Heart Wisdom With Jack Kornfield

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 KornfieldIn this episode, Jack mindfully explores:Transforming unhealthy clingings into Wise AttachmentNot getting stuck in our ideas and views The global price of collective addiction and attachmentMoving past our attachment to our sense of separatenessThe big spiritual question—who are we really?His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and keeping a healthy curiosity around deathLowering our defenses and helping others low

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 AncestorIn this episode, Jack mindfully explores:Finding freedom from attachment by learning to let goCan we meditate society’s problems away?What does it mean to seek wisdom, compassion, freedom?The Third Patriarch of ZenFinding the Great Way and seeing the truthMoving past our opinions and preferencesHow our desires blind us and manufacture our realitySuffering, impermanence, grasping, and not relying on realityThe path to liberation from our grasping and fearsThe joy of letting go of our attachments and relaxing into what

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 KornfieldIn this episode, Jack and Ocean mindfully explore:Activism and creating positive change in the worldHow to save the world without losing yourselfActing beautifully without attachment to the fruitsHow not not to let the immense suffering of the world get to usWes Nisker, Gary Snyder, and saving the world because you love itActing in this world with peace, love, courage, and nobilityHonoring our emotions, grief, and fears, but not letting them control usBecoming w

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 KornfieldIn this episode, Jack and Ocean mindfully explore:What first got Jack into mindfulness and meditationLife as beautiful, and an ocean of tearsSuffering, Buddhism, and the end of sufferingWhy is there suffering in the world?Navigating the reality of duality—form and emptiness, life and deathThe recycling nature of the universeHow to make the ordinary holyMeeting our lives with presenceA simple way to explain “The Witness”The magic of consciousnessA calmin

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 tensionGrounding 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 opennessNoticing 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 inha

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 KornfieldIn this episode, Jack and Trudy mindfully explore:How you can pick all the flowers, but you can’t stop the springNavigating fear politics and the cultural media machineLetting go of fear, blame, shame, and ending systemic divisionUsing this time of “The Great Turning” as an opportunity to create a more loving worldAjahn Chah and living the truth o

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 HeartThe physical nature of time within the infinite nature of awarenessChange, aging, and the weirdness of looking in the mirrorMeditation and working with the drama that arisesRemembering who we truly are, no matter how lost we getMoving past victim consciousness, shame, and blameDropping our negative stories and starting to live with nobilityHow we are so much more than our sufferingHow to stop being loyal to our stories about ourselves and the worldNavigating these "latter day degenerate times with cher

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 lifeStepping out of your ordinary habits and roles to see something in a new wayHow to navigate the reality that death is stalking usMeditation as a practice of letting things goThe spirituality of the nature of change and the present momentRam Dass and the mystery of identity, change, and awarenessSeeing past our roles to the deeper reality of who we areLooking into the mystery of: Who I Am?Touching the secret beauty you were born withJack's experience communicating with Koko the GorillaSeeing past the illusion of separateness and the small selfMeditation as a sacred space of non-consumptionRemembering and healing through listening and letting goSeei

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 KornfieldIn this episode of Heart Wisdom, Jack mindfully explores:The Tibetan story of Avalokitesvara, Green Tara, and White TaraThe spiritual wisdom of a duck resting on the oceanFloating softly on life's constant ocean of changeExperiencing ourselves as an alway

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 practiceJoanna Macy and healing the environmentThe rollercoaster ride of meditationAwakening right here and right nowThe transformative power of bowing to it allThe Buddhas of all the universesSuffering and the truth of Nirvana, timeless delightFacing the reality of the human realm—joy and sorrow, birth and deathLooking at the difficulties facing the planet today—war, famine, racism, greed, environmental concernsStop fighting what is true; the end of denialBowing to suffering, attachment, and changeInsight—seeing things just as they are"We awaken the wisdom and the great, compassionate heart of a Buddha right whe

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 practiceComing fully into the reality of the present momentBecoming mindful loving awareness itselfWitness the play of our human experienceUncovering true freedom as your innate birthrightExperiencing the present moment as loving awarenessResponding 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 KornfieldThis recording is from Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s Monday Night Talk and Meditation on 3

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 KornfieldIn this episode of Heart Wisdom, Jack mindfully explores:Staying centered amidst life’s struggles Stopping blame and “right and wrongNavigating Late-Stage Capitalism in the 21st CenturyThe Great Turning as an opportunity to reset our lives as human beingsThe Great Turning as a birth process—messy, painful, dangerous, and beautifulRemembering your fearlessness amidst politics and news media Becoming “imaginal cells” of the butterflyTrusting the constant renewal of life and nature Black Elk, Gary Snyder, and the power of loving the earthMeditation and sitting with heartbreakDissolving guilt, fear, and doomscrollingCarryin

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 revolu

Exploring the spiritual paradox of individual and universal responsibility, Jack helps us find balance between meditation and service in our daily lives.This Dharma Talk from 12/7/1992 at Insight Meditation Society was originally published on Dharmaseed.In this episode of Heart Wisdom, Jack mindfully explores:The paradox of individual and universal responsibility What's the better spiritual practice—meditation or service? What exactly is individual, and what is the universe? Joanna Macy's painful yet healing trip to Chernobyl Becoming stewards of each other, the earth, and the future Distinguishing between freedom and it's near enemies Near enemies as fostering separation; freedom as interdependence How to respond to suffering authentically and helpfully Creating change blossoming from the human heart The radical act of "doing nothing and facing yourself" Dealing with the homelessness problem, warfare, environmental destruction Balancing "Don't just do something, sit there," and "Don't just sit there, there i

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 destructi

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 KornfieldIn 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, stead

“A powerful way of practicing metta is to invite in the feeling of love without specific words or images. You become a beacon of kindness. Then whatever arises as you sit—thoughts, people, images, concerns—will be held in that kindness.” – Jack KornfieldThis 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.This week on Heart Wisdom, Jack offers listeners instruction on:Metta and invoking the spirit of love within ourselves  Holding all that arises during meditation with kindness Letting our body have a sense of care and well being  Allowing ourselves to soften, relax, and rest easily Feeling completely supported by the earth below us  Opening our hearts and minds via the metta sutta of loving-kindness Suffusing the whole world with unobstructed, sublime love“The ideal as you practice is to find your own way, to find what most naturally resonates with yourself as a gateway to open the heart.” –

In this engaging Q&A session, Jack and Trudy explore romance, impermanence, attachment, diffusing anger, manifesting your dreams using mindfulness, and more!Learn How to Thrive in Love: Buddhist Secrets to Transform Your Relationships with Jack Kornfield and Trudy Goodman – join now!In Part 2 of this episode, Jack and Trudy dive into Q&A on:Finding appreciation and wisdom in things “falling apart”Accepting change, aging, impermanenceEntering the naked unknown of the wilderness, natureThe wisdom of swimming with dolphins in the oceanSending metta (loving kindness) to the world and those in positions of powerHow to tend our romantic relationships and partnerships with mindfulness and careDiffusing anger and learning how to communicate lovinglyConnecting from a place of vulnerability and presenceMoving past warfare, racism, violence, and blameLearning how to communicate across differencesNoting the difference between your intention and it’s impact on othersManifesting your dreams using mindfulness“Attach

Jack Kornfield and Trudy Goodman join forces in an exploration of Buddha’s eternal wisdom: ‘hatred never ceases by hatred, but by love alone is healed.’This episode is brought to you by Betterhelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/heartwisdom and get on your way to being your best self.“We start to sense that who we are is not just limited by the events of the world, but that we’re connected to something vast, mysterious, and greater.” – Jack KornfieldIn Part 1 of this episode, Jack and Trudy mindfully explore:Loving Awareness and mindful responseSeeing the world with the eyes of a BuddhaOpening to that world with the heart of a BuddhaHow the art of meditation is actually the art of loveThe story of Maha Ghosananda, the Gandhi of CambodiaBuddha’s eternal wisdom: Hatred never ceases by hatred, but by love alone is healedFacing climate change, racism, warfare, refugees, injustice, and traumaDealing with our cultural anxiety, and saving ourselves from despairBecoming the calm person on the boat who ca

Love is in the air, as Jack explores the nature of desire, relationships, and spiritual passion—offering wisdom on stabilizing the heart, navigating distractions, and awakening to the timeless and sacred.Learn How to Thrive in Love: Buddhist Secrets to Transform Your Relationships with Jack Kornfield and Trudy Goodman beginning Feb 17 – join anytime!“If you know what it’s like to really fall in love with someone, then you can begin to sense what it means to bring the full presence of attention to your life.” – Jack KornfieldIn this episode, Jack mindfully explores:The Buddha on mindfulness and awarenessStabilizing the heart, mind, and body in the presentOvercoming distractions and difficult moodsBeing aware of desires arising and passingChanda – spiritual passion, the desire for awakeningThe connection between power, insecurity, and fearHow to stop feeding the hungry heart in unskillful waysThe difference between desire and loveRelationship, marriage, and staying in loveA moving love story from Thich Nhat Han