the focus of these final offerings. The power of mythology is emphasized in appreciating its capacity to speak to the human imagination. When removed from the lens of literality, these stories are brought to life, imbuing the narrative with a depth and timeless relatability from which we can continually find inspiration. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jack offers tales of tenderness that remind us of the qualities of faith and compassion which move us in the direction of freedom. What resources can we bring to a world of conflict that might allow us to live in the reality of the present with an openness and trust that what needs to be healed will be done through love? In coming to rest in the space of calm and kind attention that grows in meditation, we learn to listen with the heart and move with the inspired energy that follows. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The heart needs poetry much like the Earth needs rain. It is the music, the harmony, and the bearer of truth throughout our life’s journey. To uncover our poetic sensibility is to begin to find the rhythm of language that matches the beauty of the world around us. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A timely discussion about the rapid expansion of mindfulness practice and the importance and value in sharing our own stories for the well-being of others. Using examples from his own experiences in traveling the world, Jack reminds us that awareness, in all forms, is what brings us into the heart of our own humanity See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In embracing our humanity, we move into the pure awareness of our own true nature, learning to live wisely and discovering freedom and compassion regardless of circumstance. The path is not about attainment, but rather an opportunity to recognize the patterns of life and begin to align ourselves with its flow. Jack shares the ways in which we can live with a wise heart in the midst of impermanence, with ease amidst the dance of life. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mudita is the joy and happiness experienced for oneself and others. This joy is born into everyone, but is not limited to the innocence afforded in childhood. It is alive in all of us, and mindfulness is the gateway. Meditation allows us to be present for ourselves, each other, and for the wonder and beauty of our mysterious incarnation. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Trauma comes in all shapes and sizes, and as human beings we are all vulnerable to its potential effects. But how can we meet trauma with tenderness and courage? Healing is so often a precursor to the practice of liberation itself, but true release requires a familiarity with emotions and the capacity to be present for them. Through mindfulness we can develop the compassion necessary to approach our traumas. When we can first bare it, we then have a choice of what to do with it. Once our story can be told it often loses its hold. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jack discusses the fundamental mystery that is our human incarnation, and the methods we can utilize to stay close to that immense presence. Meditation isn’t necessarily about having a mystical experience, but about coming back into the natural mysterious experience of being alive. Within all of us there is a divine seed of consciousness, much greater than the functional matter that we occupy. In meditation, we are invited to return to this sacred space. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Spiritual practice requires of us a kind and devoted attention to the opening of the body as well as the heart. We cultivate the necessary space through a quieting of the mind, and invite a sense of compassion and openness into the heart. We can then listen to better understand how to become ourselves what we want the world to be. There is a profound offering in our commitment and dedication to becoming the most beautiful human beings that we can be. At the root of this offering is the desire to allow spiritual practice to be the tool with which we tend to the garden of the heart. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In meditation and in our spiritual life there grows a kind of trust in our capacity to open, to change, and to transform no matter the circumstances we face. The shift of identity comes in recognizing that the smaller sense of self is not who we really are. The original nature of the mind is pure knowing, and through this understanding we begin to find the joy of the liberated heart. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Behind all the drama of our lives, there is something unchanging and ever-present, for everyone to discover. Our methods and practices point us in the direction of this awakening, as we move from reaction to compassion. Nothing left out, and no one to blame, perfecting only our loving awareness of it all. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ancient Buddhist tales of redemption are recounted to encourage our understanding that it is never to late to start anew. The object of meditation is to sit in the midst of this mysterious human incarnation and to hold it with mercy and compassion. We then discover that wisdom and training have the power to trump our temperament. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pilgrimage is the journey of renewal, an opportunity to shift and broaden our perspective of the world around us. Through this active form of spiritual practice we are able to step out of the smaller envelope of identity in order to witness and embrace more of life’s mysteries. Who we really are is exposed in the light of these novel experiences, and our potential for expansion and personal growth is naturally illuminated... See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jack sits down with fellow podcast patrons, Duncan Trussell and Dustin Marshall, for an in-depth discussion about navigating some of the darkest corners of the emotional spectrum. We are encouraged to open to Love, despite the innate vulnerability and collective insecurities that inevitably arise. In cultivating the Witness, we are able to step outside the drama of our lives, creating just enough space to approach our suffering without getting lost in it. A wonderful exploration of our inherent worthiness regarding our capacity for Love, and the small steps we can take toward the healing our hearts and minds in the most hopeless of moments. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A succinct reminder of the ever-present possibility to step out from the blinders of our ordinary perception, from the fear and anxiety of modern life, and to instead see with eyes of understanding. Through practice we begin to fully grok the necessity for and value of forgiveness, learning to let go of the expectations that inevitably compromise our capacity for compassion. Beginner’s mind is highlighted as an anchor point for helping us return to the openness, eagerness, and lack of preconception that embody our true nature. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this talk, Jack Kornfield discusses how to navigate change in relation to the Buddhist concept of impermanence. He touches on the importance of meditation in cultivating a healthier perspective toward change. When we are quiet, we can rest in loving awareness and see our true nature from the heart of understanding. When we accept that change is inevitable, and find our composure in that knowledge, we can reenter the river of experience. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this episode of Heart Wisdom, Jack talks about leadership, nobility, and love. American presidents George Washington and Lincoln are used as examples of men who showed true nobility of heart. There is a sense of justice in their words and a kind of integrity to their actions in the midst of unbearable suffering, which is a sign of real leadership. This is a quality of nobility which we can find ourselves in our own roles as leaders. The Buddha says that wise leadership requires generosity, integrity, peace, and sacrifice among many other traits. These are all qualities that can be awakened in us. This is why we are given the practices of compassion, mindfulness, and equanimity. Jack teaches us to utilize these practices in an effort to awaken our inner nobility. Jack also discusses the diversity of love and its many roles. Love brings happiness, heals, and even teaches through loss. We explore a few ways in which love can present itself and affect our lives.   See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What attitude can we carry into a world of conflict and difficulty that will allow us to treasure and fully embody the work we do in practice? In this talk, Jack details the teachings of the Bodhisattva - a commitment to the welfare and awakening of all beings. We are encouraged to find our deepest intention, the most beautiful thing we could do with our life, and to let that be our reference as we move out into the world. Through ‘deep knowing and deep intention’, we begin to embrace a sense of the sacred in everything we do. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

To create and maintain appropriate boundaries we must first understand what it is as we are approaching attachment, commitment and love. Jack offers a definition and reinterpretation of attachment to represent more compassionate qualities such as commitment, dedication and wise ambition. He encourages us to be present without the need to control, to show up but not be focused on the outcome. We learn to step back and listen to the world as a means of witnessing the play of life. Our opening will present itself, but only when our perspective is wide enough to discover the full range of potential. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jack’s timeless wisdom leads the way as he responds to a handful of questions concerning some of the common struggles encountered on the human plane. How can we be present with difficult situations without indulging the emotions? The problem often lies more in the narratives we tell about ourselves and others that perpetuate the suffering. We must be willing to allow the energies of life to rise and fall as they do, all the while expanding our capacity to feel without necessarily believing the storyline, which is often biased and untrue to begin with. In learning to be with our emotions we are better able to respond from a place of wisdom rather than an expectation of how it should be. Taking time to recognize the distinction between wise and unskillful desire is a practical and effective method for addressing the root causes for much of our suffering. Through examining our impulses, we gain the perspective necessary to determine if the associated actions will ultimately increase our joy or our sorrow. Jack reminds us that we don’t need to get rid of anything, we just have to remember who we really are and operate from that deeper self. The seeds we plant in the garden of the heart are not separate from us in their origin or their blossoming. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In light of the political “bread and circus” happening in America, leading up to the 2016 presidential elections, Jack shares stories and wisdom on the topic of tending ourselves and tending the world. On this episode of Heart Wisdom, Jack explores how tending to injustices big and small and do all we can to ease the suffering of others. “The one who awakens shines with a radiance of spirit. Come out and shine like the moon, but first, quiet yourself. Quiet the mind, tend the heart, and come back to yourself. Let what is beautiful in you have space, to be heard and listened to, and blossom. ” – The Buddha See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The spiritual path seems as much a journey of becoming who we are, rather than attaining some elevated sense of self. But what circumstances must arise in order for us to honor our particular incarnation, and to then do something beautiful with it? Crisis, trauma, and retreat are just a few of the potential catalysts, and our task is to simply recognize and accept that which has served to encourage our own efforts along the path. We begin to see that it is often just a matter of remembering and reminding ourselves of the different ways that we are brought to freedom and joy in our own lives. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jack sits down with comedians Pete Holmes and Duncan Trussell to discuss a variety of topics including the amorphous construct of our identities, dreams and death, mystical experiences, and the interaction of spirituality with materialism. Jack also describes the illusory nature of perceived security, and the freedom that can come when we discover the art of truly awakening to our mysterious incarnation. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wisdom is eternally gracious; it sees the world as it is, vast and ever changing. It allows us to become ourselves, to awaken to the actual experience of existence, without getting caught in it. We eventually recognize our shared experience, and a natural sense of respect arises. When we look through the eyes of wisdom, we dissolve separation, and move into the compassionate state of loving awareness. ‘The true joy of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit’. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A spacious walk through the shifts of identity that often occur as we move from the smaller sense of self into that place of loving awareness, the ‘one who knows’. This opening can be understood as the entrance point to Awakening. Though it may be unfamiliar and often times uncomfortable, it is ultimately necessary for moving beyond the limitations of the separate self. Jack provides us with a map for this new territory, and reassures us that the intelligence of the heart will lead the way, even through the darkest corridors. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, Jack discusses the divine feminine along with the past and present roles of women in the Buddhist tradition. We each carry within us both the masculine and feminine nature. Jack explores the Buddha's teaching on the matter and what it is to embrace them. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We all carry questions about our lives and how we might find relief from the struggles we encounter throughout our mysterious incarnations. Who are we and how can we come to understand what it truly means to embody our deeper self? The original nature of consciousness itself is luminous, and free. In awakening the heart we uncover this inherently pure awareness. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jack continues his discourse on the nature of the freedom that is our true being. It does not arrive through the rearranging of circumstance or the discipline of self-improvement, but in the acknowledgment and allowing of all of life’s movements. The aim is not passive acceptance, but rather a relaxation that fuels the energy to respond as necessary. In knowing when to hold on and when to let go, we embody the gracious and honorable presence that characterizes our deeper self. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A gentle reminder that the possibility of awakening exists in every moment, and in every circumstance. Liberation comes not through suppression or by fighting against ourselves, but rather by resting where we are, at peace with the world as it is. We can all sense the potential for bringing compassion to ourselves and the world around us, and need only be reminded through the power of practice.     See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

'It's not the future of humanity, but the presence of eternity'. With this in mind, we begin to understand the necessity for acceptance, in all aspects of our experience. The invitation offered through meditation is all-inclusive; no matter what we carry from our past, there is a dignity and freedom of heart that is possible for us all See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jack describes the beauty of the awakened mind and heart that arises naturally when we can empty ourselves of the burden of identity. The reality of the present is all there is, and in fully embodying this understanding we move into an open and spacious realm of creative insight and joyful expression. Finding what it is that brings us to life, moves us deeper into the Dharma and sharing that energy with the world is a profound statement. We demonstrate our liberation by offering it to everyone we can, using the awakened heart as our compass See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jack sits down with our podcast guru, Duncan Trussell for part two of their conversation. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In practice there is an invitation to shift from the real-time experiences to the spacious and open heart of wisdom, ease, and graciousness. Through dedication to our practice we begin to find the trust necessary to remain present no matter the circumstance. As this presence grows, the factors of enlightenment such as mindfulness, joy, and equanimity slowly emerge. The awakened mind and heart are awaiting you, asking only that you make the effort to acknowledge their presence.   See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this episode, Jack speaks about the different aspects of inspired leadership and how to cultivate them in our lives. Jack explores the natural perfections of the heart and how to listen to the leader inside you. We also hear three stories of inspired leadership expressed through dedication, love, and equanimity. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Freedom is not found in certainty, but in the wisdom that comes from seeing and embracing life as it is. Jack explores the different ways that freedom can be embodied and fully represented through the nobility of Spirit that is born into every being. When we uncover this freedom, to be who we are, to serve others, and to care for the world, we discover that it was our purpose all along. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our experience of life is described as a river that we embody, that we are a part of, rather than simply living in.  Awareness is ever-present, as we learn to become mindful of our experiences without becoming lost in them. Our state of mind determines our relationship to the world around us. Our practice therefore becomes one of quieting the mind, opening the heart, and being present in order to touch all that arises with the spirit of compassion. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The mysterious quality we call Love involves stepping out of the body of fear and allowing something bigger to be born in us, all the while acknowledging and loving that smaller sense of self. Though we understand it to be our true nature, we must also recognize the necessity for practice in sustaining this openhearted awareness. Once brought to life, we learn to nourish that deeper part of our being, offering the appropriate respect and response to all of humanity See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

One of the most important tools for navigating through our complicated existence is the understanding of Karma. We consistently create patterns in our lives but often fail to see the cause and effect relationship that unfolds. Karma speaks to the way in which we respond to that which comes to us, to the life that we are given. It’s not the action but the intention that is the source of karma. Through meditation we expose the patterns that we create for ourselves. By tending to our hearts we discover a deeper motivation for our being. It is from this place that we learn to plant our seeds of intention, and the seeds we plant become how are lives are lived. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Consciousness itself is the witness to our lives, and we are born with it, in its purest form. It knows that what we often identify with is not who we truly are. The practices of compassion, mindfulness and loving awareness invite a profound shift of identity, from the body of fear to the beauty of the heart. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The vastness of the human heart is as timeless as it is profound. No matter the circumstance, we can choose to remain openhearted, knowing that the possibility of freedom is available to everyone. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

“What we’re looking for is where we are” - Dharma speaks to the ways in which we choose to navigate the uncertainty of our time on this planet. Can we learn to live in joy amongst all that this great unknowing has to offer? Jack guides us through some of the key principles of the awakened heart, encouraging an attitude of graciousness toward the mysterious nature of our existence. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jack weaves a tender web of allegorical expression regarding our natural call toward compassionate action. We learn to not seek satisfaction in the results, but in the value, rightness and truth of the work itself. We can’t bring the rain, but we can offer to plant the seeds of our heart’s best intentions. A spacious meditation closes the talk, in which we are invited to uncover our own unique Bodhisattva vow. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jack outlines the Ten Perfections within Buddhism that naturally arise in the stillness and steadiness of our practice. These qualities can be developed and applied in any situation and are extremely useful in bringing the path of awakening into everyday life. They are not meant to be a means for perfecting oneself, but rather a reminder of the true nature to which we can always return   See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this episode of Heart Wisdom, Jack helps us figure out how to come back to our lives after a retreat, explores the power of intention, and the role of the Bodhisattva. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The spirit of simplicity, presence and sympathy of heart can carry us through the most difficult and beautiful of times. When we learn to make peace with the way life is, with the understanding that this capacity is our own true nature, then we fully embody the heart’s deepest desire. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Offering compassion for our human flaws, Jack relays how to stop being so loyal to our suffering, and helps uncover the heart of the Buddha living within each of us.

Learn to live beautifully with Jack Kornfield and Dr. Dan Siegel in their new online journey, Living Beautifully: Transformative Science and Mindfulness Practice to Cultivate a Wise Heart

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• Living the Divine Abodes to uncover the heart of the Buddha within yourself
• How to live in loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity/peace
• Ram Dass, the Chicken and Rice Man, and selfless service
• How the circle of compassion is not complete until it includes self-compassion
• Viktor Frankl and the boundless freedom of the human spirit
• David Roche and The Church of 80% Sincerity
• Moving beyond looks and into the reality of unconditional love
• Turning off the news and doing something enjoyable
• How to stop being so loyal to your suffering

This Dharma Talk from 12/10/2007 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on DharmaSeed.

“You can search the tenfold universe as the Buddha and not find a single person more worthy of love and care than the one seated right here in your own body.” – Jack Kornfield

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On this episode of Heart Wisdom, Jack embraces the great mystery of life and freedom it offers.

 

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Leading a guided meditation helping us witness the play of our human existence from the loving awareness that we truly are, Jack invites us to uncover true freedom as our birthright.

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In this episode, Jack delves into:

• The true purpose of meditation and spiritual practice
• Coming fully into the reality of the present moment
• Becoming mindful loving awareness itself
• Witness the play of our human experience
• Uncovering true freedom as your innate birthright
• Experiencing the present moment as loving awareness
• Responding to the world with mindful loving courage

“Come into this present moment with mindful loving awareness, notice the play of our human experience, and discover we can take our seat with a compassionate and gracious heart with a freedom that is your birthright.” – Jack Kornfield

This recording is from Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s Monday Night Talk and Meditation on 3/3/25. 

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In this episode of Heart Wisdom, Jack Kornfield offers a potent guided meditation designed for letting go into open, spacious awareness.

Today's podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/heartwisdom 

"You are the Buddha resting in vastness, seeing the arising and passing of all things with the great heart of compassion, peaceful in the midst of it all." – Jack Kornfield

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Jack reveals how awakening your Soul Force—your inner strength, wisdom, and compassion—allows you to heal the world by offering your unique gift with courage and love.

Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/heartwisdom and get on your way to being your best self.

In this episode of Heart Wisdom, Jack mindfully explores:

• Uncovering your unique gift and bringing it to the world
• Simple reflections of love amidst the reality of death
• How the sword is always beaten by the spirit
• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's "Soul Force"
• The power of facing our fear of death
• Becoming a Spiritual Warrior of compassion
• Cultivating the confidence to face any challenge
• Speaking up for what matters to your heart
• The cause of evil and how to stop it at it's root
• The cause of abuse and how to stop it at it's root
• Learning how to respond to the suffering of the world
• Discovering freedom in yourself and the world around
• Cultivating the ability to face ourselves, our pains and sorrows
• Facing the truth of birth and death
• The revolutionary act of connecting with nature
• Connecting with the truth of the world
• Bearing witness and finding your heart's unique response
• Entering the world with freedom and love
• How each and every action counts
• A charming and funny Q&A section
• Chanting the mantra, "Ah"

"Each of us has our own unique gift to bring when it's the right time. It can't be an imitation. You can't do it like Gandhi, Mother Teresa, or whoever you might admire—it has to be your way." – Jack Kornfield

This Dharma Talk from 12/7/1992 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on Dharmaseed.

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This episode was recorded on 3/03/25 as a part of Spirit Rock’s Monday Night Dharma Talk Series

“You are the imaginal cells. You are the ones who are called to hold the vision of a wise society where people respect each other, where we care for the vulnerable, where we understand the universal teaching, ‘Hatred never ceases by hatred, but by love alone is healed.’ This is you.'” – Jack Kornfield

In this episode of Heart Wisdom, Jack mindfully explores:

• Staying centered amidst life’s struggles Stopping blame and “right and wrong
• Navigating Late-Stage Capitalism in the 21st Century
• The Great Turning as an opportunity to reset our lives as human beings
• The Great Turning as a birth process—messy, painful, dangerous, and beautiful
• Remembering your fearlessness amidst politics and news media Becoming “imaginal cells” of the butterfly
• Trusting the constant renewal of life and nature Black Elk, Gary Snyder, and the power of loving the earth
• Meditation and sitting with heartbreak
• Dissolving guilt, fear, and doomscrolling
• Carrying your light with nobility, respect, and dignity
• Trusting the big picture, the vast cosmic view
• Remembering who you are and living from it
• The possibility of a new underground railroad
• Recognizing that we are the imaginal cells of the world

Learn the Dynamic Art of Interactive Guided Meditation with Jack Kornfield in this online masterclass beginning April 7!

“Here we are, 21st century, late-stage capitalism, which has gotten to the place where there’s further extremes of rich and poor for exploitation. We’re at the time what Joanna Macy calls the Great Turning—the great opportunity really for us to reset our lives as human beings.” – Jack Kornfield

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Executive Chairman of the Ford Motor Company, Bill Ford, joins Jack to discuss capitalism, Right Livelihood, and the next generation.

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“To be successful in business you have to have values, you have to stand by those values, and you can't compromise those values. But you also have to have the tools to do that. Whether it's meditation or other forms of self-exploration, you have to have a way to shed the stress and to really dive into what's important.” – Bill Ford

In this episode, Jack and Bill mindfully navigate:

• How we can make business and work a force for good
• The stakes and rewards of servant leadership
• Capitalism, Right Livelihood, and the Next Generation
• Navigating tough decisions and bringing out the best in others
• Compassionate leadership in a cold economy
• Living with empathy and from our highest intention

Transform your life through Jack's Kornfield's most powerful stories in this brand new 10-hour journey! Live session begin this October!

"What's the point of your life if there isn't some well-being woven into it? It's not meant to be a grim duty. Some people take meditation as a grim duty. That doesn't make it happy, and it doesn't actually serve you in some deep way." – Jack Kornfield

This conversation was originally recorded for the Inner-MBA program presented by Sounds True.

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In this New Years episode exploring how we can revolutionize our lives by becoming aware of our feelings, Jack talks clear seeing and gives instructions for an eating meditation.

"If you become aware of your feelings, they don't last very long. We feel like we're angry for a day, or sad for a week, or happy for a month, or grieving for a while—as if those feelings lasted that long. But if you look closely and you let yourself feel what's here and pay attention, feelings rarely last more than thirty seconds, maybe a minute, and then then turn into something else. Guaranteed. If you have some feeling that feels like it's lasted much longer than that, you haven't paid attention to it." – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully illuminates:

• The practice of awareness, mindfulness, and paying attention
• Working with the inevitability of change, impermanence, and death
• Clear seeing, clear comprehension, and integrity
• Mindfulness of the process of eating, food, diet, and hunger
• Instructions for an 'eating meditation'
• Discerning the voices in our head and choosing the most skillful one to follow
• Using 'noting' and 'tracking' to become aware of our feelings and diffuse their grip on us

"When we remember that things change, when we can see it in front of us from moment to moment, it effects deeply the way that we live. If we know that things are really fleeting, it brings a quality or a care to our attention to know where we are. Because we realize that this may be the only time—in fact it is the only time—that we'll be in this day, in this moment, in this circumstance. So one tends to live less automatically if we remember the fact of change, of impermanence and death." – Jack Kornfield

This talk from New Years Day 1/1/1988 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on DharmaSeed.

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This week, Jack gives a talk exploring the different dimensions of mindfulness as gateways to freedom. 

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Jack Kornfield continues with part two of his Essence of Buddhist Psychology series by examining the quality of compassion necessary to cultivate mindfulness and loving awareness.

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Deeply unveiling the Buddha’s transformative miracle of awakening, Jack provides a comprehensive guide to finding freedom in everyday life.

Discover your great joy and love in Jack's life-changing new online journey beginning Sept 9 – 'The Awakened Heart: Discovering Your Great Joy and Love'

“We’re asked to discover in this dance the possibility of awakening in the midst of our life, to turn what we do into something sacred.” – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• What happened to the Buddha when he sat under the Bodhi Tree
• What Buddha’s enlightenment means for the world
• Bodh Gaya and the possibility of awakening through nature
• Buddha’s path as a yogi, and how he dealt with his spiritual powers
• Buddha's miracle of awakening and education
• Reflections and questions from the Buddha for how you are living
• Keeping freshness and “beginner’s mind” in your practice
• Parenting, schooling, and the different styles of education
• Finding freedom in the difficulties and direct circumstances of your life
• The real possibility of awakening in the midst of life
• The Ten Paramitas, Buddhism’s Ten Perfections
• What walking meditation is actually about
• Why Thich Nhat Hanh does everything slowly and mindfully
• Patience, listening, and presence
• Spiritual life as the education of awakening
• Listening deeply for the Tao, Dharma, truth

“Spiritual life kindles in us an interest, an attention, a passion to awaken.” – Jack Kornfield

“Meditation is the art of doing what we do and bringing our senses, our heart, our whole being to that.” – Jack Kornfield

This episode recorded on 10/01/1990 was originally published on DharmaSeed.

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On this episode of Heart Wisdom, Jack explores what it means to take the seat of awakening. Jack tells the story of the Buddha's literal and figurative seat of awakening. The seat of awakening is the place from which our spiritual path begins. Jack prepares for the trials and temptations along the path and offers a look at the rewards that await us. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Revealing how to calm the mind through meditation, Jack shares wisdom on self-acceptance, trust, and healing the unfinished business of the heart.

Discover your great joy and love in Jack’s life-changing new online journey – The Awakened Heart: Discovering Great Joy and Love – Sign up by Sept 9 to take part in two live Q&A’s with Jack.

“Don’t live in the mind, rest in the heart and let the mind come and go as it will. This is discovering your Buddha Nature.” – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• Working with the ‘unfinished business of the heart’ – grief, sorrows, longing, wounds, loss
• Honoring life’s ‘ocean of tears’ with love and kind attention
• Cultivating the courage to allow your heart to be broken
• Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and the tender heart of a warrior
• Self-acceptance, allowing yourself to feel, and reawakening a trust in yourself
• Healing the mind by seeing clearly and not taking it so seriously
• Resting the in heart and letting the mind come and go
• Discovering Your Buddha Nature, your fundamental ground of being
• The technique of seeing the world as enlightened, and the path as yours
• The healing encased within understanding emptiness, selflessness, and letting go
• Meditation as a truly courageous act

“The problem with the mind mostly is that we take it seriously.” – Jack Kornfield

“Healing of the mind is when we can hold in our hearts all that arises, and sense a rest and a goodness, a wholeness in us.” – Jack Kornfield

Join senior meditation teachers David Nichtern and Rebecca D’Onofrio for a free online discussion on the path of developing one's own meditation practice and supporting others who wish to explore this transformative path. Register for free today: The Journey of Becoming a Meditation Teacher | Sep. 19th @ 6:00pm ET

This episode recorded in 1991 was originally published on DharmaSeed.

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In this dharma talk, Jack uses the topic of identity as a lens to understand the practice of mindfulness and explore the beautiful mystery of this incarnation.

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Unveiling how to grow your heart as big as the sky, Jack shares the spiritual antidote for aversion, negativity, and fear.

This episode is brought to you by Betterhelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/heartwisdom and get on your way to being your best self.

"Let your heart be as big as your whole experience, like the sky." – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• Overcoming aversion by "bringing it into your heart" rather than your rational mind
• Touching into emotions, fears, and judgements with compassion instead of aversion
• Using techniques like "noting/naming" for moving past intense feelings
• Loving your negatives states as you would love your own child
• Seeing clearly the karma, value, and consequence of your personal patterns
• Who would you be if you dropped your opinions, views, identity?
• Growing your heart to the size of the sky
• Practicing the 'art of letting go'
• Learning to live in the reality 'the Now'
• Why Buddha had a better time than most
• Painting as a doorway to spiritual experience
• Transmuting difficulties by dropping our resistance to them
• How to hold healthy views without being attached to them

"In this space of Now, it's not necessary to have fear. In this place of Now, we can rest." – Jack Kornfield

"If we want to create peace, or if we want to live free from greed, hatred and delusion, the place to start is in ourselves." – Jack Kornfield

Learn the Dynamic Art of Interactive Guided Meditation with Jack Kornfield in an online masterclass cohort starting this June.

This Dharma Talk originally recorded on 1/1/1989 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on DharmaSeed.

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By telling stories of the Buddha, Jack Kornfield directs us on the purpose of practice and the laws of Dharma.

"What we repeatedly direct our mind to in this society is consumerism and materialism and addictions of different kinds. What we direct ourselves to, we get. For better or for worse." – Jack Kornfield

This talk from Jack Kornfield 1/4/1994 was originally published on DharmaSeed.

In this episode Jack Kornfield discusses:

• The will to do
• Skillful action
• The mind as a mirror
• Birth stories of the Buddha
• Renunciation
• Awakening to the law of Dharma

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Jack Kornfield offers Buddhist wisdom for guiding your own practice as a householder, exploring continuity and impermanence with careful attention.

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This talk was given at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in 1986 and was originally published on DharmaSeed.org

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Through catalysts of compassion and acceptance, Jack Kornfield guides us into a life of lasting transformation.

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“We are a pattern, a process, that is never the same. In this process of our life, the patterns that continue for us flow out of our intentions.” – Jack Kornfield

This dharma talk was originally published on DharmaSeed.org

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Exploring healing through meditation, Jack shares on kundalini, addiction, suffering, and the transformation of having an ‘in body experience.’

This episode is brought to you by Betterhelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/heartwisdom and get on your way to being your best self.

“You have heard of ‘out of the body experiences,’ but what we’re after is something more unusual and important, an ‘in the body experience.'” – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully illuminates:

• Finding strength, wakefulness, and compassion amidst it all
• The Coconut Monk and the Jesus-Buddha connection
• Finding compassion and joy despite suffering and war
• Healing—what it is, how it arises, and how we can connect with it
• Listening and respect as the ground for healing
• Finding and living a path with heart
• Mindfulness, breath, attention, noting, and the Buddha
• Meditation and having an ‘in-body experience’
• Kundalini and opening the energy body
• Learning to handle both pleasure and pain
• Buddha and finding the Middle Way
• The healing of reconnecting with our senses and world around us
• What addictions really mean in an addicted society
• Facing our suffering as the gateway to the precious mystery of life
• Reading children’s direct messages to God

“There’s a healing that comes just in reconnecting with the senses and the world around us.” – Jack Kornfield

“As we begin to practice together, we can sense that meditation and spiritual work is to bring a heartfelt awareness to our life, and out of this there comes an awakening or opening, which we call healing.” – Jack Kornfield

Discover your great joy and love in Jack’s life-changing new online journey – The Awakened Heart: Discovering Great Joy and Love – Sign up by Sept 9 to take part in two live Q&A's with Jack.

This episode recorded in late December 1991 was originally published on DharmaSeed.

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Proceeding with the practice in daily life series, Jack Kornfield plunges into right concentration and mindful breathing.

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"Concentration isn't a forcing of your mind on the breath or on the pain, the pleasant sensation or on the thought. It's much more a sense of the opening, the softening, the receiving—that's what allows the mind to settle." – Jack Kornfield 

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In this powerful new Dharma Talk touching on current events, an emotional Jack offers a heart of refuge amidst the world's conflicts.

"There's a liberation amidst birth and death, joy and sorrow, war and peace, that is beyond it all. This is the sacred openness of love and awareness itself.” – Jack Kornfield

In this emotional episode, Jack touches into:

• The terrors of the ongoing wars in Gaza, Ukraine, Darfur
• How constant news media effects our emotions and wellbeing
• Learning to live from the 'heart of refuge' which the Buddha offers
• What does it mean to be a refugee? How can we help create sanctuary?
• The importance of outsiders opening to the suffering of all humans rather than taking sides
• How the Buddha's mindful loving awareness overcomes Mara's aggression, greed, and doubt
• The ways we can open ourselves to forgiveness, compassion, community, safety, love, and trust

This episode is from the Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday Night Dharma Talk and Meditation on 10/23/2023.

Already downloaded by over 15k people, visit dharmamoon.com/ebook to get YOUR free copy of The Art of Teaching Mindfulness!

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Who are we? In this dharma talk, Jack explores the mystery of identity and how meditation can open you up to the freedom of resting in timeless awareness. 

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Jack Kornfield guides a “Here and Now” meditation focusing on connecting to the present moment, and receiving the breath and waves of experience with loving awareness.

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This meditation was originally live-streamed by Spirit Rock on 5/16/22.

"There will be sensations of the body, sounds, emotions, and feelings arising, and a parade of images and thoughts and words will come and go. And you take your seat just where you are in the midst of all of these rising and passing experiences."

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Jack is joined by Trudy Goodman for discussion about practicing mindfulness and Dharma in uncertain times. 

 

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Illuminating the deepening levels of spiritual practice, Jack explores how to let life breathe while setting your heart on gold.

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“What we’re doing in practice is feeling the actuality of how life is pulsing, moving, flowing and swirling, fast and slow, rhythmically, within our own body, within our own direct experience.” – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• How to let life breathe while setting your heart on gold
• The importance of balancing our concentration, effort, and equanimity
• How the quality of presence can help the gold of the heart and mind shine
• Riding the body’s rhythm of breath as our main focus of attention and rest
• To feel of how life is pulsing, moving, and flowing through our experience
• Working with our loneliness, suffering, grief, fear, and longings
• Awakening into the present moment to see past the body of fear
• How recognizing spaciousness and impermanence helps us overcome our difficulties
• The power of trust, letting go, and letting life breathe

“People sometimes feel like it’s not worth it to practice. In the beginning it seems like you’re here 2% of the time, but if you continue and look honestly, you might be here 4% of the time. In one way, that’s discouraging statistically that you’re off 96%, but in another way it says you are now here alive and present twice as much as you were two days ago.” – Jack Kornfield

“The insight into the true path comes when we discover that we’re not trying to hold onto a single thing, not a perception, not a pleasant experience, not the calm of meditation—those are all parts of the waves of experience that rise and pass in space. The idea isn’t to hold your breath when you get something good to see how long it can stay, that doesn’t work very well. The idea is to let all of life breath. As we do, we let go moment by moment, more fully. We learn to trust, like the goldsmith, blowing on it, sprinkling water, softening, cooling, and a lot of time just giving presence so it’s beauty can start to show.” – Jack Kornfield

This episode from 10/09/1983 at Insight Meditation Society was originally published on DharmaSeed.

Want to learn how to follow the Buddha's path to freedom in the modern world? Sign up for Jack's new online course Walking the Eightfold Path with Jack Kornfield beginning March 18!

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Mindfully navigating death, we learn from Jack Kornfield how to appreciate the vulnerability of one's final moments on earth.

Jack Kornfield describes the truth death pushes us to face and how keeping an awareness of the inevitable aids us in living fully while we can.

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NEW Meditation Series: Pause, Breathe, Be Here Now with Ram Dass, Sharon Salzberg, Jack Kornfield, Tara Brach, Joseph Goldstein, John Lockley, Ram Dev, Trudy Goodman, Lama Tsultrim Allione—FREE January 16 to 25. Sit in true peace, love, and tranquility. Join thousands of people around the world for this collective meditation experience: onecommune.com/ramdass 

"Mindfulness of death is powerful because it begins to bring abut a deep questioning, a profound shift of identity. In the face of death, who are we?" — Jack Kornfield

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In this lively session, Jack illuminates how we can begin to open the heart through the transformational power of self-acceptance.

"Acceptance is the ground out of which true insight and understanding comes. It's an essential aspect of our practice. If we don't accept some aspect of ourself—some feeling, some physical sense of ourself aspect, some mental sense of ourself—then how are we to learn about it if we condemn it? How are we to discover it's nature? How are we to become free in relationship to it? Self-acceptance is not all of the practice, but it's a foundation and spirit which allows for attention and mindfulness to work." – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully illuminates:

• Transforming ourself and our practice through self-acceptance
• How true acceptance allows the practice of attention and mindfulness to work
• Don Juan, attention, non-self, and "dissolving the world"
• The power of accepting our non-acceptance
• Practice as a process of opening the heart and mind
• Dipa Ma as an embodiment of loving kindness, metta
• The gradual transformational created through the careful continuity of 'noting'
• Overcoming and integrating doubt, anger, guilt, and pain
• Resting in the present and the natural calming of the heart and the mind
• Impermanence and the Five Aggregates
• The spiritual question of 'free will versus determinism'
• Meditation and looking at our intentions
• Moving poems by Thich Nhat Hạnh and Hanshan

"Practice is a process of opening both the heart and the mind. To open the heart is to allow ourselves to begin to experience whatever there is in our being—in our walking, in our moving, in our eating—with a kindness, with a softness." – Jack Kornfield

"You can sit, and the intention to get up will arise, and if you really notice with continuity and care, you can notice maybe the attention to standup and walk because you're uncomfortable, or the intention to go take tea, or the intention to go to the bathroom. And if you notice sometimes you'll see the intention arise as that quality, 'About to do something...', and you note it, and it disappears, and there you are still sitting there. You watch the breath for a while and the intention comes again, and you begin to see how intention functions, and that it too is impersonal. It's not something you can say is, 'I, me, or mine.'" – Jack Kornfield

This Dharma Talk from 10/16/1983 at Insight Meditation Society was originally published on DharmaSeed.

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In this episode of the Heart Wisdom Podcast Jack Kornfield shares stories that open the mind, mend the heart and lead us to joy. 

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In this episode, Jack Kornfield helps us discover how the ocean of breath can lead to greater compassion for all.

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"With the opening of breath comes a spaciousness or a healing quality which is that we can allow ourselves to hold in compassion, with a kindness of heart, all that arises." – Jack Kornfield

In this episode Jack Kornfield discusses:

• Breath as the movement of spirit
• The cycle and rhythms of life
• Developing awareness of the breath
• Noticing our senses

This 1994 talk was originally published on Dharmaseed

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Jack returns for an illuminating Dharma Talk exploring the deep human longing for the wedding of body and spirit.

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"The invitation of spiritual life, of awareness or mindfulness—we could call it a sacred attention—is not to hurry up, fix, or make this human realm perfect or better. Nor is it to ignore it, but rather to awaken to what is each day as we meet it in our bodies, in our hearts, in our minds, in our family, in our community on this earth – to see it how it is, and to illuminate it with the heart, to illuminate it with our understanding and compassion, to find the basket of spirit that is here, and let that spirit shine in this human realm." – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack dives into:

- An old African wisdom story of a shepherd, his cattle, a dark forest, a lover, and a magic basket

- Life, death, void, silence, and opening to the great mystery

- Perception, consciousness, and Buddha's wisdom that mind is the principle element of creation

- Listening, truth, timelessness, and The One Who Knows

- The balance and connection between spirit and form

- Rumi and the deep human longing to wed body and spirit

- Buddha and the teachings of compassion

- Breath, wholeness, and the eternal present

- Moving past the fear body by breaking through the myth of seperation

This Dharma Talk from Spirit Rock Meditation Center on 09/11/2000 was originally published on DharmaSeed.org

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This week on the Heart Wisdom Podcast, Jack introduces us to a particularly beautiful practice, known as the Big Sky Meditation, that guides us into a quality of presence that is entered through the doorway of sound.

Find show notes and links here: https://beherenownetwork.com/jack-kornfield-ep-80-big-sky-meditation/

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In this engaging Q&A session, Jack and Trudy explore romance, impermanence, attachment, diffusing anger, manifesting your dreams using mindfulness, and more!

Learn How to Thrive in Love: Buddhist Secrets to Transform Your Relationships with Jack Kornfield and Trudy Goodman – join now!

In Part 2 of this episode, Jack and Trudy dive into Q&A on:

• Finding appreciation and wisdom in things “falling apart”
• Accepting change, aging, impermanence
• Entering the naked unknown of the wilderness, nature
• The wisdom of swimming with dolphins in the ocean
• Sending metta (loving kindness) to the world and those in positions of power
• How to tend our romantic relationships and partnerships with mindfulness and care
• Diffusing anger and learning how to communicate lovingly
• Connecting from a place of vulnerability and presence
• Moving past warfare, racism, violence, and blame
• Learning how to communicate across differences
• Noting the difference between your intention and it’s impact on others
• Manifesting your dreams using mindfulness
• “Attachment” in Buddhism vs Western Psychology
• Working through trauma in a safe and mindful way

This talk originally aired on the Voices of Esalen Podcast:

The Voices of Esalen Podcast showcases in-depth interviews with the dynamic teachers and thinkers who are part of Esalen Institute. Hosted by Sam Stern, a former Esalen student and current staff member, the podcasts have featured engaging conversations with authors Cheryl Strayed and Michael Pollan, innovators Stan Grof and Dr. Mark Hyman, teachers Byron Katie, Mark Coleman and Jean Houston, Esalen co-founder Michael Murphy, and many more. Learn more at Esalen.org/story/podcasts

About Trudy Goodman:

Trudy is a Vipassana teacher in the Theravada lineage and the Founding Teacher of InsightLA. For 25 years, in Cambridge, MA, Trudy practiced mindfulness-based psychotherapy with children, teenagers, couples and individuals. Trudy conducts retreats, engages in activism work, and teaches workshops worldwide and online. She is also the voice of Trudy the Love Barbarian in the Netflix series, The Midnight Gospel. You can learn more about about Trudy’s flourishing array of wonderful offerings at TrudyGoodman.com

This episode is brought to you by Dharma Moon. Join Buddhist teachers David Nichtern and Professor Robert Thurman for a free online event on Tuesday, March 4th at 6pm ET. Together, they'll explore the power of lineage, tradition, and the evolution of mindfulness practices. They’ll also discuss Dharma Moon’s renowned mindfulness meditation teacher training program. Visit dharmamoon.com/lineage for more info and to reserve your spot for the free online event with David Nichtern and Professor Robert Thurman!

About Jack Kornfield:

Jack Kornfield trained as a Buddhist monk in the monasteries of Thailand, India, and Burma, studying as a monk under the Buddhist master Ven. Ajahn Chah, as well as the Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw. He has taught meditation internationally since 1974 and is one of the key teachers to introduce Buddhist mindfulness practice to the West. Jack co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, with fellow meditation teachers Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein and the Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre, California. His books have been translated into 20 languages and sold more than a million copies.

Jack is currently offering a wonderful array of transformational online courses diving into crucial topics like Mindfulness Meditation Fundamentals, Walking the Eightfold Path, Opening the Heart of Forgiveness, Living Beautifully, Transforming Your Life Through Powerful Stories, and so much more. Sign up for an All Access Pass to explore Jack’s entire course library. If you would like a years worth of online meetups with Jack and fellow community, join The Year of Awakening: A Monthly Journey with Jack Kornfield

Stay up to date with Jack and his stream of fresh dharma offerings by visiting JackKornfield.com and signing up for his email teachings.

“It’s important to love what we love; it’s only a problem when we need to let go.” – Trudy Goodman

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Jack shares the story of the Buddha’s final days and teachings, a story of inspiration and wisdom that offers a bigger picture of our place in things.

Find show notes and resources here: https://beherenownetwork.com/jack-kornfield-ep-83-a-story-of-inspiration/

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Listening to the song of the present moment, Jack uncovers how to dance with life’s dynamic rhythms along the harmonizing path to inner-freedom.

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“The rhythm of your breath is no different than the rhythm of the stars.” – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• The art of listening to the song of life, birth and death
• Why it can be so tough to actually “Be Here Now” like Ram Dass
• How love connects to the present moment
• Alan Watts, music, dance, and harmonizing to the universe
• Feeling the rhythms of your breath and body
• Learning to dance to life’s dynamic music
• Staying open and avoiding spiritual bypass
• Looking at our body and life clearly and directly
• The power of attention, noting, and spaciousness for diffusing our judgements and emotions
• Buddha’s discovery of the Middle Way, and why he stopped fighting himself
• Dealing with the unfinished business of grief, loss, loneliness, wounds
• How to handle worries or fantasies that keep looping over and over
• Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and the tenderness and fearlessness of an Awakened Heart
• Why Buddha focused on humans as ‘five processes,’ rather than personalities
• Letting go of our rigid sense of self and diving into the fluidity of life
• Non-grasping and how even enlightenment is a problem
• Discovering the true path to liberation
• Death, dying, and a reading from the Tibetan Book of the Dead

“To listen is to be awake in the present without moving away from or running away from what’s actually here.” – Jack Kornfield

“The only place to actually love another person, or a tree, or a living creature, or the earth itself, is when we’re here in the present.” – Jack Kornfield

Discover your great joy and love in Jack’s life-changing new online journey – The Awakened Heart: Discovering Great Joy and Love – Dive in here and now at JackKornfield.com

This Dharma talk originally recorded in 1991 was originally published on DharmaSeed.

Join senior meditation teachers David Nichtern and Rebecca D’Onofrio for a free online discussion on the path of developing one's own meditation practice and supporting others who wish to explore this transformative path. Register for free today: The Journey of Becoming a Meditation Teacher | Sep. 19th @ 6:00pm ET

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Reflecting on what it means to live in a wise society, Jack shares stories on how we can handle difficult topics – cancer, abortion, women's rights, prison, and war – with a mutual respect.

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“How much respect do you give to those you disagree with? And what would they feel from you? Not that you have to have the same ideas, but is there that spirit of respect? Can you see the secret beauty behind their eyes? Can you see them all with a heart open even if you disagree?” – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• What the truth of interdependence means to tending a wise society
• How Buddha, Dharma, and meditation connect with politics and community
• A story of enlightenment about 'The Rabbi, the Abbot, and The Messiah'
• Quieting the mind, opening the heart, mutual respect, and listening deeply
• The compassion of Quan Yin, and the Dharma as medicine for the world
• Gracefully handling topics like cancer, abortion, women's rights, the prison system, and war

Transform your life through Jack's Kornfield's most powerful stories in this brand new 10-hour journey starting Sept 28th!

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In this episode of the Heart Wisdom Podcast, Jack shares what the story of the bodhisattva Vimalakirti can teach us about meeting the difficulties of life with an awakened heart.

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Jack invites us to stop fighting what is and begin bowing to it—awakening the timeless wisdom and compassionate heart of a Buddha, right here and now, in the midst of our joys, sorrows, and the suffering of the world.

This Dharma Talk recorded on 1/3/93 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on DharmaSeed.

This week on Heart Wisdom, Jack gives perspectives on:

• Evaluating our spiritual practice
• Joanna Macy and healing the environment
• The rollercoaster ride of meditation
• Awakening right here and right now
• The transformative power of bowing to it all
• The Buddhas of all the universes
• Suffering and the truth of Nirvana, timeless delight
• Facing the reality of the human realm—joy and sorrow, birth and death
• Looking at the difficulties facing the planet today—war, famine, racism, greed, environmental concerns
• Stop fighting what is true; the end of denial
• Bowing to suffering, attachment, and change
• Insight—seeing things just as they are

"We awaken the wisdom and the great, compassionate heart of a Buddha right where we are. Where else could it be?" – Jack Kornfield

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Reminding us of our luminous true nature, Jack invites us into the war-free zone of the heart, and leads a chant of the mantra 'Namoh.'

Today's podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/heartwisdom 

In this Dharma Talk from Spirit Rock Meditation Center on 12/10/2007, Jack Kornfield shares reflective wisdom pointing to our innate capacity for love, compassion, metta, and joy. Exploring how our heart can be a war-free zone no matter the outside circumstances, he offers insight around the modern human predicament, before closing with a powerful and harmonic group chanting of the mantra 'Namoh.'

This talk from Jack Kornfield was originally published on DharmaSeed.org

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Planting seeds of faith, Jack weaves together Buddhist Sutta, teaching advice from Ram Dass, & an unknowing koan from his daughter—inviting us into the sacred pause of mystery & eternity.

Jack Kornfield shares a dharma talk on 'The Sacred Pause' – originally airing 3/22/21 from his ongoing Spirit Rock Monday night livestreams.

This podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/heartwisdom 

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Jack Kornfield explores the forgiving heart, offering us the basic ingredients for wise forgiveness, and leads a powerful guided meditation practice called the three directions of forgiveness.

This dharma talk was originally live-streamed by Spirit Rock on 9/20/21

This podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/heartwisdom 

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In this hilarious episode, Jack Kornfield, Trudy Goodman, and Bonnie Duran, DrPH, share stories on becoming empowered to solve your own problems.

Transform your life through Jack's Kornfield's most powerful stories in this brand new 10-hour journey! Live session begin on Sept 28th!

“The Buddha's enlightenment solved the Buddha's problem, now you solve yours.” – Joseph Goldstein

In this episode Jack, Trudy, and Bonnie mindfully explore:

• The powerful lesson encased within Bonnie's first one-on-one session with Joseph Goldstein
• Empowerment, personal understanding, and spiritual awakening
• Hilarious stories from Jack on his teacher Ajahn Chah involving enlightenment, Jesus, and the wisdom of not-knowing
• Trudy's two-sided spiritual lesson on aging, impermanence, and presence
• Dealing with uncertainty and learning to trust yourself

About Bonnie Duran, DrPH:

Bonnie Duran, DrPH, (mixed race Opelousas/Coushatta) is a Professor Emeritus in the Schools of Social Work and Public Health at the University of Washington (UW), in Seattle. Before, during and after completing her doctoral degree at UC Berkeley, she has worked in public health and social care research, education and practice with a focus on Native Americans/Indigenous peoples and other communities of color for over 35 years. Dr Duran has conducted studies of mental disorder prevalence, risk and protective factors, victimization, and treatment seeking/ barriers to care among people attending Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities and probability samples from the Tribal Colleges and University’s within the largest rural Tribal Nations in the U.S. In partnership with communities, she has adapted and developed Indigenous interventions for system level, community and individual health and wellbeing.

About Trudy Goodman:

Trudy is a Vipassana teacher in the Theravada lineage and the Founding Teacher of InsightLA. For 25 years, in Cambridge, MA, Trudy practiced mindfulness-based psychotherapy with children, teenagers, couples and individuals. Trudy conducts retreats and workshops worldwide.

Learn more about Trudy’s offerings at trudygoodman.com

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On this special episode of the Heart Wisdom Podcast, Jack reflects on the life and teachings of his teacher Ajahn Chah.

Find show notes and links for this episode here: https://beherenownetwork.com/jack-kornfield-ep-79-Ajahn Chah

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In this brand new Dharma Talk, Jack sings a redemption song inviting us to lay down our suffering and anger so we can open to the heart of compassion.

Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/heartwisdom

"These teachings of redemption point to the wondrous possibility that the conflicts that plague the world can be transformed by the nobility of heart." – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully shares:

• Real tear-jerking stories of redemption of the human heart
• If there is a possibility of return from all the conflicts in the world today
• Contemplating who we push out of our hearts
• The value of offering compassion and loving kindness
• Not letting the suffering of the world poison our hearts and turn us against whole groups of people
• How without compassion and wisdom, we project it out on "them"
• How Buddhist teachings of impermanence lead to the possibility of redemption
• The transformative miracle of neuroplasticity
• Putting down thoughts of blame and turning towards a peaceful heart
• How good stories can help us break the trance and bring us into the present moment
• The way Ram Dass helped Jack, Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein work through a period of conflict
• How the world is full of second chances and redemption is possible

"What is the value of the gaze of compassion and loving kindness? It's the consciousness, it's the conscience that leads us to a wiser and more humane life. And with the most terrible dictators and terrorists, the warlords that we see causing so much suffering in this world—we have to do all we can to stop that suffering, but it's also important not to let it poison our hearts, not to let it in any way demonize our hearts to turn against whole groups of people, or give way to despair." – Jack Kornfield

"It's not just the grass that keeps growing, your body keeps renewing itself. Everything is in change. Consciousness is a waterfall, a river, an ocean of recreation again and again, inviting new patterns in illumination and the possibility of redemption. You can trust this power and align yourself to it." – Jack Kornfield

This lecture from Jack originally took place for the Spirit Rock Live: Monday Night Dharma Talk and Meditation. If you would like to join Jack online for his next livestream on Feb 19, register here!

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We go back into the archives to just a few weeks after the events of 9/11 for a lesson on how we can better respond to fear, tragedy, and injustice by cultivating a peaceful heart.

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Jack guides us in creating a sacred container for spiritual practice—a space where, like a garden, our inner life can be nurtured, allowing us to transform life’s challenges into paths of awakening and growth.

Open the Heart of Forgiveness with Jack Kornfield: A Journey of Redemption, Reconciliation and Renewal beginning Oct 21. Learn more and sign up!

“Much of our spiritual life, to mature, needs a sacred container for transformation. It needs this container that is greater than our small self—the body of fear and the mind of desire—something that honors a larger spirit, a larger truth.” – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

Creating a free and protected space, a sacred container for your practice

How the very difficulties in our lives are what actually awakens us

Using our hardships as a crucible for uncovering our own goodness

Rumi’s flavorful and delicious “vegetable fable”

Learning how to stay centered on your cushion

The mirror-like quality of meditation practice

Meeting our practice with commitment, constancy, patience

Honoring the cycles of nature and the universe

Feeling our feelings to heal our grief

Learning the value of staying with things, even through difficulty

Choosing the Dharma over the body of fear and mind of desire

Nurturing the sacred garden within yourself

The power of prayer and feeling blessed

“In a way, sitting is nothing more than looking in the mirror. You sit and face whatever arises.” – Jack Kornfield

“It almost doesn’t matter what we pick, who our partner is, or what we choose to do, as long as it’s reasonably wholesome. What matters is how much we can give to it, of our sincerity, of our earnestness, of our heart.” – Jack Kornfield

This Dharma Talk recorded on 8/1/1991 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on DharmaSeed.

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On this episode of the Heart Wisdom Podcast, Jack shares the adventure of Nachiketa and the Lord of Death and examines the lessons it has to teach about our own journey of awakening. 

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Exploring how to direct energy in a wise way, Jack shares how embracing Sacred Effort nourishes joy, ease, beauty, equanimity, mindfulness, and loving kindness in your life.

Want fresh Jack teachings delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Jack’s newsletter at JackKornfield.com/newsletter for weekly free content – guided meditations, Dharma Talks, articles, and more!

"Right Effort, or Wise Energy, most fundamentally is the effort to pay attention, the effort to be present, awake, and see what is true in front of us. Out of all the kinds of efforts we can make, the most fundamental wise effort in spiritual life is to be where we are and see it clearly, to be conscious, or mindful." – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• Directing the energy of your life to be awake, aware, and present
• Seeing the Eightfold Path as a lotus or mandala
• Carlos Castaneda, impeccability, and becoming a spiritual warrior
• How to wake yourself up from sleepwalking through your life
• Having a full heart, deep attention, and clear seeing
• The two levels of spiritual friends and spiritual practice
• Using suffering to develop a wise heart
• Remembering death and impermanence
• What Jack taught his daughter about death
• Bowing to our difficult emotions and moving on
• Disentangling ourselves from greed, fear, and obsession
• Nourishing equanimity, ease, joy, beauty, and loving kindness
• Tending each moment as if you were planting a seed
• Balance and the Buddha stringing the lute
• Ramana Maharshi and the wisdom of letting go
• Making your life and activity an expression of the Tao

"The teaching of Right Effort or Wise Effort is a reminder of our nobility. It is a reminder of the human inspiration of spirit not just to get through our lives, but to honor it, to respect it, to be present for it, to delight in it." – Jack Kornfield

"Unclench the heart, steady yourself, and be present for things as they are, and then your activity becomes an expression of your awakening, it becomes a vehicle for the Tao." – Jack Kornfield

This Dharma Talk recorded on 3/1/1992 was originally published on DharmaSeed.

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Teaching a nature retreat amidst softly chirping birds and cooling rain, Jack, Pema Chödrön, and Ajahn Sumedho illuminate joyful insights of monastic life.

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"Mostly what draws people to monastic life in the healthiest and best sense is its joy." – Jack Kornfield

In this special outdoor retreat, Jack, Pema Chödrön, and Ajahn Sumedho explore:

• Chanting the powerful seed syllable mantra, "Ah"
• Joys and misconceptions of monastic life in modern times
• Why someone would take vows and become a monk or nu
• Kabir's poetry, being human, and walking the spiritual path
• Sexuality and celibacy in spiritual communities
• Relating to both ultimate and relative reality
• Dealing with the body in physically taxing situations
• Working with injustice, inequality, and hierarchy within monasteries and spiritual institutions
• The nature of change and how our present creates our future
• Open-heartedness and open-mindedness
• Living the Dharma every second of our existence
• Letting our issues be our teachers
• A surprise Q&A appearance from Heart Wisdom family, Brother David Steindl-Rast, along with Ajahn Sundara, and Sister Columba

"Quite clearly the future is the result of how we work with our minds now. To the degree that we open our hearts and minds to the present moment, that creates our future." – Pema Chödrön

"I like to reflect that the Buddha only taught two things: suffering and the end of suffering." – Ajahn Sumedho

About Pema Chödrön:

Pema Chödrön is a Buddhist teacher in the lineage of Chögyam Trungpa. She served as the director of Karma Dzong, in Boulder, until moving in 1984 to rural Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to be the director of Gampo Abbey. Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche asked her to work towards the establishment of a monastery for western monks and nuns. Check out her new book, How We Live Is How We Die, and learn more at PemaChodronFoundation.org

About Ajahn Sumedho:

Ajahn Sumedho is a prominent teacher in the Thai Forest Tradition of Theravāda Buddhism. He was ordained in 1967, trained under Ajahn Chah, and has been instrumental in helping bring Buddha's teachings to the West. Learn more about Ajahn Sumedho in Teachings of a Buddhist Monk, including a forward by Jack.

This Dharma Talk recorded on 5/26/1990 on the land which would become Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on DharmaSeed.

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