Jack Kornfield's most recent Dharma talks (Dharma Seed)

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Here we are in the change of seasons—the great turning. The sun is something for us to pay attention to, something we often take for granted. Notice the way the gift of sunlight streams behind everything—it feeds the plants we eat. We can be grateful for sunlight and trees, for people we love, for moments of goodness, and for the breath within our breast. And as our...

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Q and A from 05-24-2021 Monday Night

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Picture someone you care about, someone you love. Feel the natural well-wishing of love. Surround them with care: "May you be held in compassion. May your struggles and sorrows be eased. May your heart be at peace." Now imagine that this person wishes the same for you.

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) With mindfulness we can open to the mystery of our human incarnation—to gaze with an open heart at the unbearable beauty and the ocean of tears that make up life.

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Q and A from 04-12-2021 Monday Night

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Let yourself think of someone you care about. Picture them, remember them, see them in your mind's eye or hold them in your heart. Imagine their happiest moment as a child. Then begin to wish them well: "May you be joyful. May you remember that child of spirit that was born in you. May your joy increase. May the causes for happiness and joy grow stronger in your lif...

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) "Live in joy, in love, even among those who hate. Live in joy, in health, even among the afflicted. Live in joy, in peace, even among the troubled. Look within, be still. Free from fear and attachment, know the sweet joy of the way." —The Buddha (Dhp 197-200, Byrom) From suffering, greed, hatred, and fear we can shift our whole identity and find well-being, release,...

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Q and A from 03-22-2021 Monday Night

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Basic instructions for insight meditation.

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) How do we tend ourselves, how do we tend this world? Can we pause, be present, take a step back and be the loving awareness that witnesses it all? We are consciousness itself having a human experience. This is an invitation to pause, to walk among the trees, to take time, to remember the sense of mystery. With mindfulness you may discover a peace that allows you to...

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Q and A from 02-08-2021 Monday Night

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) The freedom of loving awareness is available; it just takes practice for you to remember it, and to trust that it is always here. When you feel lost, stuck in a tiny part of the big picture, contracted, or caught up, take a breath and visualize yourself stepping back. With a spacious mind, you can witness even these contracted states and hold them in loving awarenes...

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) We have the capacity to be awake and to see the world as it is with a graciousness and an understanding. As the poet Mary Oliver writes, "To live in this world, you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go." This is our dance, our hu...

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Q and A from 01-25-2021 Monday Night

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) This meditation is a deep-hearted reflection, a possibility, a yearning, a vision. Even if we cannot or should not speak to the other, we can find the courage to hold reconciliation and goodwill in our own heart. To recite the intention of reconciliation is to willingly plant a seed of reconnection and love in our heart. As we repeat each phrase, we turn our intenti...

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Conflict is natural—we can be attached to our needs, desires, ideas and visions. Our brains are wired with a negativity bias to look for things that are threatening. But some other part of us knows there is another way. We need to pause and reflect for a moment. What is it that matters most? This vision is needed more than ever in the midst of our difficulties.

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Many of us discover we live partially in a dreamworld, cut off from our body and whole pieces of our life. Though we may sense our disconnection, we do not know exactly what is wrong. James Joyce captured this dilemma when he wrote of one character, “Mr. Duffy lived a short distance from his body.” Enlightenment must be lived here and now through this very body. In...

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Q and A from 12-14-2020 Monday Night Dharma Talk Rekindle and Renew

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Meditation is an invitation in this moment’s practice to turn our attention to our body, heart and mind. Begin to pay attention to this mysterious human incarnation. Feel how your body is breathing itself… you don’t have to do anything. Add metta or lovingkindness to each breath. With each breath in, fill your body and being with lovingkindness for yourself. With ea...

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) We are spiritual beings incarnated into human form. We need to remember our zip code as well as our Buddha nature. We are creatures of this paradox. The middle way invites us to find peace wherever we are, here and now. By neither grasping nor resisting life, we can find wakefulness and freedom in the midst of our joys and sorrows.

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) How do we relate to people who are wildly different? In truth, we have more in common than not. When we can see one another with the heart and eyes of wisdom, we're reminded that there is something bigger than all our ideas.

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Q and A from 11/23/2020 Wonder, Mystery, Awe, Gratitude Monday Night Talk

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Suffering is not the end of the story. We can get lost in our suffering. But we can also be witness to bravery and the possibility of life. Mindfulness can help us live wisely amidst difficulties.

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) Q and A from 8/24/2020 Suffering is Not the End of the Story Monday Night talk

(Spirit Rock Meditation Center) In this dharma talk, Jack discusses how the combination of compassion and equanimity gives rise to a peaceful heart.