In this lively episode, Jack dives into how mindfulness, awareness and intimacy help us engage with life more fully.
This Dharma Talk from Spirit Rock in January 1989 was originally published on DharmaSeed.
“Zen master Dōgen said that to be mindful, to be awake, to pay attention, is the same as intimacy—intimacy with your lover, with your friends, or the sky and the trees, the drought, the grasses, your neighbors, the rhythms of the seasons, your children or parents.” – Jack Kornfield
In this episode, Jack mindfully illuminates:
- Spiritual practice as a path with heart about connecting our spiritual life and worldly life
- Using breath to relate with nature and life as movement and a process of change
- Understanding the movements of mind and using mindfulness to live more fully
- A story involving Jack, a Zen master, and a glass of sake at Naropa
- How mindfulness, awareness and intimacy are synonymous
- The way Jack personally deals with and gets intimate with loneliness in his life
- Meditation as teaching the art of appreciation for what’s in front of us
- The art of getting intimate with our fear to engage with life more fully
“To enter into one thing in a very personal and immediate way—not with your mind, but your whole being—is to touch everything.” – Jack Kornfield
Grab an All-Access Plan for Jack’s growing library of online courses at jackkornfield.com/all-access-pass
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.
Dive into Jack’s ongoing dharma offerings and transformational online courses on the new JackKornfield.com
Listen to more from Jack:
Tune into Ep. 109 of Heart Wisdom: This Too Shall Pass
Learn about Living with a Peaceful Heart in Ep. 91 of Heart Wisdom
Check out Ep. 90 of Heart Wisdom to learn about Healing Through Loving Awareness
Listen to more Stories That Open the Mind, Mend the Heart and Lead to Joy with Jack Kornfield in Ep.92 of Heart Wisdom
Tune into Ep. 102 of Heart Wisdom: The Wisdom of the One Who Knows
Check out Ep. 1 of Heart Wisdom to gain wisdom on Impermanence
Graphic via RawFilms