This week, Jack speaks about renewal and seeing anew.
By shifting our perspective to our own experience, we can better understand the world around us. Jack shows the importance of becoming the witness and seeing anew.
Show Notes
Fresh Perspective (Opening) – Jack tells a couple of stories about stepping out of the small sense of self and finding a fresh perspective.
“The real voyage is the discovery of seeing where you are with new eyes.” – Marcel Proust
Seeing Anew (7:05) – What does it mean to see everyone and everything in a fresh light? Jack talks about the shift of identity that comes from meditation. He describes how in becoming the witness, we are able to become more mindful of our experience and the experience of others in a different way.
Through this witnessing, we begin to learn to forgive and let go of attachment to how we think the world should be. Another aspect of this is the awareness of suffering and a greater capacity to be with that suffering.
“Instead of living in guilt and resentment, you begin to realize that is not the way you want to tend your heart; it’s not what you want to hold on to, and you begin to let things go and start anew.” – Jack Kornfield
What Helps? (17:45) – On the news, we are fed a continuous stream of images and stories of all the difficulties in the world. We see the continuing warfare, racism, and violence. However, this is not the entirety of things.
The world is also beautiful and renewing itself; filled with a thousand acts of goodness for every act of cruelty, and yet that is not how it is presented. Something that helps us keep perspective is to set our intention to manifest these greater qualities in the world and approach all beings with compassion.
Sitting with It (26:45) – Meditation is not about having the goal of a particular state. There is no control of our thoughts and emotions as they arise. Our mind is like a river, flowing and changing. Instead of trying to build a dam to control the flow, we need to sit on the bank and accept the river.
Sure Heart’s Release (33:25) – There is a bigger game we are playing than our checkbook or career goals. We must still tend to these smaller aspects of our life, but that is not what life is about. What we are looking for is the capacity to be free in our spirit together with all that comes with our incarnation. With this renewed perspective, we can be with it all and say, “Yes, this is so. Here we are and it is amazing.”
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