Heart Wisdom with Jack Kornfield

In this cozy holiday special, Jack sheds seasonal tidings on how to rediscover the secret beauty within you and share your special gifts with the world.This episode is brought to you by Betterhelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/heartwisdom and get on your way to being your best self.“What you most deeply long for is who you are, is coming back to your own heart, to your own beauty, your own wellbeing that you were born with, to that secret beauty.” – Jack KornfieldIn part 1 of this special holiday video series, Jack merrily explores:The spiritual meaning of the Winter Solstice, the turning of the seasons, and the holidaysHow Jack’s teacher Ajahn Chah reacted when a Christmas Tree was put up in the MonasteryReconnecting with the great mystery of the world and with each otherHow to deal with your family with compassion, equanimity, and peaceSeeing the secret beauty behind the eyes of everyone you meetMoving past the body of fear, the small sense of selfThe paradox of spiritual practice: you’re perfect and there’s room for improvementRediscovering the love and secret beauty within youCultivating dignity, presence, generosity, clarity, integrity, meaning, compassion, trustBringing the mind and body together in the presentLoving awareness and entering the wisdom streamManifesting love and understanding into this worldA Hawaiian story on how to bring your special giftRam Dass, Mother Teresa, service, and allowing yourself to be taken care ofMoving past fear politics and becoming a force of connection and love“To meditate, more than anything, is an invitation to remember, to quiet ourselves, to touch back in to this truth, this reality beyond the busyness, fears, and confusion we have because we’re human.” – Jack Kornfield“Meditation and spiritual practice is not meant to be a grim duty, it’s meant to be a rediscovery of the love and secret beauty that’s within you.” – Jack KornfieldThis episode was originally recorded for the Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday Night Dharma Talk and Guided Meditation Livestream on 12/14/15. Learn more about Spirit Rock’s offerings at SpiritRock.org. Join Jack’s next livestream at JackKornfield.com/eventsTransform your year with Jack! Join “The Year of Awakening: An Intimate Monthly Journey with Jack Kornfield” a year-long online journey! Sign up at bit.ly/Awakening2025See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Exploring how compassionate speech and mindful listening can transform our lives, Jack shares how we can navigate culture’s web of lies by using the energy of Wise Speech to truly awaken.Transform your 2025 with Jack! Join “The Year of Awakening: An Intimate Monthly Journey with Jack Kornfield” a year-long online course beginning Jan 2025!“[Wise Speech] is really about compassion—it’s being aware of the power of speech, and using it to express what is conscious and what brings freedom.” – Jack KornfieldExploring the third step of the Eightfold Path, Jack mindfully shares on:Wise Speech / Right Speech as a factor of awakeningCompassion, non-harming, and embodying Buddha NatureRam Dass’s “Hopi-Hippie Be-In” and what it means to ‘speak the truth’Navigating culture’s and advertising’s web of liesSpeaking from your deepest truth and knowingBuddha and using the energy of speech to awakenWhat it means to truly listen to another human beingCompassionate communication and listeningDiscerning your intention and motivation when talking to peopleSpeaking like a Buddha and treasuring our speechThe simple pleasure of talking and communicationUsing your words for justice, truth, love, and wisdomLetting go of pride and needing to be rightA “Wise Speech” guided meditationChanting the seed syllable “Ah”“The key to listening and speaking wisely is the intention—our intention to learn, to discover, to hear something that we haven’t understood.” – Jack Kornfield“The possibility, if we are to live an awakened life, is to foster that speech that comes from our deeper knowing.” – Jack KornfieldThis Dharma Talk recorded in 1992 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on DharmaSeed.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Offering decompression from post-election intensity, Jack shares a guided meditation helping us maintain a mindful loving presence amidst it all.This episode is brought to you by Betterhelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/heartwisdom and get on your way to being your best self.“The seasons turn, elections come and go, whole nations and civilization arise for a time and pass. You are the witness to consciousness, the loving awareness that sees the mystery of arising and passing, and holds it all with love.” – Jack KornfieldIn this fresh episode, Jack leads a guided meditation on:Decompressing from the intensity of the electionTaking your noble seat amidst life’s Eight Worldly Winds and play of oppositesFeeling a stable and centered presence wherever you areResting in a quiet, open, mindful loving awarenessFeeling a true sense of loving kindness right hereBecoming consciousness itself, vast, timeless, spaciousWitnessing the arising and passing of all, and holding it all in love“With loving kindness, notice the energy of the mind—the stream of thoughts and plans, ideas, worries, imaginings, analysis, understandings, stories, images—a river of thoughts, feelings, images, and words. You can hold it all in loving kindness and say, ‘Thank you for all that work, I’m okay just now, you can relax.'” – Jack KornfieldThis episode was originally recorded for the Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday Night Dharma Talk and Guided Meditation Livestream on 11/11/24. Learn more about Spirit Rock’s offerings at SpiritRock.org. Join Jack’s next livestream at JackKornfield.com/eventsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Reflecting on the election, Jack explores how we can most mindfully and lovingly dance with impermanence, suffering, and ‘the great turning’ of the world.This episode was originally recorded for the Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday Night Dharma Talk and Guided Meditation Livestream on 11/11/24. Learn more about Spirit Rock’s offerings here. Join Jack’s next livestream event here.“It’s not about an election one way or the other, they come and go. There’s such huge other forces happening right now—climate change, artificial intelligence, nuclear fusion energy—huge possibilities and huge problems. As T.S. Elliot says, ‘In my end is my beginning.’ Everything that turns offers a new openness and beginning for something else.” – Jack KornfieldIn this fresh episode, Jack mindfully explores:Navigating the election and politics in a changing worldReturning to the basics of Buddhism and living a wise spiritual lifeQuieting the mind, tending the heart, listening to the cries, and seeing with the eyes of wisdomWhat Ajahn Chah’s wisdom for the election results would beOpening to change, honoring impermanence, facing sufferingAnnica – the wisdom of uncertaintyNavigating the “Great Turning” of the worldShifting from exploitive and consumer consciousness to one of interdependence and mutual careFacing our suffering, warfare, racism, aging, death, loss, and changeThe Zen view of the “dew drop” worldHow annica, dukka, anatta connect with nirvana and unshakeable freedomTo end the illusion of separationPolitics as a form of ritualized warfareStanding up like Arjuna in the Bhagavad GitaHuman history as also containing compassion, courage, and sweetnessFinding refuge in Buddha, Dharma, and SanghaLiving from unconditional love and a freedom from fearThe transformative power of communityOur inexorable connection to all the great Saints, Gods, and to the Great Mystery“You get to choose your spirit. No matter what.” – Jack Kornfield"We know that we're not separate. You know it especially when you're on the mountaintop looking down after some amazing hike, or listening to a piece of music that transports you beyond the small sense of self. You know it when you make love, or take psychedelics, or have some profound meditation, or dance until you disappear. We all know it." – Jack KornfieldSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.