Jack Kornfield Quotes

“Wisdom says we are nothing. Love says we are everything. Between these two our life flows.”
― Jack Kornfield

“The art of living is neither careless drifting on the one hand or fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consist in being completely sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive - Allan Watts”
― Jack Kornfield, Beginner's Mind: 3 Classic Meditation Practices Especially for Beginners

“To meditate is to discover new possibilities, to awaken the capacities of us has to live more wisely, more lovingly, more compassionately, and more fully.”
― Jack Kornfield, Meditation for Beginners

“The knowledge of the past stays with us. To let go is simply to release any images and emotions.”
― Jack Kornfield

“We are taught in this culture that if we can grasp enough pleasurable experiences quickly, one after another, our life will be happy. By following a good game of tennis with a delicious dinner, a fine movie, then wonderful sex and sleep, a good morning jog, a fine hour of meditation, an excellent breakfast, and off to an exciting morning of work, over and over, our happiness will last. Our driven society is masterful at perpetuating this ruse. But will this satisfy the heart?”
― Jack Kornfield, A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life

“Meditation takes discipline, just like learning how to play piano. If you want to learn how to play the piano, it takes more than a few minutes a day, once a while, here and there. If you really want to learn any important skill, whether it is playing piano or meditation, it grows with perseverance, patience, and systematic training.”
― Jack Kornfield, Meditation for Beginners

“We have so many ideas and beliefs about ourselves. We told ourselves story about what we want and who we are, smart or kind. Often these are the unexamined and limited ideas of others that we have internalized and then gone on to live out”
― Jack Kornfield, Meditation for Beginners

“To begin to meditate is to look into our lives with interest in kindness and discover how to be wakeful and free.”
― Jack Kornfield, Beginner's Mind: 3 Classic Meditation Practices Especially for Beginners

“Equanimity embraces the loved and the unloved, the agreeable and the disagreeable, the pleasure and pain. It eliminates clinging and aversion.”
― Jack Kornfield, Bringing Home the Dharma: Awakening Right Where You Are

“It never hurts to see the good in someone, they often act the better because of it.”
― Nelson Mandela

“When we take time to quiet ourselves, we can all sense that our life could be lived with greater compassion and greater weakness.”
― Jack Kornfield, Meditation for Beginners

“There are many good forms of meditation practice. A good meditation practice is any one that develops awareness or mindfulness of our body and our sense, of our mind and heart.”
― Jack Kornfield, Meditation for Beginners

“We have so many ideas and beliefs about ourselves. We told ourselves story about what we want and who we are, smart or kind. Often these are the unexamined and limited ideas of others that we have internalized and then gone on to life out.”
― Jack Kornfield, Beginner's Mind: 3 Classic Meditation Practices Especially for Beginners

“Consider undertaking the vows and practice of a Bodhisattva. In taking these vows you will join with the hundreds of thousands of Buddhists in the west and millions in Asia who have done so. As is traditional, you might seek out a Buddhist center or temple and take the Bodhisattva vow in the presence of a teacher. Or, if you cannot do so, you can take them at home. Create a sacred space and place there the images of Bodhisattvas or Buddhas who have gone before you. If you wish, invite a friend or friends to be your witness. Sit quietly for a time and reflect on the beauty and value of a life dedicated to the benefit of all. When you are ready, add any meaningful ritual, the lighting of candles, the taking of refuge. Then recite your vows. Here is one traditional version, but there are many others: Suffering beings are numberless, I vow to liberate them all. Attachment is inexhaustible, I vow to release it all. The gates to truth are numberless, I vow to master them all. The way of awakening is supreme, I vow to realize… You can modify the language of these vows so that they speak your deepest dedication. Then you can repeat them every time you sit in meditation, to direct and dedicate your practice.”
― Jack Kornfield, The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology