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 boom1,000 U.S. meditation centers — a movement far bigger than any one sanghaThe Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra on gathering “in harmony and concord”The Dalai Lama: compassion over conversion; students over titlesWhat really authorizes a teacher? (Hint: their students’ freedom)“Spy on your teachers” — trusting slowly & wiselyThe scent-test of liberation: recognizing authentic peace“Bodhisattva off-duty?” — practice everywhere, even with late-night TV temptationsSpiritual life as engagement with, not escape from, difficultyInterdependence: why true emptiness embraces every creatureSpeaking out against spiritual misconduct & retraumatizationThe wounded student, the wounded teacher — bringing psychology into DharmaThis 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.

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.

Sharing deep spiritual secrets of love and attachment, Jack transforms our unhealthy attachments into Wise Relationships through vulnerability, inner joy, and shared humanity.

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.

Jack and Ocean continue their deep conversation, exploring how to create positive change in the world without losing our spiritual center and loving essence.

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.

In this guided breath meditation, Jack Kornfield invites listeners into a space of ease, trust, and ardent gratitude for our bodies, hearts, and minds.

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.

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.

Who are we really? Jack Kornfield peels back the veil on our identity roles to uncover the deeper truth that we really are.

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.

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.

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.

Jack explores how we can become the imaginal cells of the butterfly, navigating the Great Turning and resetting our lives for awakening amid fear, doomscrolling, and late-stage capitalism.

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.

Exploring the spiritual paradox of individual and universal responsibility, Jack helps us find balance between meditation and service in our daily lives.

Fostering the mind-body-heart connection, Jack shares how the healing breath reawakens the body and reconnects us with life. 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. In this episode of Heart Wisdom, Jack mindfully explores:Using breath to live wisely and simply in this complex human existenceGood spiritual community as an island of peace and sanitySeeing past negative fear politics and news mediaA Charm to Use Against the Language of PoliticsThe Buddha on mindfulness of your life breathNoting the subtle nuances of the breath in meditation"Buddha in the palm of your hand" techniqueTraining the restless puppy of the mindUsing breath to reconnect body, heart, and mindShort and simple guided breath practicesWhat the Cross and the Circle representDirecting your breath to feel and open emotional wounds and dis-easeReawakening your body, and reconnecting with life, through breathing"Most of the destruction that modern society has caused in the world is the result of the mind being disconnected from the heart and the body." – Jack Kornfield This Dharma Talk originally taking place on 11/2/1992 at Insight Meditation Society 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.

Standing up for compassion in this powerful new Dharma Talk, Jack offers a steady spiritual rudder for navigating turbulent politics with the heart of a Bodhisattva. Learn the Dynamic Art of Interactive Guided Meditation with Jack Kornfield in this online masterclass beginning April 7! “It’s a time to get quiet and remember that you’re here for a beautiful purpose, oh Bodhisattvas. What better thing to do with your life?” – Jack Kornfield In this episode of Heart Wisdom, Jack mindfully explores:Navigating this world's maelstrom of change from a deep spiritual rudderReturning from his trip to Asia; landing in Los Angeles on fireSamsara and the nature of uncertaintyCreating a wise society based on mutual careTrading our personal and cultural anxiety for imagination and hopeAlison Luterman's heart-opening poem, Praise the Broken Promise of AmericaUsing the Dharma to move past Liberal versus ConservativeHow to help the vulnerable in the worldRemembering your best values as things changeGrounding yourself, steadying your heart, and remaining hopefulBringing peace to this world, developing metta, and supporting what's goodTaking the long view, living with integrity, virtue, and imaginationJoining together with your community to stand up for compassionBeing hopeful and helpful through difficult timesLiving like a Bodhisattva—offering support, compassion, loving kindness “Take the long view—your intention, heart, and mind in all the cycles of birth and death. That deep intention of wisdom creates what’s possible for a wise society. It becomes a rudder through difficult times.” – Jack Kornfield “When a society treats its members with respect, cares for the weak and vulnerable among them and tends the natural world around… it can be expected to prosper and not decline.” – Mahāparinibbāna Sutta This Dharma Talk was originally recorded for the Spirit Rock Meditation Center Monday Night Talk and Meditation on 2/10/25. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Offering a powerful guided metta practice for current times, Jack teaches listeners how to open the heart and become a beacon of kindness for ourselves and others.