Quotes from Jack Kornfield

If we had been seeking strength through control over ourselves and others, we discover that was only a false version of strength, that truth and inherent strength appear in moments of deep silence and wholeness when we rest unshakably with things as they are. If we had been seeking beauty or love through others or in states that perfect our mind, this too comes whole and unbidden when desires and longings themselves come to rest. This is awakening to our Buddha nature.

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do children as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.

Religion and philosophy have their value, but in the end all we can do is open to mystery and live a path with heart, not idealistically, not without difficulties, but as a Buddha did, in the very midst of our humanness in our life on this earth. It is worth asking ourselves: What is it that we can see and know directly for ourselves? Are these simple truths not enough?

A modern story of Mullah Nasrudin, the Sufi teacher and holy fool, tells of him entering a bank and trying to cash a check. The teller asks him to please identify himself. Nasrudin reaches in his pocket and pulls out a small mirror. Looking into it, he says, "Yep, that's me all right." Meditation

When sleepy, meditate with your eyes open wide. Stand in place for a few minutes or do walking meditation. If it's really bad, walk briskly or walk backward, splash some water on your face. Sleepiness is something we can respond to creatively. When

H. L. Mencken, a journalist in the 1920s, saw this whipping-up of fear as endemic to politics. "The whole aim of politics is to keep the populace alarmed—and hence clamorous to be led to safety—by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, almost all of them imaginary.

Through awareness of the body, we remember who we truly are.

The art of living ... is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past ... on the other. It consists in being completely sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.

Mother Teresa put it like this: "In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.

If you let go a little you will have a little happiness. If you let go a lot you will have a lot of happiness. If you let go completely you will be free. Ajahn Chah

what Buddhist writers call the clear open sky of awareness. It is empty like space, but unlike space it is sentient; it knows experience. In its true state, consciousness is simply this knowing

We grieve for our past traumas and present fears, for all of the feelings we never dared experience consciously.

if a yogi is so well blessed with karma to be one who can tread the pleasant path, one who can gain wisdom without undergoing pain, then he can work on pleasant sensation. But for the overwhelming majority of us, as may be observed, there is no choice but to tread the path of unpleasant sensation, for we are not blessed with such karma.

When we clearly realize that the source of disharmony and misery in the world is ignorance, we can open the door of wisdom and compassion.

When we take time to quiet ourselves, we can all sense that our life could be lived with greater compassion and greater weakness.

When the conditions of deficiency and wounding are still not healed, we have a very hard time knowing what it feels like to give in a genuine way. Because our inner experience is still one of need, giving is usually done with a subtle expectation of getting in return.

The goal of practice is always to keep our beginner's mind.

If we learn to be aware of feelings without grasping or aversion, then they can move through us like changing weather, adn we can be free to feel them and move on like the wind.

We will match your capacity to inflict suffering with our capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical force with Soul Force. We will not hate you, but we cannot in all good conscience obey your unjust laws. But we will soon wear you down with our capacity to suffer. And in winning our freedom we will so appeal to your heart and conscience that we will win yours in the process. Martin

In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how greatly you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.

Much of life cannot be explained, it can only be witnessed.

To live with great wisdom and compassion is possible for anyone who genuinely undertakes a training of their heart and mind. What better thing to do with our life?

we give so much attention to our protective layers of fear, depression, confusion, and aggression that we forget who we really are.

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.