Jack Kornfield: Difficult Times and Liberation
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Tami Simon speaks with Jack Kornfield, the author of The Wise Heart and one of the key teachers to introduce Buddhist mindfulness practice to the West. Kornfield reflects on four decades of personal meditation practice and how this has informed how he works with students. He also explores how Buddhist insights can help us during challenging times, whether or not it is possible or not to be liberated even in spite of our neurosis, and what he means by "the crystal of liberation." (48 minutes)
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thank you-this was so beautiful and timed to perfection for this part of my journey
Comment by Morag — June 16, 2009 @ 3:27 pm
We are One, In One and a Connected One….thank you for the reminder that all is within me, I don’t need to reach outside of me….
Comment by Annie — June 18, 2009 @ 8:59 am
Thanks so much for sharing all those talks with us, Tami.
Comment by Karin — June 21, 2009 @ 8:59 am
thank you so much for sharing! This was so beautiful and deepening. It help me to feel in ease with what is.
Comment by Anja — July 6, 2009 @ 4:40 pm
Thank you for this conversation. I listened to it twice, partly for the content, and partly for the soothing quality of your voices! I like the questions that Tami asked, they were pitched just right for my level of understanding.
Comment by Caroline Crayons — August 8, 2009 @ 11:36 am
This is my favorite of the series so far. It is so rich with compassionate teaching. Each time I listen I find more.
Comment by margaret — September 7, 2009 @ 3:50 pm
i have just started listening to these meditatiockns and they are amazing – I would love to see Jak in Seattle where I live. Used to live in NY but knew nothing about Jack till I got here.
Can you help me? hard to find work now but it helps
Comment by ali — September 8, 2009 @ 12:23 am
absolutely wonderful, and like what Carolyn said, each listen reveals something new. Was just what I needed to hear at just the right time :)
Comment by Ben — September 21, 2009 @ 7:20 pm
True spiritual podcasts are hard to find; most of them have a particular slant towards a certain path (whether it be Buddhism, Christianity, or entheogens) but this one here is totally unbiased. Insights at the Edge is a weekly interview podcast from the Sounds True group. Your host is Tami Simon, who has been working in this field for 20+ years. She has a sharp mind. asking pertinent and probing questions. Most interviews are just under an hour, and are ad and interruption free. The minutes fly by.
The guests are leading luminaries; offering insight and lifetimes of experience. They deal with deep life issues; facing up to one’s ‘Shadow’; probing the past and accepting one’s Present; the deep issues that only Spirituality can answer. This interview with Jack Kornfield is a great place to start. The information is given freely and is infused with spiritual wonder. A joy to connect with.
Comment by The Podcast Review — October 1, 2009 @ 1:17 pm
Thanks so much for these excellent talk Tami. I find your interviewing techniques so good – you really manage to get guests talking in a very real and personal way.
I really love the interviews with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. I listen to these interviews over and over again.
thanks!
Emma
Comment by Emma — October 21, 2009 @ 7:54 pm
Jack reminds us that even four decades of disciplined meditation do not wall us off from our personality, problems, or our painful reactions. The goal is not to achieve an idea of perfection but to be open and compassionate to all of our self the way we are. This man has a beautiful heart. Tami asks great questions and brings out the best in her guests. Thank you so much.
Comment by Stan — December 10, 2009 @ 10:19 am
THANK YOU…I “came upon” your site today and this wonderful interview was exactly what I needed today – a breath of light.
Comment by Linden Castel — May 8, 2010 @ 4:15 am
This was wonderful. I am so happy Jack’s beautiful words found me today. Thank you so much for this. I am enjoying all of these podcasts so much.
Comment by Carrie — February 26, 2011 @ 8:11 am
wow cheers
Comment by omena — September 26, 2011 @ 12:10 am
We were born into a life intended to be woven of the wool of “praise and blame, gain and loss, pleasure and pain, and acceptance and disrepute”. This is not wrong; it is just relative reality. Jack teacher us that our goal could be not so much to cling to the praise, gain, pleasure, acceptance and deny or buckle under blame, loss, pain, and disrepute but to be open and compassionate through all the elevations of this wild rollercoaster ride of life.
This would be a very worthwhile lesson to try to learn to at least some degree. Thanks Jack.
Comment by Cloud — November 18, 2011 @ 4:52 am