Heart Wisdom with Jack Kornfield

Jack Kornfield and Sylvia Boorstein explore how loving awareness helps us meet each moment as a friend, soften into aging and impermanence, and rediscover connection through simple acts of generosity and love.

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.

This week on Heart Wisdom, Jack Kornfield shares:

• Meeting each moment fully and as a friend by relaxing the body, quieting reactivity, and bringing kindness to whatever arises
• Sylvia’s honest and humorous reflections on aging, mortality, losing independence, and adapting to life in a senior living community
• Transforming crankiness and loneliness
• How small acts of generosity—sharing figs, holding a stranger’s hand, or simply noticing another person—can transform crankiness, fear, and loneliness
• Bringing mindfulness and loving-kindness together, staying amazed by life’s impermanence, and recognizing love as our deepest response to being alive

This episode was originally recorded for a special Spirit Rock Monday Night Meditation and Talk in July 2026 celebrating Sylvia Boorstein’s 90th Birthday. Watch the next one at SpiritRock.org

About Sylvia Boorstein:

Sylvia Boorstein, PhD, is a founding teacher of Spirit Rock Meditation Center and has taught Dharma and mindfulness since 1985. A psychologist, author, and gifted storyteller, she makes Buddhist teachings accessible by emphasizing that everyday life is mindfulness practice. Her work integrates meditation, kindness, engaged citizenship, and social activism. Learn more about Sylvia at SylviaBoorstein.com.

“May I meet this moment fully means: Here I am. I’m awake. What’s going on? And may I meet it as a friend means: May I meet it with my body relaxed, my mind relaxed, and be able to really see what’s happening—not pushing it away. May I meet this moment fully. May I meet it as a friend” –Sylvia Boorstein

About Jack Kornfield:

Jack Kornfield, PhD trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, India, and Burma. He holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and is a founding teacher of the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts and Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California. He is one of the key teachers to introduce mindfulness practice to the West, has taught internationally since 1974, and is the author of 16 books which have sold 2 million copies. Stay connected with Jack and explore his latest offerings at JackKornfield.com. Sign up for his free weekly email teachings, explore his transformational online courses, access his complete course library through the All Access Pass, or join his monthly livestreams and online community. Jack’s latest book, All In This Together: Stories and Teachings for Loving Each Other and Our World is out now!

“Incarnation has praise and blaming, gain and loss, pleasure and pain, light and dark—and it’s always changing. Then the heart becomes at ease and says, ‘Oh, here we are. Isn’t this amazing?’ The deepest response to it is to love it, because it’s what we’ve got.” –Jack Kornfield

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Celebrating Sylvia Boorstein’s 90th birthday, Jack and Sylvia reflect on 49 years of friendship, meditation, and Dharma practice—and how awakening ultimately expresses itself through kindness, connection, and a willingness to stay amazed.

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.

This week on Heart Wisdom, Jack Kornfield shares:

• Sylvia’s journey through the Buddhist teachings of impermanence, suffering, and selflessness, and how intellectual understanding gradually becomes lived realization
• Jack and Sylvia’s 49 years of friendship, from her early meditation and kundalini experiences to their travels, teaching, and shared life in the Dharma
• How decades of mindfulness and metta practice made Sylvia not only kinder, but happier and more responsive to the needs of others
• Meeting ourselves and one another with loving awareness, remembering our interconnectedness, and staying amazed by the mystery of being alive

This episode was originally recorded for a special Spirit Rock Monday Night Meditation and Talk in July 2026 celebrating Sylvia Boorstein’s 90th Birthday. Watch the next one at SpiritRock.org

About Sylvia Boorstein:

Sylvia Boorstein, PhD, is a founding teacher of Spirit Rock Meditation Center and has taught Dharma and mindfulness since 1985. A psychologist, author, and gifted storyteller, she makes Buddhist teachings accessible by emphasizing that everyday life is mindfulness practice. Her work integrates meditation, kindness, engaged citizenship, and social activism. Learn more about Sylvia at SylviaBoorstein.com“We remind each other of our freedom and our possibility. We are so deeply interwoven in the energy field of consciousness itself, and when you know it, whatever you do becomes benevolent in some really deep way.”

"The shortest way to say what happened to me in 49 years is: I became kind. Seymour said, ‘No, you were always kind.’ And I said, ‘Well, then I became kinder.’ And the big surprise for me after all this time is that I’m also happier.” – Sylvia Boorstein

About Jack Kornfield:

Jack Kornfield, PhD trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, India, and Burma. He holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and is a founding teacher of the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts and Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California. He is one of the key teachers to introduce mindfulness practice to the West, has taught internationally since 1974, and is the author of 16 books which have sold 2 million copies.

Stay connected with Jack and explore his latest offerings at JackKornfield.com. Sign up for his free weekly email teachings, explore his transformational online courses, access his complete course library through the All Access Pass, or join his monthly livestreams and online community. Jack’s latest book, All In This Together: Stories and Teachings for Loving Each Other and Our World is out now!

“We remind each other of our freedom and our possibility. We are so deeply interwoven in the energy field of consciousness itself, and when you know it, whatever you do becomes benevolent in some really deep way.” –Jack Kornfield

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Exploring the gifts hidden within our most difficult emotions, Jack Kornfield shares how anger, judgment, and despair can be transformed into compassion, courage, and selfless service.

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.

This week on Heart Wisdom, Jack Kornfield shares:

• The path of selfless service
• A meditation on kindness and loving awareness
• Meeting anger without judgment or fear
• The care and passion hidden beneath anger
• Moving from despair toward imagination and possibility
• Activism rooted in stillness, wellbeing, and love
• Moral beauty and compassionate courage
• Transforming judgment into tenderness and metta

“Do you know why you’re so angry? Because you care. Because you care that much. And when you start to tune into the fact that you do care, that’s the fuel.” –Jack Kornfield

This teaching was originally recorded during a live session for Jack's Living the Dharma in a Troubled World yearlong program. Join these monthly livestream Q&A sessions here. As a special offer for Heart Wisdom listeners, use code Dharma10 or Dharma10p (payment plan) at checkout for 10% off this program.

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.

“We’re learning how to be free as human beings—not to skip over being human, but actually to have a big enough heart to say, ‘Yes, this is part of our legacy.’” –Jack Kornfield

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Reflecting on Spirit Rock's new stupa, Jack Kornfield shares how sacred places help us remember the timeless awareness, compassion, and freedom at the heart of our being.

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.

This week on Heart Wisdom, Jack Kornfield shares:

• The meaning and purpose of Buddhist Stupas
• Sacred symbols and spiritual remembrance
• Consciousness beyond the personal self
• Community, lineage, and blessing
• Bringing practice into the world
• Lovingkindness as a way of life

This teaching was originally recorded during the blessing of Spirit Rock's new stupa and the celebration of Jack Kornfield's 80th birthday. The full event was produced by Spirit Rock and has been adapted for Heart Wisdom. For information about visiting Spirit Rock or attending an in-person or online retreat, please visit  Spiritrock.org.

“You are not this body or these feelings. They come and go. Who you are is so much bigger than this. In fact, who you are is awareness, consciousness itself. When you start to realize that, it becomes the gateway to freedom, to liberation, and tremendous joy in the middle of it all.” –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.

“You quiet the mind and open the heart. Then you get up and sweep the garden of the world.” –Jack Kornfield

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Celebrating Spirit Rock's new stupa and 40 years of practice, Jack Kornfield reflects on spiritual community, resilience in times of suffering, and the timeless wisdom that helps us meet life with an awakened 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.

This week on Heart Wisdom, Jack Kornfield explores:

• Spiritual community as a refuge in difficult times
• Compassion and resilience amid global suffering
• Remembering our fundamental goodness
• The transformative power of meditation practice
• Kindness as the fruit of a lifetime of practice
• Discovering awareness as our natural state

This teaching was originally recorded during the blessing of Spirit Rock's new stupa and the celebration of Jack Kornfield's 80th birthday. The full event was produced by Spirit Rock and has been adapted for Heart Wisdom. For information about visiting Spirit Rock or attending an in-person or online retreat, please visit  Spiritrock.org.

“The land, the practices, and the community—these are the things that help us remember who we really are.”  –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.

“Who you are is magnificent. Part of our practice and our gathering is honoring that truth and affirming your basic goodness and beauty, saying: this is who you are, and you can live this in the world.” –Jack Kornfield

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Through powerful storytelling, Jack Kornfield turns toward the deeper invitation of the spiritual path: to listen with the heart and respond to life with courage, compassion, and presence.

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.

This week on Heart Wisdom, Jack Kornfield explores:

• The power of deep listening and compassion
• Courage as a force for transformation
• Expanding our sense of “family” to include all beings
• Living with love in times of uncertainty
• Small actions creating meaningful change

This episode was originally filmed for the April 2026 Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday Night Talk and Guided Meditation.

“So you listen, you add your voice and heart with your humanity, with your care, with your sensitivity. We're all going through it—suffering, pleasure, joy, all of it. Keep your heart strong. You can do this.”  –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.

“You have been training for this—to meet the world with compassion.” –Jack Kornfield

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Beginning with reflections on global crises and personal difficulty, Jack reminds us that while suffering is inevitable, how we respond is what shapes our lives.

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.

This time on Heart Wisdom, Jack Kornfield explores:

• Responding to difficulty without becoming overwhelmed
• Living in the present moment instead of fear-based thinking
• The power of intention and deep listening
• Becoming an “island of peace” in chaotic times
• Trusting uncertainty and the mystery of life

This episode was originally filmed for the April 2026 Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday Night Talk and Guided Meditation.

“In difficulty, the mind goes into survival—trying to protect and fix. Thank it, let it soften, and return to the present. As Ram Dass reminds us—you can be here now.”  –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 question is not whether there’s suffering, because there is, and some of it's really terrible. And it does want us to pay attention. But then the question is, how do we respond?”  –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 the second half of this powerful wartime talk, Jack Kornfield guides us through the practice of lovingkindness and explores what it means to stay open-hearted in the face of exhaustion, grief, and overwhelm.

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.

This time on Heart Wisdom, Jack Kornfield chats about:

• Lovingkindness (metta) as a practice of resilience
• Overcoming despair by using our inner resources
• Working with emotional exhaustion and compassion fatigue
• The wisdom of allowing emptiness instead of fixing it
• The power of presence in shaping the future
• Becoming a force of peace in the world

“When we live in the present moment, we can be strong and loving no matter what. We don't get lost in our fear. The practice of living in the present with mindful, loving awareness is a doorway to your freedom, to your well being.”  –Jack Kornfield

The episode was originally filmed for Mantra Ukraine, you can learn more about them on Instagram

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.

“You don't have to rush your compassion. Just be where you are and hold even the emptiness with great kindness.”  –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 deeply moving talk offered to those living through war in Ukraine, Jack Kornfield reminds us that even in the most difficult conditions, the human heart has the capacity to remain open, compassionate, and free.

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.

This time on Heart Wisdom, Jack Kornfield shares:

• Creating inner peace in the midst of external conflict
• The practice of self-compassion in times of overwhelm
• How to work with suffering without internalizing it
• Reconnecting with inner resources like nature, community, and intention
• The teaching that “hatred never ends by hatred”

 “Even though there is war around us, it is possible to create an island of peace in the middle of it all—and not let the war take over our hearts.”  –Jack Kornfield

The episode was originally filmed for Mantra Ukraine, you can learn more about them on Instagram

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.

“If the suffering of the world has now taken over your body, it’s in the wrong place. You need to leave it outside and not carry it inside your heart.”  –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.

In this powerful dialogue, Jack Kornfield responds to questions from the community about some of the deepest challenges of the human 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.

This time on Heart Wisdom, Jack Kornfield shares:

• Caring for aging parents with compassion
• Transforming rage into compassionate action
• Grieving without hardening the heart
• Meeting illness and death with presence
• Sangha as a refuge in difficult time

“We need each other. Sangha is the company of the wise. In these times we need to stand up for the truth and speak up together. That’s part of sangha—to be together in the innate dignity of humanity and say, ‘Yes, this is what matters.’” –Jack Kornfield

This episode was first recorded on Feb 23, 2026 for the Spirit Rock Monday Night Talk and Meditation

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.

“The idea from the Buddha’s teachings is that when we’re together and committed to compassion, liberation, a free heart, and a care for one-another, amazing things are possible.” –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.

In this illuminating talk, Jack explores the heart of freedom through the lens of his friendship with Ram Dass, reflecting on how to cultivate a heart that can meet it all with loving awareness.

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.

This time on Heart Wisdom, Jack Kornfield shares:

• Ram Dass and the liberation of the heart
• The Dharma teaching of letting go
• Freedom from attachment to preferences
• Compassion in difficult times
• The wisdom of Buddhist teachings in modern life

“There was something so liberating about Ram Dass because he wasn't attached to who he was—he was playing with it.”  –Jack Kornfield

This episode was first recorded on Feb 23, 2026 for the Spirit Rock Monday Night Talk and Meditation

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.

“The great way is not difficult for those who are not attached to their preferences.” –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.

In this deeply grounding guided meditation, Jack Kornfield invites us to rest in mindful loving awareness and gratitude for the miracle of being alive.

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.

This time on Heart Wisdom, Jack Kornfield shares:

•  Guided meditation on mindful loving awareness
•  Gratitude for breath, body, heart, and mind
•  Opening to the field of awareness beyond thoughts
•  The healing power of compassion toward ourselves
•  Recognizing the interconnectedness of all life

“Who you are is bigger than the mind, bigger than the emotions, bigger than the changing sensations of the body. You're the field of awareness itself, consciousness that was born into this body.” –Jack Kornfield

This episode was first recorded on Feb 23, 2026 for the Spirit Rock Monday Night Talk and Meditation

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.

“In this very moment, feel the space that gratitude opens, that kindness opens.” –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.

Celebrating the release of All In This Together, Jack shares stories and leads a guided meditation inviting us into the fear dispelling and protective practice of loving kindness.

Jack’s new book is out now: All in This Together: Stories and Teachings for Loving Each Other and Our World

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.

“Loving kindness protects us from our fears that come up. When you go into the jungle, watch the news, or whatever wild thing you do, loving kindness is a basis to tend and care for your own heart.” –Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack shares stories and leads a guided meditation on:

• Coming together to quiet the mind and open the heart
• Jack shares background on his new book of stories, All InThis Together
• The healing importance of forgiveness in a conflicted world
• A Buddhist story on how loving kindness (metta) protects us from our fears
• Looking at our relationship to technology in the world
• The life-changing blessings of metta practice
• Holding the tainted glory of your humanity in loving kindness
• The transformative power of metta
• Student reflections on the practice
• Having compassion for our struggles
• Noticing our progress on the path

"Sometimes it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy." –Guillaume Apollinaire

This Dharma Talk originally took place in Nov 2025 for the Spirit Rock Monday Night Dharma Talk and Guided Meditation celebrating Jack’s All In This Together book release. Stay up to date with Jack's upcoming livestreams and events 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, join The Year of Awakening: A Monthly Journey with Jack Kornfield.

“The practice is to hold the tainted glory of your humanity in loving kindness, all of it, all the difficult, beautiful, amazing, and horrifying parts we have as humans.” –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.

Celebrating the release of All In This Together, Jack reflects on learning to bow to life’s mystery—and how doing so opens a path to liberation, love, and inner peace.

Jack’s new book is out now: All in This Together: Stories and Teachings for Loving Each Other and Our World

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.

https://youtu.be/c9lBoai7ZTY

“There’s something so mysterious about how things unfold. We live in something so huge and magnificent, but we get into small mind about how it should be, but we honestly don’t know so much.” –Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• More healing stories on love and respect
• Sharon Salzberg’s travel advice from Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
• The stories of how both Spirit Rock Meditation Center and Insight Meditation Society came to be
• Bowing to the mystery of how everything unfolds
• Thich Nhat Hanh’s wisdom from a tree
• How weird, wild, and mysterious it is to be human
• The invitation to liberation this life offers
• How to stay calm driving in intense traffic
• Working with intention and letting others off the hook
• When people are behaving badly, letting go and focusing on your own heart
• Dealing with existential angst
• The music of humanity, of being human
• Working through anger and righteousness
• Holding your complicated life in kindness and compassion
• Becoming a lighthouse for others

“There’s something in the stories we tell. We come together for the Dharma, and it’s really the truth of love and mystery.” –Jack Kornfield

This Dharma Talk originally took place in Nov 2025 for the Spirit Rock Monday Night Dharma Talk and Guided Meditation celebrating Jack’s All In This Together book release. Stay up to date with Jack's upcoming livestreams and events 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, join The Year of Awakening: A Monthly Journey with Jack Kornfield.

“You can’t know the intention of someone else. There’s only one person whose intention you can really know. Guess whose that is? So, intention is really for yourself.” –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.

Honoring the release of All In This Together, Jack reflects on how stories awaken compassion, heal division, and call us back to meeting one another with respect.

Jack’s new book is out now!: All in This Together: Stories and Teachings for Loving Each Other and Our World

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.

“We have the opportunity to reach out and mend the fabric of life... Action that actually undoes anxiety is making even the tiniest difference to others.” –Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• Jack’s recent trip with Trudy to India to see His Holiness the Dalai Lama
• What the Dalai Lama said about A.I. and compassion
• Having a wise relationship with A.I. and technology
• Varanasi and facing the reality of death at the burning ghats
• Stories as a medicine for the soul
• The transformative story of Ram Dass, Maharajji, and the glance of mercy
• Being fully worthy of love
• Learning how to connect with genuineness, kindness, and respect
• Archetypal and universal teachings
• Buddha’s last meal
• Intention as the root of karma
• Overcoming conflict with respect and good intention

“Even making the tiniest difference to others begins to change the direction of your life and the circumstance of the world around you.” –Jack Kornfield

This Dharma Talk originally took place in Nov 2025 for the Spirit Rock Monday Night Dharma Talk andGuided Meditation celebrating Jack’s All In This Together book release. Stay up to date with Jack's upcoming livestreams and events 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, join The Year of Awakening: A Monthly Journey with Jack Kornfield.

“Stories are medicine.” –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.

In honor of All In This Together, Jack, Anne Lamott, and Tami Simon continue their heart-opening conversation on story, tenderness, and remembering who you are

Jack’s new book is out now!: All in This Together: Stories and Teachings for Loving Each Other and Our World

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.

In this episode, Jack, Anne, and Tami mindfully explore:

• Anne Lamott’s 12-Step cruise ship seminar wisdom
• How to tell or write a heart-opening story
• Getting to the emotional center of it all
• Remembering who you really are
• Illuminating our common humanity
• Laughter as carbonated holiness and sacred ground
• What’s between the telling and the listening
• How to trade our exhaustion for peace and rest
• Micro-dosing love and understanding
• The healing power of true romantic, soul-mate love
• Being loved just as you are
• Stories on hope
• Operating from the heart cave
• Jack’s recent visit with His Holiness the Dalai Lama
• Stories of conflict resolution

This conversation originally took place in Nov 2025 for Sounds True’s celebration of Jack’s All In This Together book release. Stay up to date with Jack’s upcoming livestreams and events here.

About Anne Lamott:

Anne Lamott is the New York Times best-selling author of many books, including collections of essays, novels, and long-form non-fiction, including the classic writing manual Bird by Bird and child-rearing memoir Operating Instructions. In addition to being a novelist and nonfiction writer, Lamott is also a progressive political activist, public speaker, and writing teacher. Keep up with Anne on Instagram.

“Laughter is carbonated holiness, and when we’re laughing together we’re on sacred ground.” –Anne Lamott

About Tami Simon:

Tami Simon is the founder of Sounds True, a multimedia company that has produced over 3,000 titles and been nominated twice for the Inc. 500 list of the fastest-growing companies. Tami also hosts the popular Sounds True podcast, Insights at the Edge, with more than 15 million downloads. Tami has been instrumental in the creation of the Inner MBA Program: a nine-month interactive program featuring esteemed CEOs and conscious business and mindfulness leaders created by Sounds True, LinkedIn and Wisdom 2.0.

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.

“I want to tell stories that soften your heart, make you weep or laugh, help you remember who you are, and illuminate our common humanity.” –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 opens with reflections on the cosmic dance of life before guiding listeners into a meditation on stillness, breath, and embodied presence. Drawing on ancient imagery and gentle instruction, he invites us to take our seat in the still point of the turning world.

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.

Jack’s new book is out now!: All in This Together: Stories and Teachings for Loving Each Other and Our World

In this episode, Jack explores:

• The meaning of solstice as a sacred pause
• Taking your seat in stillness
• The breath as a living, shared process
• Becoming the loving witness
• Finding harmony with the rhythms of life

This Dharma Talk originally took place in Dec 2025 for the Spirit Rock Monday Night Dharma Talk and Guided Meditation. Stay up to date with Jack’s upcoming livestreams and events here.

“You are being breathed. The earth is breathing you, and the ocean of air is dancing with your body.”–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.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As winter deepens, Jack reflects on the quiet light that does not go out—the warmth of compassion, generosity, and courage that sustains us through dark seasons. Through stories of everyday kindness and ancient wisdom, he invites us to tend the inner fire that heals and connects us.

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.

“That's what you carry. That's who you really are. That's what was born in you, is the great heart of compassion and tenderness.” –Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack explores:

• Compassion as a response to fear
• Everyday acts of generosity
• Tending the inner fire during dark seasons
• Beginner’s mind and seeing with wonder
• Adding your light to a troubled and beautiful world

“The heart can’t do anything but tenderness and mercy when we really listen.” –Jack Kornfield

Jack’s new book is out now!: All in This Together: Stories and Teachings for Loving Each Other and Our World

This Dharma Talk originally took place in Dec 2025 for the Spirit Rock Monday Night Dharma Talk and Guided Meditation. Stay up to date with Jack’s upcoming livestreams and events 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, join The Year of Awakening: A Monthly Journey with Jack Kornfield.

“Perhaps there is only one person’s voice missing for peace to come into the world.” –Jack Kornfield, retelling a traditional teaching

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.

As we fully enter the winter season, Jack reflects on the ancient meaning of solstice—the standing still—and what becomes possible when we allow ourselves to pause. In a world shaped by speed, grief, and uncertainty, he invites us into stillness as a sacred act.

Jack’s new book is out now!: All in This Together: Stories and Teachings for Loving Each Other and Our World

“To be able to come together and not do anything is an extraordinary thing in our culture and our time.” –Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack explores:

• The sacred meaning of the winter solstice
• Stillness as a spiritual practice
• Impermanence and the uncertainty of human life
• Holding grief and beauty at the same time
• Birth, death, and remembering what truly matters

“Imagine this is your last day. Who would you call? What would you say? And why are you waiting?” –Jack Kornfield, reflecting on a teaching from Stephen Levine

This Dharma Talk originally took place in Dec 2025 for the Spirit Rock Monday Night Dharma Talk and Guided Meditation. Stay up to date with Jack’s upcoming livestreams and events 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, 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.

In a moment when the world feels uncertain, Jack sits down with Anne Lamott and Tami Simon for an intimate, deeply human conversation about stories of the heart—how they soften us, unite us, and remind us of our own beauty.

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.

Jack’s new book is out now!: All in This Together: Stories and Teachings for Loving Each Other and Our World

“What makes me happy in working with people is to be able to remind them of how beautiful they are.” –Jack Kornfield.

In this episode, Jack, Anne, and Tami mindfully explore:

• Writing tips, wild stories, and inspiration between Jack, Anne, and Tami
• The power of taking ‘writers walks’
• Protest, aging, Jesus, Buddha, and vulnerable stories
• Anne Lamott’s fan-girl letter to Jack from years ago
• Reminding you of your own beauty
• Jack’s story of having to bow his ego at the monastery
• How to hold a generous vision in dark times
• Uncovering the story of the heart
• Ram Dass and learning to love everyone
• Doing the work and prayer to become one of ‘all in this together’
• Living from the heart cave

This conversation originally took place in Nov 2025 for SoundsTrue’s celebration of Jack’s All In This Together book release. Stay up to date with Jack’s upcoming livestreams and events here. 

“The time is so ripe for us to look out with a new pair of glasses from the heart instead of from our fear, to go into what Ram Dass called the heart cave.” –Anne Lamott

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.

“Right now we need stories that ask, even though we are going through divisiveness, climate change and A.I.—what’s the story of the heart, what’s the story of human beings going through times of tremendous change and then remembering what really matters?” –Jack Kornfield

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Celebrating the release of his new book of his favorite stories, All In This Together, Jack shares wise tales on living with integrity, presence, stillness, and generosity.

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.

Jack’s new book is out now!: All in This Together: Stories and Teachings for Loving Each Other and Our World

“Whether you make art, write, tend a garden, or parent children—if you can share your dignity, generosity, understanding, integrity, vision, and make that come alive within you and others, your life becomes a blessed source of happiness.” –Jack Kornfield.

In this episode Jack mindfully explores:

• Meaning and connection
• Thich Nhat Hanh’s favorite Tolstoy story
• Answering the Empress’s three life-changing questions: What is the best time to do things? Who are the best people to work with? What is the most important thing to be doing at all times?
• Living in the present moment and serving those around you
• Cultivating happiness through giving our life meaning
• Being a Bodhisattva and holding all life in compassion
• The story of Abbott Anastasius
• Integrity and generosity
• What we teach others through our stillness
• Being a clear mirror for others
• Quieting the mind, tending the heart, and remembering what matters
• Opening to the vastness of life beyond the small self
• Your birthright as loving awareness itself

“We can make our minds so like still water that beings gather around us that they may see their own images and so live for a moment with a clearer, perhaps fiercer life because of our quiet.” –William Butler Yeats

This Dharma Talk originally took place in April 2019 for Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s Monday Night Dharma Talk and Guided Meditation. Stay up to date with Jack’s upcoming livestreams and events 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, join The Year of Awakening: A Monthly Journey with Jack Kornfield.

“Happiness comes when we have meaning in our life.” –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.

Celebrating the release of his new book of his favorite stories, All In This Together, Jack shares why ‘sometimes we need a story more than food.’ 

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.

Jack’s new book is out now!: All in This Together: Stories and Teachings for Loving Each Other and Our World

“Light the candle, make a sacred space, and talk about what it means to hold this life in compassion. And then invite people to tell the stories that they need for the healing of their own heart. That’s why ‘sometimes you need a story more than food’ (Barry Lopez)—sometimes to hear it, sometimes to tell it.” – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• The art of awakening through stories 
• Barry Lopez and why ‘sometimes you need a story more than food’
• Stories that release the weight from our souls and unburden our hearts
• Lighting candles, making sacred space, and sharing stories together
• Overcoming the world’s conflict through the lens of stories
• The story of Terry Dobson and the compassion of Aikido 
• The spiritual art of listening to stories—feeling the resonance and feeling into who you would be
• What can we learn from stories?
• Stories like storehouses—the true intelligence of a good story
• Ram Dass, the Dalai Lama, and inhabiting the difficulties of life with humor, honesty, and love
• How to hold conflict and that which causes suffering with compassion
• Delivering your special cargo, your beautiful gifts to this world

“A really good story is something to mine, something to inhabit.” – Jack Kornfield

This Dharma Talk originally took place in April 2019 for Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s Monday Night Dharma Talk and Guided Meditation. Stay up to date with Jack’s upcoming livestreams and events 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, 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.

“One of the things that’s important when you listen to a story, is to feel where you are in that story. If you were in the story right now, where is the resonance, who would you be? Stories are like storehouses, they have intelligence in them that touches not just one channel, but our heart, memory, emotions, and our way of seeing and thinking.” – Jack Kornfield 

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 Prof. Rajiv S. Joshi explore how facing suffering with love can awaken the courage to heal our world.

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.

Jack’s new book hits shelves on 11/11: All in This Together: Stories and Teachings for Loving Each Other and Our World – Preorder your copy today!

“Love is this unbelievable, inexplicable force. When there’s love it’s almost that anything is possible. It’s love that binds all things.” –Prof. Rajiv S. Joshi

In this episode, Jack and Rajiv mindfully explore:

• Living Fully in a Time of Change: Joanna Macy’s funeral as a teaching on joy, love, and the beauty of a life well-lived.
• Facing Suffering with Courage: The two kinds of suffering—what we run from and what we open to with compassion.
• Meditation as Refuge: Expanding the heart’s window of tolerance to hold fear, grief, and love all at once.
• The Sweet Way of the Dharma: Remembering peace, joy, and humor even in the midst of difficulty.
• Smiling as Practice: Softening the heart through simple, embodied gestures of kindness.
• The Great Regeneration: Redefining the pandemic as a moment to reimagine our world with wisdom and care.
• The Interbeing of All Things: Thich Nhat Hanh’s Heart Sutra and the recognition that we already hold the solutions we seek.
• Love in Action: Ram Dass’s reminder to feed people, love people, and organize from the heart.
• Sacred Reciprocity: Healing inequality and climate change through generosity, reverence, and balance.
• The Middle Way in a Polarized World: Meeting conflict with understanding, presence, and possibility.
• Inner Climate Change: Transforming the heart to transform the earth—awakening compassion as the root of renewal.

“The world is as it is—it has suffering and beauty in unbelievable measure. So the real question is: how are you going to tend your heart?” –Jack Kornfield

This Dharma Talk originally took place on 9/8/25 for Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s Monday Night Dharma Talk and Guided Meditation.

About Prof. Rajiv S. Joshi:

 Professor Joshi is the Founder of Bridging Ventures and former Associate Dean for Climate Action at Columbia University. He helped launch Columbia’s Climate School with President Obama, and has led groundbreaking work in global collaboration, climate technology, and regenerative entrepreneurship.

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.

“There are two kinds of suffering. The first is the kind you run away, and that follows you everywhere. The second is the kind you’re willing to turn, face, and go through, and that becomes our gateway to liberation.” –Jack Kornfield

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 Prof. Rajiv S. Joshi explore ‘inner climate change,’ guiding us through meditation and reflection on transforming the world by becoming the Tree of Enlightenment.

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.

Jack’s new book hits shelves on 11/11: All in This Together: Stories and Teachings for Loving Each Other and Our World – Preorder your copy today!

“As much as we want to transform the world, if we don’t change ourselves, we might not inspire those around us and perhaps change the system.” –Prof. Rajiv S. Joshi

In this episode, Jack and Rajiv mindfully explore:

• Guided meditation: A journey into becoming the Tree of Enlightenment—rooted, steady, and open to the sky. Jack and Prof. Rajiv invite us to feel the deep stillness and sacred presence of the trees, reminding us that awakening is a natural unfolding within the web of life.
• Buddha and trees: The Buddha’s life was interwoven with trees—born beneath one, meditating and awakening beneath another, and passing away surrounded by their quiet grace. Trees mirror the path of the awakened heart: grounded in the Earth, reaching toward the light.
• Trees as ancestors: They are our elders, silent teachers who breathe life into the world. Through their patience and generosity, they remind us of what it means to listen, to endure, and to belong.
• Collective healing: Our awakening is not only personal—it is collective. Through love across generations, we can heal the planet and one another, planting seeds of compassion that will grow long after us.
• Radical compassion: To live with an open heart requires both tenderness and courage. We learn to trust, to build bridges, to speak truth, and to act for justice with mindfulness and care.
• System change: True transformation begins within and extends outward. Each of us has a role to play in creating a world rooted in awareness, kindness, and right action.
• Spiritual community: Sangha becomes the living ground for our practice—a space to learn, to stumble, to grow, and to embody a new way of being together.
• Rajiv’s story: After his accident, Rajiv discovered that spirituality is not apart from life—it is life. Every breath, every act, every moment becomes practice when the heart is awake.

This Dharma Talk originally took place on 9/8/25 for Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s Monday Night Dharma Talk and Guided Meditation. Stay up to date with Jack’s upcoming livestreams and events here. 

About Prof. Rajiv S. Joshi:

 Professor Joshi is the Founder of Bridging Ventures and former Associate Dean for Climate Action at Columbia University. He helped launch Columbia’s Climate School with President Obama, and has led groundbreaking work in global collaboration, climate technology, and regenerative entrepreneurship.

“With trust, we learn to build bridges, not walls. That skill—the capability to build bridges in the most difficult of contexts—requires the depth of compassion.” –Prof. Rajiv S. Joshi

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 Buddha was born under a tree, grew up under the trees, practiced under trees, got enlightened under the Bodhi Tree, taught under the trees, and died beneath two sal trees that immediately came into bloom when he died. He and the trees were one.” –Jack Kornfield

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Jack Kornfield and Prof. Rajiv S. Joshi share uplifting spiritual wisdom on how inner climate change shapes outer climate healing, the environment, and the future of humanity.

Jack’s new book hits shelves on 11/11: All in This Together: Stories and Teachings for Loving Each Other and Our World – Preorder your copy today!

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.

“It’s very clear that no amount of technology—no amount of internet, AI, computers, nanotechnology, space exploration, or biotechnology—will put an end to warfare, racism, or climate disruption. None of these advancements will resolve the conflicts we face in the world, because their roots lie in the human heart. Without an inner transformation, no outer transformation can truly take place.” – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack and Prof. Rajiv S. Joshi mindfully explore:

• Inner Climate Change: How transforming the heart and mind shapes the outer world.
• Original Innocence: Returning to the heart’s wisdom that already knows what matters most.
• Ritual and Higher Forces: Turning to sacred connection for strength in healing the earth.
• Inner and Outer Healing: Burnout reveals the truth that inner practice is as vital as outer change.
• Steps for Transformation: Empowering women and educating children as the greatest levers of change.
• Beyond Despair: Despair as a failure of imagination—regeneration and renewal are possible.
• Wisdom of Love: Gary Snyder’s reminder to act not from fear or guilt, but from love for the world.

This Dharma Talk originally took place on 9/8/25 for Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s Monday Night Dharma Talk and Guided Meditation. Stay up to date with Jack’s upcoming livestreams and events here. 

“We should not forget that in each moment the hope that can manifest the future is always present.” – Prof. Rajiv S. Joshi

About Prof. Rajiv S. Joshi:

 Professor Joshi is the Founder of Bridging Ventures and former Associate Dean for Climate Action at Columbia University. He helped launch Columbia’s Climate School with President Obama, and has led groundbreaking work in global collaboration, climate technology, and regenerative entrepreneurship.

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.

“The invitation of inner climate change is realizing our hearts already know what truly matters. From this lens, inner climate change is inseparable from outer climate healing.” – 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 Kornfield leads a guided sound journey into spacious awareness—exploring meditation, mantra, and the freedom beyond duality.

Dive into Jack’s recently unearthed lost tapes from a vintage Yucca Valley retreat in 1990! Take the The Sacred Journey Home: Timeless Teachings on Freedom and Love Just Where You Are with Jack Kornfield

“When we touch spaciousness, we discover that in letting go there arises a natural compassion, the great heart of a Buddha. In this, we find that the true place of peace is one of trust—an open, spacious heart in the very midst of our life.” — Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• The Spacious Heart: A guided sound journey into awareness, transcending duality, and opening to the vastness of mind and heart.
• Beyond Duality: Discovering consciousness as boundless as the sky, where there is no inside or outside, only open spaciousness.
• Weather of the Heart: Seeing moods, joys, and sorrows as passing like colors in water or changes in the weather.
• Enlightenment as Non-Perfection: The Third Zen Patriarch’s teaching that freedom is found in letting go of anxiety about imperfection.
• Meeting Life with Spaciousness: Guided practice for opening to difficult emotions and situations with equanimity and compassion.
• Mantra and Sound: Exploring Om Mani Padme Hum, the jewel and the lotus, and the seed mantra Ah as gateways to the heart.

This Dharma Talk from 7/12/1993 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on DharmaSeed.

“Your mind is not limited to your head, but rather your awareness, consciousness, expands beyond your head to be open like the sky, space without boundaries.” – 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.

“To me, the most amazing line in all of Zen literature is this astonishing line from the Third Zen Patriarch: To be enlightened is to be without anxiety about non-perfection.” – Jack Kornfield

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Exploring spaciousness as the ground of awakening, Jack Kornfield shows how peace, impermanence, and love are all born from the open 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.

“Meditation centers, temples, ashrams, and spiritual communities are in one fundamental way, places of peace, reminders of the peace and harmony possible for us in our lives.” – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• The Spacious Heart: The peace and pleasure found in meditation centers, temples, and ashrams, and how spaciousness becomes a refuge in our lives.
• Shifting Identity: The flexibility of consciousness and how opening beyond the body and self allows us to release ill-will and rest in freedom.
• Impermanence and Real Love: Stories from India and the Dalai Lama on happiness, letting go into love, and the humor of the “Bang Bang Bang Theory.”
• Beyond Self-Improvement: Spiritual practice not as fixing or perfecting ourselves, but as resting in our true nature, like the Buddha under the bodhi tree.
• The Seed of Equilibrium: Spaciousness as the core of awakening—learning balance in the dance of life, loving others without needing to change them, and finding coolness in nirvana.

“It’s possible to shift. Consciousness is really flexible and fabulous, it can create, expand, and touch anything. When our identity opens to something greater or more timeless, when we see the fleetingness and impermanence of this body that we cling to and realize this is not who we are, then something else becomes possible.” – Jack Kornfield

Dive into Jack’s recently unearthed lost tapes from a vintage Yucca Valley retreat in 1990! Take The Sacred Journey Home: Timeless Teachings on Freedom and Love Just Where You Are with Jack Kornfield

This Dharma Talk from 7/12/1993 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, 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 shares a whimsical story on light and dark, birth and death, forgiveness and mercy, passion and sincerity, impermanence and immorality, and finding your inner light.

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• Light and Darkness: Stories and teachings on finding the inner light, becoming a lamp in the darkness, and awakening through difficulty.
• Life, Death, and Initiation: Nachiketa’s dialogue with Lord Yama, initiation and coming of age, and the mystery of immortality and the deathless.
• Sincerity and Blessing: Zen teachings on proving sincerity, the boons that come with it, and the light of forgiveness and mercy.
• The Fire of Life: Prana, chi, and kundalini as a passion for truth; the roar of the lion and living from what we most deeply value.
• The Open Heart: Not casting anyone out, transforming wounds into light, and resting in the question “Who am I?”

If you enjoy Jack’s storytelling, dive into Transform Your Life Through Jack Kornfield’s Most Powerful Stories – a 10-hour storytelling wisdom journey!

“When we touch our true nature and discover that we can rest in love in the middle of all things, we become a lamp, we become a light. It is not far away, it is nearer than near.” – Jack Kornfield

This Dharma Talk from 6/21/1993 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, 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 Kornfield explores the nature of mind, offering playful practices and profound perspectives to uncover our true home of freedom, compassion, and ease.

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 the Year of Awakening with Jack Kornfield for a monthly group livestream Q&A hang with Jack, along with weekly modules and prompts to keep your life focused on awakening!

“If we don’t know the nature of mind and the ways of mind, our life is like a boat without a rudder, and we get pulled here there by all the thoughts, images, stories, feelings, and unfinished business that arise during the day” – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• The purpose of meditation and Buddhism
• Learning the true nature of mind
• An assortment of micro guided meditation practices
• Experiencing Buddha’s ‘sure heart’s release”
• Uncovering natural happiness and freedom of heart
• How we create our world with our mind
• Discovering what creates suffering and what creates happiness
• The mirror-like quality of meditation
• Stanislav Grof and LSD
• The playfulness and creative capacity of mind
• The Buddhist creation myth
• Counting/noting our thoughts
• Becoming aware of awareness
• Ajahn Chah’s meditation instructions 
• Finding the place of natural mind and rest
• Cultivating inner listening 
• The gradual and sudden dimensions of illumination
• Untangling the unfinished business of our lives 
• Touching the world in kindness and compassion
• Meeting ourselves and this world in kindness and humbleness
• Bearing witness to the sorrows of the world while resting in the heart of the Buddha
• Opening to the great mystery
• Becoming The One Who Knows
• The Timeless Buddha as the ground of all being, our true home

“Buddha didn’t give an answer to the great mystery, he taught us how to rest in our heart in the midst of that mystery, to find our true home, that awakened state.” – Jack Kornfield

This Dharma Talk from 5/3/1993 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, 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 something sudden in any moment, discovering that what we sought all along was here.” – 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 inspiring poetry-infused talk, Jack weaves Rumi’s wisdom on the camel, lion, and child of the spirit into a journey from devotion, to courage, to wonder—inviting us to awaken the Buddha’s Lion’s Roar within and remember the inner royalty of the heart.

Join the Year of Awakening with Jack Kornfield for a monthly group livestream Q&A hang with Jack, along with weekly modules and prompts to keep your life focused on awakening!

“Poetry and the sense of beauty that art awakens is to move from a small sense of our problems and difficulties to some greater perspective of the heart.” – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• Rumi’s wisdom on The Camel, The Lion, and the Child of the Spirit
• Healing our wounds, grief, and sorrows
• Waking ourselves up from our trance
• Touching our rage, fears, and longings with kindness and respect
• Poetry of compassion, mystery, tenderness, and awakening
• Letting yourself love what you love
• Tenderness and seeing with the eyes of the Divine Mother and the great heart of compassion
• Living a life of wakefulness
• Rumi, bravery, and becoming a lion
• Awakening the Buddha’s Lion’s Roar within
• Uncovering your inner-royalty
• Beginner’s mind and becoming a “child of the spirit”
• Finding wonder and amazement in life
• The mystery of sleep, dreams, and consciousness
• Letting go of pity and reclaiming wonder in the present
• The power of prayer and blessing

“You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk for a hundred miles on your knees through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.” – Mary Oliver

This Dharma Talk from 4/15/1993 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, 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.

“To see with the eyes of a Buddha, to receive the world with the great heart of compassion, means living in the mystery of this present moment again and again.” – Jack Kornfield

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Exploring poetry, beauty, and art, Jack helps his dear listeners appreciate the harmonious dichotomy of all life experiences.

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 the Year of Awakening with Jack Kornfield for a monthly group livestream Q&A hang with Jack, along with weekly modules and prompts to keep your life focused on awakening!

“Poetry and beauty are not a denial of the sorrows of the world, but a grace somehow that holds and understands them—the irony and the mixture of love and terror that make up life.” – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• How art, beauty, music and poetry uplift the world to the sacred
• Rumi’s poem, Tending Two Shops
• Letting go of fear, opening into freedom
• Poetry not as a denial of life’s struggles, but as a gracious way through
• Being at home with oneself
• Poetry from Siddhartha Buddha, Thich Nhat Hanh, Rumi, and more
• Telling the truth, becoming nobody, and walking the path
• Meditation and working with our ‘inner mob’ of voices
• Relating to the ‘zoo’ of our lives with meditation
• The three dimensions of Rumi’s spiritual poetry
• Saying ‘yes’ to this too, even to what’s difficult
• Walking this life and path in humbleness

“Sometimes the greatest political act is to turn on Mozart and turn off the news, or to walk by the ocean or in the hills during sunset, or to read a poem—to sense a possibility in the midst of all the 10,000 joys and sorrows of finding some peace or balance in this heart that can then be brought to the world around us.” – Jack Kornfield

This Dharma Talk from 4/15/1993 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, 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 source of much of the suffering in the world is the loss of attention, beauty, and connection with one another.” – 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 rich and often humorous talk from the 1990s, Jack explores the art of letting go as the gateway to freedom, inviting us into the coolness of nirvana, and the wholeness found only here and now.

Join the Year of Awakening with Jack Kornfield for a monthly group livestream Q&A hang with Jack, along with weekly modules and prompts to keep your life focused on awakening!

“This freedom is not far away, the freedom of the heart is here, and it’s inviting. Nirvana is inviting.” – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• The end of exile as a return to the present moment
• Pure awareness and the cycles of life
• Where is freedom found?
• Letting go vs. letting be
• The dignity of just being an earthworm
• Nirvana as a public health measure
• The coolness of nirvana and release from grasping
• How ‘periodic nirvana’ keeps us alive
• Ram Dass, Stephen Levine, surrender, and choosing your spirit
• Bodhicitta as the heart of emptiness and compassion
• Don Juan’s “controlled folly” and Zen paradox
• Finding wholeness in grief, struggle, and beauty
• Each moment as a chance for struggle or freedom
• The goal of practice as keeping our beginner’s mind
• This very moment as the only place of freedom

“If we allow ourselves to stay in the reality of the present, not only does there come a reclaiming of this life, but we also discover this emptiness or spaciousness that holds it all. No matter how painful, beautiful, exalted, or difficult—it arises and moves in its cycle back into wholeness.” – Jack Kornfield

This Dharma Talk recorded on desert retreat in the 1990s 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, 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.

“Just let go, let go, let go. I did nothing but this in my practice for years. Every time I tried to understand or figure things out, I’d say, ‘Let go, let go,’ until that desire would fade away. … Just be an earthworm who knows only two words, ‘Let go, let go…’” – 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 tender and illuminating talk, Jack shares a Zen love story and a path of mindful presence that brings us home—from the stories of the mind to the truth of the heart. Through embodied awareness, we discover that the end of exile begins with loving what is here now.

Join the Year of Awakening with Jack Kornfield for a monthly group livestream Q&A hang with Jack, along with weekly modules and prompts to keep your life focused on awakening!

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 end of exile is when we see all the stories of what should be, and what is, and what will be, passing through the mind, and we rest in some place of peace in the heart.” – Jack Kornfield

This week on Heart Wisdom, Jack heartfully ponders:

• Freedom and the spiritual path
• The Dharma’s ‘one taste’ of freedom 
• The Sure Heart’s Release
• Present, past, future, and Being Here Now
• Life’s often dreamlike quality
• The evanescent present moment 
• Noticing the dreamlike quality of life
• An enlightening Zen love story
• Uncovering your true self
• Overcoming exile with softness of heart
• Mindfulness as the end of exile
• Embodied awakening and finding liberation within the body and mind
• Accepting and including all parts of ourselves
• Mindfulness and reuniting with your body and feelings
• Cultivating “mindfulness of mind” and forgiving its stories
• Watching the mind, resting in the heart
• Stories and poems on the end of exile in our lives
• Finding true kindness through accepting sorrow

“The past disappears, the future isn’t here yet—all there is is this evanescent present moment that’s here for a moment and then changes.” – Jack Kornfield

This Dharma Talk recorded during a desert retreat on 04/05/1993 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, 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 real koan is: who is your true self?” – Jack Kornfield

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

From gender equity to joyful adaptation, Jack recounts how the Dalai Lama challenged teachers to reshape Buddhism for a modern world in need of heart.

This Dharma Talk recorded on 03/29/93 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on DharmaSeed.

“Somebody said the Dalai Lama’s mind is like a diamond, and whichever facet, whichever direction he turns it to, it comes with clarity and beauty. Everything that he did had a sense of graciousness and beauty about it.” – Jack Kornfield

In this episode of Heart Wisdom, Jack holds a thought-provoking talk on:

• Counseling, ethics codes, and teacher-training for a new era
• Sectarianism vs. the shared heart of awakening
• A dramatic call for gender equity: nuns, councils & training funded “on the spot”
• Sylvia Wetzel’s meditative reflection: What if the Dalai Lama had always been a woman?
• Humor & honesty: “rebirth control” and other Dalai Lama one-liners
• Engaged Buddhism: arms sales, poverty, over-population, climate
• Drafting a pan-Buddhist code of conduct; yearly councils of elders
• Spirit Rock as a living experiment in consensus leadership
• The invitation: awaken the Buddha-heart in every man, woman & child

“There is no price worth paying to hide what is wrong—tell the truth.” – H.H. the Dalai Lama

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.

“Use your heart to awaken that spirit of the Buddha in every being you meet—that’s all that really matters.” – Jack Kornfield

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jack shares stories and insights from a rare gathering with the Dalai Lama on what really makes a teacher, and how compassion—not titles—spreads the Dharma.

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.

This time on Heart Wisdom, Jack thoughtfully explores these themes & topics:

• Spring renewal at Spirit Rock & the wider Buddhist boom
• 1,000 U.S. meditation centers — a movement far bigger than any one sangha
• The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra on gathering “in harmony and concord”
• The Dalai Lama: compassion over conversion; students over titles
• What really authorizes a teacher? (Hint: their students’ freedom)
• “Spy on your teachers” — trusting slowly & wisely
• The scent-test of liberation: recognizing authentic peace
• “Bodhisattva off-duty?” — practice everywhere, even with late-night TV temptations
• Spiritual life as engagement with, not escape from, difficulty
• Interdependence: why true emptiness embraces every creature
• Speaking out against spiritual misconduct & retraumatization
• The wounded student, the wounded teacher — bringing psychology into Dharma

This Dharma Talk recorded on 03/29/93 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on DharmaSeed.

“The Dalai Lama said, ‘Nirvana has a wonderful scent—like flowers.’ You can tell it when you're around someone connected with nirvana. You can tell it around places where there’s that fragrance of peace, well-being, and liberation.” – Jack Kornfield

“Deep down, what matters is only the spirit of compassion—only what benefits beings in every form, in every realm on this earth. Don’t think about how to spread Buddhism. It doesn’t matter if there are even one or two more Buddhists. The only thing that matters is the well-being of each person and the well-being of the earth that we live on.” – Jack Kornfield quoting H.H. the Dalai Lama

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

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.

“Only the benefit you bring to others proves the depth of your own practice.” – Jack Kornfield

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• What brings us joy in this life?
• Trust, morals, justice, and taking the long view
• Enlightenment and cultivating a trusting heart
• The imaginal cells of the butterfly
• How your voice, joy, imagination, and trust can truly make a difference
• Stories on trust, love, and making a difference
• Mindful presence and the Awakened Heart 
• Sangha/Satsang, community, and helping each other
• Imagining a beautiful new world together
• Feeling yourself as a playful child of the spirit
• Spelunking the great mystery of life and the universe
• Adding your make-weight of hope to the world
• Allen Ginsberg’s poem Howl
• Bringing our joy, love, tenderness and compassion to the world
• The big questions: how to hold suffering, and those causing suffering
• The power of protest, standing up, letting go of fear, and embracing the strength of joy
• Questions 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 Kornfield

This 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 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.

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.

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 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 Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• Living joyfully with a positive attitude
• Joy as a necessary quality of enlightenment
• How can we have joy in times of chaos, disruption, and suffering?
• Joy as a true service to others and the world
• Uplifting others through our joy and positivity
• Wavy Gravy and the Transformative Power of Joy
• How suffering is not the end of the story; it’s the beginning of the Four Noble Truths
• Bringing joy, beauty, and humor to our protesting, activism, and standing up for what matters
• Being hopeful despite the outside circumstances, and emphasizing compassion, sacrifice, courage, and kindness
• The joy and playfulness of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu
• How we can bless and heal each other with our joy
• Living in joy, love, health and peace even amidst hate, affliction, and troubles
• Experiencing the sweet joy of living in the way
• The radical joyful presence of Ajahn Chah and Maha Ghosananda
• Risking delight
• Jack’s rapturous experience of meditative bliss
• Learning to step out of the battle and embrace life
• Thich Nhat Hanh and the practice of smiling
• Becoming a make-weight of joy, tipping the scales to hope
• Unshakeable integrity, generosity, gratitude, and tenderness
• Tuning in with nature, relationships, and the mystery
• Father Gregory Boyle and the possibility of transformation and renewal

This 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 Dhammapada

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.

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 Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• Transforming unhealthy clingings into Wise Attachment
• Not getting stuck in our ideas and views 
• The global price of collective addiction and attachment
• Moving past our attachment to our sense of separateness
• The big spiritual question—who are we really?
• His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and keeping a healthy curiosity around death
• Lowering our defenses and helping others lower their defenses around us
• Parenting with trust and connection rather than clinging and control
• The good side of attachment—connection, well-being, mirroring
• Transforming low-self-esteem and the body of fear into self-confidence and openness
• Using spiritual practice to open to a love that includes our full humanity
• Finding the true possibilities that the spiritual path offers
• Resting in our being—how not to seek and chase, and how not to run away and hide
• Touching our incompleteness, our brokenness, with compassion
• Expanding our heart and connecting with our shared humanity
• Uncovering within us our inner knowing, The One Who Knows
• How to be true to yourself, and make a light of yourself
• Meditation as an invitation into vulnerability
• Moving from unhealthy attachment into Wise Relationship
• How Being Here Now, our capacity to be present, transforms our life
• Nirvana as the absence of struggle with the world as it as

Please 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 Kornfield

This 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 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.

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 Ancestor

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

• Finding freedom from attachment by learning to let go
• Can we meditate society’s problems away?
• What does it mean to seek wisdom, compassion, freedom?
• The Third Patriarch of Zen
• Finding the Great Way and seeing the truth
• Moving past our opinions and preferences
• How our desires blind us and manufacture our reality
• Suffering, impermanence, grasping, and not relying on reality
• The path to liberation from our grasping and fears
• The joy of letting go of our attachments and relaxing into what is
• Training ourselves to have an obedient mind of the Buddha
• Is there appropriate or wise attachment?
• Clarifying the full spectrum of attachment
• How to get out addiction and the Realm of the Hungry Ghosts
• Dealing with attachment to our isolation, our separateness
• Commitment as a healthy devoted attachment  
• Seeking a Wise Relationship to ourselves, others, and the world
• The slippery slope of pleasure, into desire, into habit, into need
• Wise attachment vs unwise attachment
• The 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 Kornfield

This 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 Kornfield

See 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 Kornfield

In this episode, Jack and Ocean mindfully explore:

• Activism and creating positive change in the world
• How to save the world without losing yourself
• Acting beautifully without attachment to the fruits
• How not not to let the immense suffering of the world get to us
• Wes Nisker, Gary Snyder, and saving the world because you love it
• Acting in this world with peace, love, courage, and nobility
• Honoring our emotions, grief, and fears, but not letting them control us
• Becoming what you want the world to be
• His Holiness the Dalai Lama and meeting our lives with honesty and joy
• Fighting for freedom and justice, but having fun doing it
• Making activism fun, joyful, and beautiful
• Emphasizing the positives acts in the world
• Life changing wisdom from the Buddha
• Holding it all in the great heart of compassion
• Adding your voice, love, energy, and compassion
• If your grief is big, hold it from something bigger

This 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 Kornfield

About 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 Kornfield

See 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 Kornfield

In this episode, Jack and Ocean mindfully explore:

• What first got Jack into mindfulness and meditation
• Life as beautiful, and an ocean of tears
• Suffering, Buddhism, and the end of suffering
• Why is there suffering in the world?
• Navigating the reality of duality—form and emptiness, life and death
• The recycling nature of the universe
• How to make the ordinary holy
• Meeting our lives with presence
• A simple way to explain “The Witness”
• The magic of consciousness
• A calming and deep guided meditation 
• Holding fear and grief in compassion
• Not getting caught in reactions and anger
• Acting 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 Kornfield

About 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 tension
• Grounding 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 openness
• Noticing 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 exhale
• Bowing inwardly to our life-sustaining breath and thanking it for keeping us alive
• Expanding 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 time
• Welcoming 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

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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 Kornfield

In this episode, Jack and Trudy mindfully explore:

• How you can pick all the flowers, but you can’t stop the spring
• Navigating fear politics and the cultural media machine
• Letting go of fear, blame, shame, and ending systemic division
• Using this time of “The Great Turning” as an opportunity to create a more loving world
• Ajahn Chah and living the truth of uncertainty
• How to face the big problems of the world with even bigger love
• Meeting the world through the Bodhisattva Vows
• How loving people and feeding people connects with enlightenment
• The path and practices of loving awareness and compassion
• Inclining the heart towards kindness and generosity
• How caterpillars change to butterflies through Imaginal Cells
• The world-changing power of true community
• Learning how to respond mindfully to any trigger or circumstance
• Becoming a make-weight of hope to tip the scales of humanity to love and balance
• The spiritual wisdom of Passover and Easter
• Letting go of tension and flowing into relaxation
• The Pagan Goddess of Dawn
• Community as the antidote for loneliness
• Crying, letting the tears come, and seeing what happens
• How to interact with people who are highly anxious or avoidant
• Saying 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 Wirestock

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.

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 Heart
• The physical nature of time within the infinite nature of awareness
• Change, aging, and the weirdness of looking in the mirror
• Meditation and working with the drama that arises
• Remembering who we truly are, no matter how lost we get
• Moving past victim consciousness, shame, and blame
• Dropping our negative stories and starting to live with nobility
• How we are so much more than our suffering
• How to stop being loyal to our stories about ourselves and the world
• Navigating these "latter day degenerate times with cherry blossoms everywhere”
• The goal of practice as keeping our beginners mind
• Letting go of fear and opening to adventure
• Not confusing no-self with low-self esteem
• "No self, no problem"
• The strength, aliveness, and fullness of true emptiness
• The Dharma of a zoo in a hurricane
• The Trusting Heart as natural as the Tao, as resilient as water, and as forgiving as the earth
• The resiliency, compassion, and intuition of the Witness
• Recognizing 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 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.

"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 Kornfield

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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 life
• Stepping out of your ordinary habits and roles to see something in a new way
• How to navigate the reality that death is stalking us
• Meditation as a practice of letting things go
• The spirituality of the nature of change and the present moment
• Ram Dass and the mystery of identity, change, and awareness
• Seeing past our roles to the deeper reality of who we are
• Looking into the mystery of: Who I Am?
• Touching the secret beauty you were born with
• Jack's experience communicating with Koko the Gorilla
• Seeing past the illusion of separateness and the small self
• Meditation as a sacred space of non-consumption
• Remembering and healing through listening and letting go
• Seeing the entire arc of life with the eyes of the Divine
• Overcoming the forces of greed, hatred, and fear
• Untangling the places that cause suffering and confusion
• Opening to the birthright of your freedom
• Living the pattern of mystery that is this life
• Recognizing 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 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 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.

Exploring how to stay buoyant and balanced on life's great ocean of change, Jack sets our spiritual compass for letting go into what is.

Today’s podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/beherenow 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. 

"What we're asked to do here is a very deep thing, which isn't to change ourselves, but to give ourselves to our life, to practice with continuity and care, bowing, opening. It's really like being in labor, if you've ever had a child or been there for childbirth, it's a birth of your life, a birth of yourself, over and over, letting go to what is." – Jack Kornfield

In this episode of Heart Wisdom, Jack mindfully explores:

• The Tibetan story of Avalokitesvara, Green Tara, and White Tara
• The spiritual wisdom of a duck resting on the ocean
• Floating softly on life's constant ocean of change
• Experiencing ourselves as an always flowing river of life
• Bowing to the truth of impermanence
• Selflessness, emptiness, and openness
• Seeing through the dreamlike mirage of 'who you think you are'
• Letting go into the ever-changing process of life
• Honoring the truth of what's here and now
• Suffering, opening your heart, and connecting to all beings
• Awakening the great heart of compassion
• Ram Dass and the gift of service
• Meeting death with curiosity, play, and wisdom
• Rebirthing ourselves over and over again
• Giving ourselves over sincerely to our life, letting go into what is
• Awakening the great wisdom and heart of the Buddha in every circumstance
• How surrender leads directly to freedom

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

“The more we pay attention, the more we sense ourselves as a river of life." – Jack Kornfield

Interested in learning more on this topic? Check out our most recent Here and Now episode for Ram Dass’ perspective on the ocean of change. 

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.

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 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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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.

Today’s podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/beherenow and get on your way to being your best self.

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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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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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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