Ep. 129 – All We Need to Know

What if the blueprint for a more beautiful world is already within you? Jack explores how trust, joy, and imagination awaken transformation—from the inside out.Join the Year of Awakening with Jack Kornfield for monthly livestream Q&A hangs with Jack, and weekly lessons and reflections to keep your year focused on awakening. Use code AWAKEN50 for 50% off entry.“In the chrysalis, as the caterpillar imagines itself into the butterfly, there’s a message: trust that transformation is possible. Not only is it possible—but from the heart, you can help shape it. You can make a difference.” – Jack KornfieldIn this episode, Jack mindfully explores:What brings us joy in this life?Trust, morals, justice, and taking the long viewEnlightenment and cultivating a trusting heartThe imaginal cells of the butterflyHow your voice, joy, imagination, and trust can truly make a differenceStories on trust, love, and making a differenceMindful presence and the Awakened Heart Sangha/Satsang, community, and helping each otherImagining a beautiful new world togetherFeeling yourself as a playful child of the spiritSpelunking the great mystery of life and the universeAdding your make-weight of hope to the worldAllen Ginsberg’s poem HowlBringing our joy, love, tenderness and compassion to the worldThe big questions: how to hold suffering, and those causing sufferingThe power of protest, standing up, letting go of fear, and embracing the strength of joyQuestions and Responses on how to navigate modern times skillfully and joyfully with trust, balance, love, gratitude, equanimity, and compassion“Trust that you make a difference, and that each one of us makes a difference.” – Jack KornfieldThis episode was recorded on 04/07/2025 for the  Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday Night Dharma Talk and Guided Meditation. “We’re in this together, we can awaken together, and we can support our hearts, minds, and the beautiful world that we can be—it’s in us as part of our imaginal cells.” – Jack KornfieldAbout 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 year's 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.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jack invites us to walk the path of joy—no matter the circumstances—showing how living joyfully and tenderly is a courageous, radical, and transformative act. Join the Year of Awakening with Jack Kornfield for monthly livestream Q&A hangs with Jack, and weekly lessons and reflections to keep your year focused on awakening. Use code AWAKEN50 for 50% off entry.“What I’ve seen in visiting refugee camps is that they don’t want you to come in feeling depressed—they have enough of that themselves. They’re not looking for people who are frightened, worried, or downhearted. What they long for is someone who can bring a sense of uplift, possibility, and joy.” – Jack KornfieldIn this episode, Jack mindfully explores:Living joyfully with a positive attitudeJoy as a necessary quality of enlightenmentHow can we have joy in times of chaos, disruption, and suffering?Joy as a true service to others and the worldUplifting others through our joy and positivityWavy Gravy and the Transformative Power of JoyHow suffering is not the end of the story; it’s the beginning of the Four Noble TruthsBringing joy, beauty, and humor to our protesting, activism, and standing up for what mattersBeing hopeful despite the outside circumstances, and emphasizing compassion, sacrifice, courage, and kindnessThe joy and playfulness of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond TutuHow we can bless and heal each other with our joyLiving in joy, love, health and peace even amidst hate, affliction, and troublesExperiencing the sweet joy of living in the wayThe radical joyful presence of Ajahn Chah and Maha GhosanandaRisking delightJack’s rapturous experience of meditative blissLearning to step out of the battle and embrace lifeThich Nhat Hanh and the practice of smilingBecoming a make-weight of joy, tipping the scales to hopeUnshakeable integrity, generosity, gratitude, and tendernessTuning in with nature, relationships, and the mysteryFather Gregory Boyle and the possibility of transformation and renewalThis episode was recorded on 04/07/2025 for the Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday Night Dharma Talk and Guided Meditation. “Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.” – Wendell Berry“Live in joy and love even among those who hate. Live in joy and health even among the afflicted. Live in joy and peace even among the troubled. Look within, be still, free from fears and attachments. Know the sweet joy of living in the way.” – The DhammapadaAbout 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 year's 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.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sharing deep spiritual secrets of love and attachment, Jack transforms our unhealthy attachments into Wise Relationships through vulnerability, inner joy, and shared humanity.Today’s podcast 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 secret is, the opposite of attachment is not detachment, but love. Because true love does not seek to possess or control, it doesn’t separate or fear what is there. True love is the ability to be present without grasping. From this place, love offers its blessings.” – Jack KornfieldIn this episode, Jack mindfully explores:Transforming unhealthy clingings into Wise AttachmentNot getting stuck in our ideas and views The global price of collective addiction and attachmentMoving past our attachment to our sense of separatenessThe big spiritual question—who are we really?His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and keeping a healthy curiosity around deathLowering our defenses and helping others lower their defenses around usParenting with trust and connection rather than clinging and controlThe good side of attachment—connection, well-being, mirroringTransforming low-self-esteem and the body of fear into self-confidence and opennessUsing spiritual practice to open to a love that includes our full humanityFinding the true possibilities that the spiritual path offersResting in our being—how not to seek and chase, and how not to run away and hideTouching our incompleteness, our brokenness, with compassionExpanding our heart and connecting with our shared humanityUncovering within us our inner knowing, The One Who KnowsHow to be true to yourself, and make a light of yourselfMeditation as an invitation into vulnerabilityMoving from unhealthy attachment into Wise RelationshipHow Being Here Now, our capacity to be present, transforms our lifeNirvana as the absence of struggle with the world as it asPlease help support Jack's daughter Caroline's Oasis Legal Services in their mission to help persecuted LGBTQ+ Asylum Seekers gain citizenship and safety in the U.S.“We want to be loved, we want to be held, and it’s so hard to be vulnerable. Meditation is an invitation to that vulnerability, the rawness and openness of the heart. Not because it’s good for us, but because it moves us back to the truth that we are held. If we can sit and open, we’ll discover that this universe that has given birth to us really does hold us.” – Jack KornfieldThis episode recorded on 03/08/1993 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on DharmaSeed. “Nirvana, which is the absence of suffering, doesn’t mean that the world goes away. Nirvana is the absence of struggle with the world as it is.” – Jack KornfieldAbout 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 year's 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.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Exploring the ancient Zen teaching of the Great Way, Jack guides us toward freedom from attachment, clarity beyond preferences, and the liberating joy of letting go.“The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences. When attachment and hatred are both absent, everything becomes clear and undisguised. Make the smallest distinction; however, and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart. If you wish to see the truth, then hold no opinion for or against anything.” – Third Zen AncestorIn this episode, Jack mindfully explores:Finding freedom from attachment by learning to let goCan we meditate society’s problems away?What does it mean to seek wisdom, compassion, freedom?The Third Patriarch of ZenFinding the Great Way and seeing the truthMoving past our opinions and preferencesHow our desires blind us and manufacture our realitySuffering, impermanence, grasping, and not relying on realityThe path to liberation from our grasping and fearsThe joy of letting go of our attachments and relaxing into what isTraining ourselves to have an obedient mind of the BuddhaIs there appropriate or wise attachment?Clarifying the full spectrum of attachmentHow to get out addiction and the Realm of the Hungry GhostsDealing with attachment to our isolation, our separatenessCommitment as a healthy devoted attachment  Seeking a Wise Relationship to ourselves, others, and the worldThe slippery slope of pleasure, into desire, into habit, into needWise attachment vs unwise attachmentThe full spectrum of attachment and love“Go where you wish—cave, monastery, India, Tibet, do what you like—your mind goes with you, that’s the problem.” – Jack KornfieldThis episode recorded on 03/08/1993 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on DharmaSeed. 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 year's worth of online meetups with Jack and fellow community members, 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.“Often we think attachment is only to other people and things, but often what we are attached to is our own isolation, our own separateness.” – Jack KornfieldSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jack and Ocean continue their deep conversation, exploring how to create positive change in the world without losing our spiritual center and loving essence. Today’s podcast 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.“Neither meditation nor activism has to be a grim duty. These are invitations to open the heart and be present for everything. In activism you stand up because you care and you love, and then you bring your best to it.” – Jack KornfieldIn this episode, Jack and Ocean mindfully explore:Activism and creating positive change in the worldHow to save the world without losing yourselfActing beautifully without attachment to the fruitsHow not not to let the immense suffering of the world get to usWes Nisker, Gary Snyder, and saving the world because you love itActing in this world with peace, love, courage, and nobilityHonoring our emotions, grief, and fears, but not letting them control usBecoming what you want the world to beHis Holiness the Dalai Lama and meeting our lives with honesty and joyFighting for freedom and justice, but having fun doing itMaking activism fun, joyful, and beautifulEmphasizing the positives acts in the worldLife changing wisdom from the BuddhaHolding it all in the great heart of compassionAdding your voice, love, energy, and compassionIf your grief is big, hold it from something biggerThis episode was originally recorded for the Food Revolution Network in November of 2024. Discover Your Buddha Nature with Jack Kornfield, an online journey for reclaiming our dignity, compassion, and generosity, beginning June 2.“It says in the Bhagavad Gita, the essence is to act beautifully without attachment to the fruits of the actions. What it means is, you don’t get to determine how it turns out, but you do get to plant your seeds of goodness. And as Thoreau says, ‘Convince me you have a seed there, and I’m prepared to expect miracles.’ You get to plant the seeds, and eventually, in their own time, they bear fruit. That’s not your job. Your job is to make a beautiful garden, to plant beautiful things, and to tend them.” – Jack KornfieldAbout Ocean Robbins:Ocean Robbins is an American entrepreneur and author, best known for his role as the co-founder of Food Revolution Network, Inc. This California-based company is dedicated to advocating for a whole foods, plant-based diet. Check out Ocean’s book, 31-Day Food Revolution, to learn more about healing the body and transforming the world. You can keep up with Ocean on his website, HERE.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 year's worth of online meetups with Jack and fellow community members, 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.“If we don’t look, if we don’t acknowledge the children who are hungry, if we don’t acknowledge not just Ukraine and Gaza, but Sudan, and the Congo, and Myanmar, and the Rohingas—if we turn our gaze away in denial, we can’t make a difference. Our heart has to be big enough and our dignity strong enough that we’re willing to see it. And then some of us are called to do that work in the way that we can.” – Jack KornfieldSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jack is interviewed by Ocean Robbins to explore the big spiritual questions—why there is suffering, how to navigate duality, making the ordinary holy, and cultivating a loving witness.Discover Your Buddha Nature with Jack Kornfield, an online journey for reclaiming our dignity, compassion, and generosity, beginning June 2.“It’s important to not use spiritual practice to set up an ideal or judge yourself. Sometimes you need to shut down, and then you open again. So the spiritual path is really about being with both the calm ocean and the storm.” – Jack KornfieldIn this episode, Jack and Ocean mindfully explore:What first got Jack into mindfulness and meditationLife as beautiful, and an ocean of tearsSuffering, Buddhism, and the end of sufferingWhy is there suffering in the world?Navigating the reality of duality—form and emptiness, life and deathThe recycling nature of the universeHow to make the ordinary holyMeeting our lives with presenceA simple way to explain “The Witness”The magic of consciousnessA calming and deep guided meditation Holding fear and grief in compassionNot getting caught in reactions and angerActing the nobility of heart and your original dignity This episode was originally recorded for the Food Revolution Network in November of 2024. “Life is extraordinarily beautiful, and it’s an ocean of tears. You can’t have birth without death, you can’t have light without dark, you can’t have beginnings without endings. We live in a universe constructed of opposites. That’s just the game of form, of duality. You can’t have form without the emptiness from which it comes.” – Jack KornfieldAbout Ocean Robbins:Ocean Robbins is an American entrepreneur and author, best known for his role as the co-founder of Food Revolution Network, Inc. This California-based company is dedicated to advocating for a whole foods, plant-based diet. Check out Ocean’s book, 31-Day Food Revolution, to learn more about healing the body and transforming the world. You can keep up with Ocean on his website, HERE.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 year's worth of online meetups with Jack and fellow community members, 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.“We live in a universe that’s recycling itself—the ultimate recycling of birth and death, form and rebirth. For us as human beings, the question is not why or how. The Buddha didn’t actually answer those questions. He said those are questions that don’t tend to have understanding. He said, what I’m interested in is how to navigate the universe as it is, in a way that brings love, well-being, and freedom to all who want to awaken to this.” – Jack Kornfield See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this guided breath meditation, Jack Kornfield invites listeners into a space of ease, trust, and ardent gratitude for our bodies, hearts, and minds. Today’s podcast 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.Learn to cultivate dignity, compassion, and generosity in Discovering Your Buddha Nature with Jack Kornfield, an online journey beginning June 2. This week on Heart Wisdom, Jack leads listeners through:The true purpose of meditation and returning from the outer world to our inner selves Softening the body and releasing any physical and emotional tensionGrounding ourselves as we sense the weight of our body being fully supported by the earth Receiving whatever thoughts and emotions arise during meditation with compassion and opennessNoticing how the body breathes itself, relaxing into each breath, and inviting a sense of ease and trust Feeling the rise and fall of our bellies with each inhale and exhaleBowing inwardly to our life-sustaining breath and thanking it for keeping us aliveExpanding the field of mindful loving awareness to the entire body, heart, and mind Finding the parts of our body that are storing buried difficulties Considering the energy of the mind and how occupied it is most of the timeWelcoming a sense of peace and presence with a quieter mind and a tender heart Resting in ‘the awareness that notices’ and de-identifying with the breath and body"This is your life breath. It breathes you together with all living things. It breathes you with everyone in the room, the ocean of air in the trees. As if to make an inward bow, you can say thank you to your breath for keeping you alive so steadily." – Jack Kornfield This meditation was originally recorded for the InsightLA Sunday livestream on April 20, 2025.“Notice that you are not your breath and body. You are not your feelings and thoughts. But, who you are is the awareness that has been kindly witnessing. You are the loving awareness itself.” – Jack Kornfield 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 year's 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."The goal of meditation is not to get to somewhere else, to get from here to there, but to come from there to here. To be present, awake, kind, alive." – Jack Kornfield See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this time of global uncertainty, Jack Kornfield and Trudy Goodman call us to rise with fierce compassion and become Bodhisattvas of the Great Turning.Join Jack's Free New Course, Stand Up For Compassion: A Free Course and Resource for Navigating Uncertain Times. “You become the imaginal cells in these times. Things fall apart, but in you is the understanding that compassion is big enough to hold all of this, that the heart is big enough to hold all this, that the Dharma is big enough to shine through empires, changes, crisis, and beauty. That’s what we have—the Bodhisattva can carry on liberating beings from suffering, however long it takes.” – Jack KornfieldIn this episode, Jack and Trudy mindfully explore:How you can pick all the flowers, but you can’t stop the springNavigating fear politics and the cultural media machineLetting go of fear, blame, shame, and ending systemic divisionUsing this time of “The Great Turning” as an opportunity to create a more loving worldAjahn Chah and living the truth of uncertaintyHow to face the big problems of the world with even bigger loveMeeting the world through the Bodhisattva VowsHow loving people and feeding people connects with enlightenmentThe path and practices of loving awareness and compassionInclining the heart towards kindness and generosityHow caterpillars change to butterflies through Imaginal CellsThe world-changing power of true communityLearning how to respond mindfully to any trigger or circumstanceBecoming a make-weight of hope to tip the scales of humanity to love and balanceThe spiritual wisdom of Passover and EasterLetting go of tension and flowing into relaxationThe Pagan Goddess of DawnCommunity as the antidote for lonelinessCrying, letting the tears come, and seeing what happensHow to interact with people who are highly anxious or avoidantSaying hello to the people around you“Tears feel endless, bottomless, when they don’t have a chance to fall. When they get to fall, they fall and fall, but they stop because tears too are impermanent, they cannot fall forever. It’s really like this with all the intense emotions we are afraid will flood and drown us in some way.” – Trudy Goodman"What we're experiencing, Joanna Macy calls, The Great Turning. It's the breakdown of the exploitive late-stage capitalist model where we get as much as we can, and the harbinger of the possibility of interdependence. When it breaks down, that turning says, ‘We will use this time to turn this world into something better, to care for one another. The possibility starts with us." – Jack Kornfield This episode was originally recorded for the InsightLA Sunday livestream on April 20, 2025.Photo via WirestockAbout 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 year's 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.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Exploring how to let go of victim consciousness and awaken inner resilience, Jack shares how to rest in awareness and live from the trusting heart.Today’s podcast 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.Join Jack's New Free Course, Stand Up For Compassion: A Free Course and Resource for Navigating Uncertain Times. In this episode of Heart Wisdom, Jack mindfully explores:Liberation, resilience, and the Trusting HeartThe physical nature of time within the infinite nature of awarenessChange, aging, and the weirdness of looking in the mirrorMeditation and working with the drama that arisesRemembering who we truly are, no matter how lost we getMoving past victim consciousness, shame, and blameDropping our negative stories and starting to live with nobilityHow we are so much more than our sufferingHow to stop being loyal to our stories about ourselves and the worldNavigating these "latter day degenerate times with cherry blossoms everywhere”The goal of practice as keeping our beginners mindLetting go of fear and opening to adventureNot confusing no-self with low-self esteem"No self, no problem"The strength, aliveness, and fullness of true emptinessThe Dharma of a zoo in a hurricaneThe Trusting Heart as natural as the Tao, as resilient as water, and as forgiving as the earthThe resiliency, compassion, and intuition of the WitnessRecognizing how good you're actually doing"When we become still, when we're not trying to be something, when we're in the moments of the trusting heart—what's left is not imitation or artificial, it is as natural as the Tao, as resilient and flexible as water, and as forgiving as the earth." – Jack Kornfield This Dharma Talk was recorded at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and originally published on DharmaSeed.“Is this who you really are—the victim, the abandoned one, the lonely one? Is that really who you are? If you speak it out loud, 'I'm the victim,' it gets embarrassing because something in there can't say it very long. Over time we've become really loyal to this story, but actually, something in us knows that it's not the whole game. There comes tremendous freedom when we begin to experience this." – Jack KornfieldAbout 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 year's 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."There is a resiliency in us as human beings which becomes trustworthy when we let go of the small sense of self and become the spacious, open, witness to all things." – Jack KornfieldSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Who are we really? Jack Kornfield peels back the veil on our identity roles to uncover the deeper truth that we really are. Join Jack's New Free Course, Stand Up For Compassion: A Free Course and Resource for Navigating Uncertain Times. In this episode of Heart Wisdom, Jack mindfully explores:Opening to a new vast, gracious, and spacious perspective on lifeStepping out of your ordinary habits and roles to see something in a new wayHow to navigate the reality that death is stalking usMeditation as a practice of letting things goThe spirituality of the nature of change and the present momentRam Dass and the mystery of identity, change, and awarenessSeeing past our roles to the deeper reality of who we areLooking into the mystery of: Who I Am?Touching the secret beauty you were born withJack's experience communicating with Koko the GorillaSeeing past the illusion of separateness and the small selfMeditation as a sacred space of non-consumptionRemembering and healing through listening and letting goSeeing the entire arc of life with the eyes of the DivineOvercoming the forces of greed, hatred, and fearUntangling the places that cause suffering and confusionOpening to the birthright of your freedomLiving the pattern of mystery that is this lifeRecognizing the total interconnection of all of life"Part of what makes meditation so extraordinary is that to simply sit and not try to make anything happen, or get anywhere, or do something—is to step out of our identity and our roles in the small sense of self." – Jack Kornfield This Dharma Talk was recorded at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and originally published on DharmaSeed.“Meditation offers us a sacred space of non-consumption. There's nothing to do, no grade, no accomplishment, nothing you have to become. It is the sacred space to listen and remember, and touch the freedom of heart or spirit that is possible in any circumstance." – Jack KornfieldAbout 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.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.