Heart Wisdom with Jack Kornfield

Harmonizing to the 'music of the spheres' & sharing gardening tips from Buddha, a blissful Jack unveils the possibility of sudden awakening.

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 don't want to wait until you float out of your body when you die and look back and say, 'Wow, that was an amazing incarnation, wasn't it?' You actually want to have it now." – Jack Kornfield

In this fresh video episode, Jack blissfully illuminates:

• The wisdom of the Music of the Spheres
• Energies of the 2024 Solar Eclipse
• Alan Watts on why 'life is like music'
• The enlightening present moment
• Harmonizing life's opposites like the Tao
• Dancing with life's changing rhythms
• To be married to amazement and mystery
• The beautiful revelation of sudden awakening
• Being at the still point of the turning world
• Sudden realization, gradual practice, and Zen
• Releasing from the body of fear
• Buddha's gardening wisdom
• The fruits of inner well-being

"That's what meditation does, it makes space. We step out of the thrall of our plans, thoughts, reactions, how it should be, what's happened, and what should happen; and out of the fears and the confusion, sadness, excitement, and all those things; and we become the space of loving awareness that says, 'Yes.' It's an act of love." – Jack Kornfield

This Dharma Talk originally took place 3/25/24 for Spirit Rock Meditation Center's Monday Night Dharma Talk and Meditation. Sign up for Jack's next one at JackKornfield.com/events

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Revealing how to disentangle your illusions and let go of old identities, Jack paves the way to the mystical present moment.

Join Jack online Sat June 22 for The Awakened Heart: Mindfulness and Compassion Practices for Living a Wise and Free Life – a special live daylong retreat exploring lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and peace. Register here.

“Part of the joy of selflessness is that as we become selfless much greater forces of what life is move through us.” – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• Disentangling your illusions
• Opening to the paradox of self and no-self
• The yogic practice of asking, “Who am I?”
• This mystical present moment
• How the entire universe is inside your mind
• Experiencing selflessness
• Why you can’t just ‘no-self’ it away
• Moving past your inner-critic, shame, and unworthiness
• Listening to, accepting, and loving the shadow
• The strength of being grounded on Earth
• Working with meaninglessness
• Letting go of old identities
• Love as the work of a lifetime

“You can’t just ‘no-self’ it away.” – Jack Kornfield

“All that you need to do is to keep coming back to the present and what needs to open in you will. You can really trust that.” – Jack Kornfield

This Dharma Talk estimated to be recorded on 4/23/1990 was originally published on DharmaSeed.

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Exploring life as a flowing, dynamic process, Jack shares the jewel of Buddha's awakening by unraveling the paradox of self and no-self.

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.

"Each of those sets of words, 'self,' and 'no-self,' are concepts or ideas or words that we use in a very crude approximation of pointing to some mystery of this process of life that's neither self nor no-self." – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully illuminates:

• Unraveling the paradox of self and no-self
• The Jewel of the Buddha's Awakening
• Anattā (selflessness) and how it connects with respect
• Tales of a Magic Monastery
• Living in the reality of expansion and contraction
• Why Ajahn Chah shared 'self' and 'no self' both aren't true
• The word "happy/sad" in Japanese
• Opening to our life as a flowing, moving process
• Becoming aware of selflessness
• Interdependence, interconnection, codependent arising
• Learning to respect ourself and nourish beneficial qualities
• Developing yourself while also "losing yourself"
• Discovering your True Self
• The importance of integrating our spiritual practice into our lives
• Learning to live in your body and love well

"To be really present is to connect with the mystery." – Jack Kornfield

"You develop yourself as you lose yourself." – Jack Kornfield

This Dharma Talk estimated to be recorded on 4/23/1990 was originally published on DharmaSeed.

Learn the Dynamic Art of Interactive Guided Meditation with Jack Kornfield in an online masterclass! To take part in the two live online Q&A sessions, register by June 9 at bit.ly/InteractiveCohort

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Sharing the blueprint for how to unlock true abundance, Jack reveals the secrets of letting go of greed, embracing generosity, and appreciating simplicity in life.

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

"Abundance isn't about how much you have, but how much you appreciate. – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• How to let go of our greed and live in true abundance
• The Buddhist notion of "dana" – generosity, service, open-hearted caring
• Greed as a strategy of impoverishment, rejection, and incompleteness
• Transforming our 'endless wanting' into a beneficial awakened dance with the world
• Expressing the Tao, the harmony of the universe, through our being
• The Dharmic alchemy of the Bodhisattva
• Meditation, listening, and finding out what we truly want in this life
• Where Suzuki Roshi meets Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
• How abundance of the spirit connects with simplicity rather than things
• A personal story of Jack taking his unique Bodhisattva Vows in the Rocky Mountains while teaching at Chögyam Trungpa's Naropa University
• Taking your strong, grounded, noble seat that can handle it all
• How being there for others is abundance in their life
• The generosity and delight of authentically giving – things, space, silence, listening, attention, commitment, honesty, smiles, blessings
• Ram Dass and Maharajji's lesson of "feed people, love people."
• Is "selfless service" actually selfless?

"Abundance of the spirit doesn't mean things; it means discovering a kind of simplicity of our life where we're abundant in any circumstance." – Jack Kornfield

This Dharma Talk estimated to be recorded on 3/1/1990 was originally published on DharmaSeed.

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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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Illustrating how to free yourself from fear and opinion, Jack reveals how to overcome suffering by cultivating a pure heart.

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.

"The only Zen you find on tops of mountains is the Zen you bring there." – Robert M. Pirsig

In this episode, Jack skillfully illuminates:

• Skillful ways to free yourself from stuck views and opinions
• Ram Dass's teaching advice to Jack
• Balancing life's sufferings with life's joys
• Zen wisdom on how to drop your views
• Accepting what you see and rejecting what you think
• Overcoming suffering by living with a pure heart
• Buddha's 'Fire Sermon' teachings
• The way attachment connects to fear, and how to get to the root
• How views and opinions keep you separate, ego-focused, and defensive
• Working with racism and fear by imbibing wakefulness and mindfulness
• Overcoming opinions and and views by the method of noting/naming

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

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

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Uncovering how to find joy and freedom in any situation, Jack shares the roadmap for discovering peace within yourself.

Learn the Dynamic Art of Interactive Guided Meditation with Jack Kornfield in this online masterclass cohort starting this June! Learn more and register at bit.ly/InteractiveCohort

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.

“Peace is the cessation of your struggle, it’s putting down the burden and letting things be as they actually are.” – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• Learning to be at peace with yourself and the world
• How to meditate when it feels like you can’t meditate
• The way emptiness connects with compassion
• Reconciling where peace meets struggle
• Peace as an internal state you can bring with you
• Being Here Now, opening to life fully, and becoming intimate with all things
• How we can find joy, liberation, and freedom in any situation
• Dharma stories of the Buddha as well as the Bodhisattva Vimalakīrti
• Coming to terms with the First Noble Truth of suffering, disappointment, and change
• The transformative power of meeting life exactly as it is
• What we can learn from both a “Duck Meditation,” “Goose Poem,” and a Tibetan Prayer
• Love and it’s connection with courage

“We can’t come to rest because we’re at war with what’s actually here.” – Jack Kornfield

“To enter into the unknown is really to enter into the moment.” – Jack Kornfield

This Dharma Talk originally recorded on 12/01/1989 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on DharmaSeed.

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Jack and the ‘Grandfather of Gratitude,’ Brother David Steindl-Rast, delve into sacred reflections on death, where Buddha meets Jesus, the power of compassion, the positive side of grief, and beyond.

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“The process of grieving that breaks this little heart, which closes itself in itself, opens us to the heart that we all share, the one heart that we all have in common.” – Brother David Steindl-Rast

In this sacred dialogue, Jack, Brother David, and Frank Ostaseski reflect on:

• How Christianity and Buddhism fit together spiritually
• The compassionate smile of Buddha meeting the sacred heart of Jesus Christ
• The positive side of grief: opening to the collective heart
• Death and grace in both traditions
• Deconditioning from a difficult mother
• Harnessing the power of your common sense
• A funny story about the Pope, and how to awaken to who we already are
• Jack’s journey to the Temple of the Coconut Monk
• How to handle pain like a Burmese Master
• How to forgive yourself and overcome remorse
• Diffusing suicidal tendencies by cultivating self-compassion
• Guided meditations and sacred chants from Jack and Brother David

“In a meditative way, one of the big pieces of being able to love, or touch, or open, or live, is really the work of forgiveness, grace, and receiving yourself in all of your complexity and loving.” – Jack Kornfield

“Compassion, loving kindness, and understanding are our true nature, our true state.” – Jack Kornfield

This conversation recorded on 6/30/1988 was originally published on DharmaSeed.

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Fantastic Fungi's visionary director, Louie Schwartzberg, joins Jack to explore the profound connection between psychedelics and mindfulness. 

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 can’t separate psychedelics from life.” – Jack Kornfield

In this fresh conversation, Jack and Louie spelunk the depths of:

• The connection between psychedelics and spirituality
• Psychedelics as a gateway to wonder, curiosity, and the sacred
• How tripping on psychedelics informed Louie’s filmmaking
• Albert Einstein and psychedelics as the intersection between art and science
• The universe and life as a constant transformation of light energy
• Buddha’s “Flower Sermon” and Zen Master Suzuki Roshi’s “Beginner’s Mind”
• Jack “exchanging maps” with famous LSD researcher, Stanislav Grof
• Studies showing the combination of psilocybin mushrooms and Louie’s time-lapse nature imagery as a powerful therapeutic tool for helping addiction and PTSD
• The importance of “set and setting,” community, and integration
• How psychedelics actually fit into the Buddhist precepts
• Honoring biology and the feminine aspects of nature
• The gifts of sacred attention and loving awareness
• Finding beauty wherever you are, and how Louie’s films heal by sharing patterns of nature for the soul to connect with

This conversation was originally recorded on 3/29/24 by Banyan Together – an online mindfulness community started by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. To join the community and learn more, visit BanyanTogether.com

“A lot of the work I do is to make the invisible visible. And that’s the perfect description of what a psychedelic journey is like, making the invisible visible.” – Louie Schwartzberg

“We live in a culture that’s almost defined by the absence of the sacred. And so we feel this yearning, this intuitive wish to connect—whether it’s going high in the mountains, or making love, or taking psychedelics, or meditating.” – Jack Kornfield

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Inviting in calm, strength, and steadiness, Jack leads a guided meditation into the heart of mindful loving awareness.

This guided meditation was originally recorded on 2/19/2024 for the Spirit Rock Monday Night Dharma Talk and Meditation. Register to join Jack's next livestream at JackKornfield.com/events

"Feel the weight of your body, gravity, and how the earth completely supports you when you let go into your seat. You're met by the strength and steadiness of the earth itself. You can rest on her. – Jack Kornfield

In this fresh episode, Jack leads a guided meditation for:

• Inviting in a sense of ease and calm
• Relaxing into mindful loving awareness
• Finding a steady, grounded, rooted posture
• Keeping a natural, soft, and flowing breath
• Quieting the mind and watching experience unfold
• Noticing the arising and passing away of all phenomena
• Allowing yourself into rest, trust, and relaxation

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

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