Ep. 255 – Listening to the Song of the Present Moment

Intersecting the Buddha’s ‘Wise Understanding’ with Alan Watt’s ‘Wisdom of Insecurity,’ Jack illuminates the path of discovering lasting happiness.For an even deeper dive down the Eightfold Path, sign up for Walking the Eightfold Path with Jack Kornfield, an online course designed to guide you through the wisdom, compassion, and freedom of Buddha’s teachings. Learn more and sign up here.“Spiritual life is not about possessing or finding security, but rather it’s discovering what Alan Watts called, ‘the wisdom of insecurity,’ the capacity for freedom and compassion of heart, no matter what the circumstances. Right Understanding is a willingness to dedicate ourself to awakening, no matter how conditions change.” – Jack KornfieldExploring the first step of the Eightfold Path, Jack mindfully shares on:The Buddha, Enlightenment, the Eightfold Path, and Four Noble TruthsHow to live a wise, mindful, happy, and loving lifeThe Middle Path as the pathway to freedomWise Understanding, the first step on the Eightfold PathSuffering, it’s causes, and how to alleviate itWhere happiness actually comes fromWorking with clinging, grasping, aging, aversion, fearImpermanence, change, and the wisdom of insecuritySpiritual Direction and the journey of the soulThe seed of awakening your Buddha NatureUnderstanding the Law of KarmaFinding nirvana through our current circumstancesHaving compassion for what puts us to sleepTending your heart to tend the whole world“Buddha saw that the cause of happiness and the cause of suffering is not so much in life itself, but in the way that we relate to life.” – Jack Kornfield“Right understanding tells us that we can dedicate our life to something beautiful.” – Jack KornfieldThis Dharma Talk recorded in 1992 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on DharmaSeed.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Discover how to shift from trauma to loving awareness through mindfulness, conscious healing, and compassionate activism with Jack Kornfield and Thomas Hübl, PhD.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.“Who you are is so much more than your trauma, you are consciousness itself.” – Jack KornfieldIn Part 2 of this episode originally airing for The Collective Trauma Summit in 2021, Jack and Thomas mindfully explore:Developing the skills to heal our traumaJack’s time with meditation master, Maha GhosanandaThe powerful connection between activism and spiritualityAvoiding burnout, finding balanceTransforming from skeptical to mysticalNavigating the traumas in the Middle EastDigesting our traumasWaking up from auto-pilotExpanding your window of toleranceHow to face racism, war, economic disparity, the environment, etcMindfulness, consciousness, and loving awareness“The whole notion that spiritual practice doesn’t have anything to do with activism is a fiction.” – Jack Kornfield“Every breath you take is the breath of the starlings and the breath of the earthworms and the soil. We’re all inter-breathing it together. That’s how it works, that’s what life is.” – Jack KornfieldAbout Thomas Hübl, PhD:Thomas Hübl, PhD, is a renowned teacher, author, and international facilitator who works within the complexity of systems and cultural change, integrating the core insights of the great wisdom traditions and mysticism with the discoveries of science. Since the early 2000s, he has led large-scale events and courses on the healing of collective trauma.He is the author of Attuned: Practicing Interdependence to Heal Our Trauma—and Our World and Healing Collective Trauma: A Process for Integrating Our Intergenerational and Cultural Wounds. He has served as an advisor and guest faculty for universities and organizations, as a coach for CEOs and organizational leaders, and is currently a visiting scholar at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University. For more info, books, podcast, and upcoming offerings, please visit thomashuebl.comOpen the Heart of Forgiveness with Jack Kornfield: A Journey of Redemption, Reconciliation and Renewal. Learn more and sign up!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jack Kornfield and Thomas Hübl, PhD explore the dimensions of trauma, individual and collective healing, and the transformative power of community.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.“Almost every great spiritual tradition knows that we can’t do it alone. Because part of the revelation is that the whole notion of separateness is a constructed fiction—that we are one another’s bond, we are one another’s glory, that we are life itself—and that sense of separation dissolves in mystical ways, in the deepest most profound therapeutic ways.” – Jack KornfieldIn Part 1 of this episode originally airing for The Collective Trauma Summit in 2021, Jack and Thomas mindfully explore:The essence of trauma, how it gets locked in our body, and how to finally release itThe merging point of Eastern Spirituality and Western PsychologyThe way intimate relationships help bring up exactly what we need to work onHow our trauma work can lead to spiritual healingThe various dimensions of healing traumaDeep and moving stories of alchemizing traumaCreating a safe container for our healing and collective healingHow interdependence in a group naturally leads to healingThe importance of community (satsang, sangha)How Stan Grof’s holotropic breathwork is a psychedelic experienceGrounding and integrating our our practice into mindful loving awarenessAn ancient Buddhist parable on merging the physical world with the spiritualOpen the Heart of Forgiveness with Jack Kornfield: A Journey of Redemption, Reconciliation and Renewal beginning Oct 21. Learn more and sign up!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 KornfieldIn this episode, Jack mindfully explores:Creating a free and protected space, a sacred container for your practiceHow the very difficulties in our lives are what actually awakens usUsing our hardships as a crucible for uncovering our own goodnessRumi’s flavorful and delicious “vegetable fable”Learning how to stay centered on your cushionThe mirror-like quality of meditation practiceMeeting our practice with commitment, constancy, patienceHonoring the cycles of nature and the universeFeeling our feelings to heal our griefLearning the value of staying with things, even through difficultyChoosing the Dharma over the body of fear and mind of desireNurturing the sacred garden within yourselfThe 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 KornfieldThis Dharma Talk recorded on 8/1/1991 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on DharmaSeed.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Guiding us through the ever-changing cycles of life, Jack uncovers the profound truth of our interconnectedness as boundless and unique expressions of the Dharma.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.“We see that there isn’t one way to practice or to live, but many cycles, seasons, and expressions of Dharma and truth.” – Jack KornfieldIn this episode, Jack mindfully explores:Natural wisdom of the rainforest ecosystemDiscovering the truth of our inexorable interconnectionSeeing clearly the reality of change and impermanenceInterconnectedness within the flowing stream of interbeingSpiritual maturity and recognizing the patterns and cycles of lifeThe many unique expressions of Dharma, spirituality, and truth in this worldWisdom from Buddha, Dipa Ma, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, HH the Dalai Lama, S.N. Goenka, and Tibetan cave-dwelling yogisBringing your compassion to the environment, politics, social action, homelessness, education, etcMeditation as a radical act: facing head-on the forces of greed, prejudice, hatred, and delusionFinding your unique dharma and way to help the worldLife and spirituality as a process of death and rebirth over and over againUncovering a deep ‘joy for no reason’How the “light and love” in meditation is actually literalUntangling the knots of our attachments to live in inner freedomA poem dedicated to the struggles in the Middle EastDiscovering your capacity to awaken, and your unique gift“It’s not about perfection of oneself or the world, but it’s learning to live in a simple way and touch one moment after another with wisdom, understanding, compassion, and presence.” – Jack Kornfield“Wisdom is a state of our being in our heart. And to live in that way takes humility, a surrender or commitment, a trusting heart, a going into the unknown.” – Jack KornfieldThis Dharma Talk from 1/3/1991 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on DharmaSeed.Open the Heart of Forgiveness with Jack Kornfield: A Journey of Redemption, Reconciliation and Renewal beginning Oct 21. Learn more and sign up!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Speaking to progressing on the spiritual path, Jack explores enlightenment as true intimacy, and shares how: where we’re going is actually here.“Where we’re going is here, and what we’re after doesn’t exist in time.” – Jack KornfieldIn this episode, Jack mindfully explores:Our idealistic/romantic notions of the spiritual pathConsciousness, impermanence, and working with human emotionsWisdom stories of Ajahn Chah, Jack’s accomplished Thai meditation teacherMaharishi Mahesh Yogi and the legend of building a Spiritual Amusement ParkProgress and patience along the spiritual pathEnlightenment as intimacy with all thingsA guided meditation practice reflecting on life, death, and good deedsTransforming the the world with one small act of kindness at a timeHonoring our own beauty and goodnessHow compassion is characterized by true intimacyRecognizing and coming to our spiritual maturityLiving like a Bodhisattva, and what it really means to ‘save all beings’Alchemizing extreme suffering, trauma, and grief into compassion, forgiveness, and service“Enlightenment is to be intimate with what’s here.” – Jack KornfieldThis Dharma Talk from 1/3/1991 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on DharmaSeed.For more teachings, full courses, articles, and guided meditations, head to JackKornfield.com or sign up for Jack's email teachings at JackKornfield.com/newsletterSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jack unfolds the radical wisdom and healing teachings of the great Buddhist sage Atīśa on living this dreamlike life as gesture of love.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.“If life is like a dream, make it a beautiful one.” – Jack KornfieldIn this episode, Jack mindfully explores:Radical wisdom from the 7 Verses of Atīśa – one of the greatest Buddhist sagesA moving story about the deep transformative power encased within committing an act of truthThe nature of timeless awareness and the witnessExchanging “spiritual trading cards” with Ram DassHumor, listening, stillness, and spiritual perspectiveNot being swayed by outer circumstanceLearning what really matters in this lifeLiving with an honest and compassionate heartEmptiness and considering all phenomenon to be dreamsNot brooding over the faults of othersNoticing our inner waterfall of thoughts, feelings, sensationsBecoming medicine for others and the worldLooking through the eyes of mercyBeing grateful to everyone and everythingAlways relying on joyful and peaceful mind and heartDon’t expect a standing ovation for your spiritual work or service to the world“Who you are is what matters most—and who you are is awareness having this amazing life journey.” – Jack Kornfield“Let your life be a gesture of love.” – Jack KornfieldThis episode was originally recorded on 11/20/23 for the Spirit Rock Monday Night Dharma Talk and Meditation. To join Jack's next livestream, head to JackKornfield.com/eventsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this fresh guided meditation, Jack invites you to rest your mind and heart to uncover the authentic happiness encased within true peace.This Dharma Talk originally took place for the Spirit Rock Monday Night Dharma Talk and Guided Meditation on 11/23/2024. To join his next livestream, please check out Jack’s events calendar.“There is no greater happiness than peace.” – Jack KornfieldIn this episode, Jack leads a guided meditation on:Peace as the highest happinessFinding ease, stability, stillness, and presenceReceiving whatever arises with kindness and compassionInviting thoughts and emotions to quietResting in mindful loving awarenessUncovering a peaceful mind and full heart“Feel how the earth you are sitting on supports you completely in its steadiness.” – Jack KornfieldJoin 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 ETSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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.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 rhythm of your breath is no different than the rhythm of the stars.” – Jack KornfieldIn this episode, Jack mindfully explores:The art of listening to the song of life, birth and deathWhy it can be so tough to actually “Be Here Now” like Ram DassHow love connects to the present momentAlan Watts, music, dance, and harmonizing to the universeFeeling the rhythms of your breath and bodyLearning to dance to life’s dynamic musicStaying open and avoiding spiritual bypassLooking at our body and life clearly and directlyThe power of attention, noting, and spaciousness for diffusing our judgements and emotionsBuddha’s discovery of the Middle Way, and why he stopped fighting himselfDealing with the unfinished business of grief, loss, loneliness, woundsHow to handle worries or fantasies that keep looping over and overChögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and the tenderness and fearlessness of an Awakened HeartWhy Buddha focused on humans as ‘five processes,’ rather than personalitiesLetting go of our rigid sense of self and diving into the fluidity of lifeNon-grasping and how even enlightenment is a problemDiscovering the true path to liberationDeath, 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 KornfieldDiscover 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.comThis 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 ETSee 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 KornfieldIn this episode, Jack mindfully explores:Working with the ‘unfinished business of the heart’ – grief, sorrows, longing, wounds, lossHonoring life’s ‘ocean of tears’ with love and kind attentionCultivating the courage to allow your heart to be brokenChögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and the tender heart of a warriorSelf-acceptance, allowing yourself to feel, and reawakening a trust in yourselfHealing the mind by seeing clearly and not taking it so seriouslyResting the in heart and letting the mind come and goDiscovering Your Buddha Nature, your fundamental ground of beingThe technique of seeing the world as enlightened, and the path as yoursThe healing encased within understanding emptiness, selflessness, and letting goMeditation 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 KornfieldJoin 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 ETThis episode recorded in 1991 was originally published on DharmaSeed.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.