Listening to the song of the present moment, Jack uncovers how to dance with life’s dynamic rhythms by seeing the world as music.
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“The rhythm of your breath is no different than the rhythm of the stars.” – Jack Kornfield
In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:
- The art of listening to the song of life, birth and death
- Why it can be so tough to actually “Be Here Now” like Ram Dass
- How love connects to the present moment
- Alan Watts, music, dance, and harmonizing to the universe
- Feeling the rhythms of your breath and body
- Learning to dance to life’s dynamic music
- Staying open and avoiding spiritual bypass
- Looking at our body and life clearly and directly
- The power of attention, noting, and spaciousness for diffusing our judgements and emotions
- Buddha’s discovery of the Middle Way, and why he stopped fighting himself
- Dealing with the unfinished business of grief, loss, loneliness, wounds
- How to handle worries or fantasies that keep looping over and over
- Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and the tenderness and fearlessness of an Awakened Heart
- Why Buddha focused on humans as ‘five processes,’ rather than personalities
- Letting go of our rigid sense of self and diving into the fluidity of life
- Non-grasping and how even enlightenment is a problem
- Discovering the true path to liberation
- Death, dying, and a reading from the Tibetan Book of the Dead
“To listen is to be awake in the present without moving away from or running away from what’s actually here.” – Jack Kornfield
“The only place to actually love another person, or a tree, or a living creature, or the earth itself, is when we’re here in the present.” – Jack Kornfield
Discover your great joy and love in Jack’s life-changing new online journey – The Awakened Heart: Discovering Great Joy and Love
This Dharma talk originally recorded in 1991 was originally published on DharmaSeed.
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.
Stay up to date with Jack and his stream of new dharma offerings by visiting JackKornfield.com and signing up for his email teachings.
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
Photo via kudla