Jack Kornfield   → Teachings by Jack Kornfield
Teachers / Lay teachers / Jack Kornfield 
29 excerpts, 1:45:25 total duration



Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 26 – Apr. 29, 2001

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2. Story: Ajahn Sumedho meets Jack Kornfield. Told by Ajahn Sumedho. [Jack Kornfield] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Chah] // [Wat Pah Pong] [Insight Meditation Society] [Judgementalism]

Story: Ajahn Sumedho stays on Pupek Mountain. [Seclusion] [Suffering] [Aversion] [Sickness] [Self-pity] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Robes] [Humor] [Gratitude]


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12. Story: Ajahn Chah to Jack Kornfield, “Did I heal her?” Told by Jack Kornfield. [Jack Kornfield] [Sickness] [Health] [Protective chants] [Ajahn Chah] [Teaching Dhamma] [Healing] // [Wat Pah Pong] [Truth]


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18. Story: Jack Kornfield asks Ajahn Chah for permission to leave Wat Pah Pong. Told by Jack Kornfield. [Jack Kornfield] [Monastic life] [Wat Pah Pong] [Ajahn Chah] // [Culture/Other Theravāda traditions] [Seclusion] [Meditation] [Work] [Teachers] [Liberation]

Quote: “If I look like the Buddha to you, then you’ll still thing the Buddha is out here somewhere.” Ajahn Chah [Buddha] [Conventions]


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20. He encouraged people to let go in so many different ways. Recollection by Jack Kornfield. [Relinquishment ] [Teachers] [Views] [Eightfold Path] [Ajahn Chah] // [Idle chatter] [Seclusion] [Aversion] [Ghost] [Fear] [Restlessness and worry] [Sense bases] [Direct experience] [Liberation]

Story: Sit in the middle of your anger. [Jack Kornfield] [Robes] [Lodging]

Story: Walk backwards in the forest in the middle of the night. [Jack Kornfield] [Sloth and torpor] [Posture/Walking] [Culture/Natural environment]


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23. What does not suffering mean? Reflection by Jack Kornfield. [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Ajahn Chah] // [Judgementalism] [Politics and society] [Discrimination] [Environment] [Discernment] [Compassion] [Human] [Buddha] [Proliferation] [Relinquishment]

Quote: “We human beings are constantly in combat, at war to escape the fact of being limited by so many circumstances that we can’t control.”” — Ajahn Chah. [Conflict] [Characteristics of existence]

Quote: “Doubts are natural.” — Ajahn Chah. [Doubt] [Naturalness] [Impermanence] [Not-self] [Liberation]

Quote: “The desire mind is like children.” — Ajahn Chah. [Desire] [Similes]

Story: “Scary ride, wasn’t it?” [Jack Kornfield] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Fear] [Death]


Our Roots in the Thai Forest Tradition, Session 15 – Jan. 26, 2014

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3. “Was Ajahn Ñāṇadhammo’s experience of being pushed unusual for Western monks?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Ñāṇadhammo] [Fierce/direct teaching] [Culture/West] [Ardency] [Ajahn Chah] [Suffering]

Jack Kornfield’s recollections of Ajahn Chah at Insight Meditation Society. Recounted by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Jack Kornfield] [Insight Meditation Society] [Meditation retreats]


Abhayagiri's 20th Anniversary, Session 7 – Jun. 4, 2016

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1. Recollection: How I came to Buddhism and the beginnings of the Saṅghapāla Foundation. Recounted by Marc Lieberman. [Saṅghapāla] // [Taungpulu Sayadaw] [Temporary ordination] [Vinaya] [Jack Kornfield] [Joseph Goldstein] [Insight Meditation Society] [Ajahn Anando] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Amaro]


Abhayagiri's 20th Anniversary, Session 15 – Jun. 4, 2016

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4. Story: Ajahn Sumedho asks Ajahn Amaro to go to California. Told by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Amaro] // [Master Hsuan Hua] [Elders' Council] [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas] [Ordination] [Jack Kornfield]


Recollections of Ajahn Chah: 100th Birthday Anniversary Celebration, Session 1 – May. 18, 2018

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6. Recollection: When asked about what qualities allowed him to succeed in practice, Ajahn Chah replied, “I dared to do it.” Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Courage ] [Ajahn Chah] // [Jack Kornfield] [Determination] [Energy]

Reference: Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 572.

Quote: “In the ground there is water. All you need to do is dig a well.” — Ajahn Chah. [Similes]

Reference: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 614.


Abhayagiri 25th Anniversary Retreat, Session 8 – Jun. 11, 2021

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1. Story: Ajahn Sumedho’s early visits to California. Told by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Abhayagiri] // [Jack Kornfield] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Amaravati]


Happiness on the Buddhist Path – Aug. 20, 2023

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6. “Is there a right speed to silent walking?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Posture/Walking] // [Abhayagiri] [Postures] [Continuity of mindfulness]

Story: Jack Kornfield asks Ajahn Chah, “Whenever you teach walking meditation, you always teach the monks to walk slowly. But whenever you walk meditation, you walk really fast. [Ajahn Chah] [Jack Kornfield] [Teaching Dhamma] [Exercise]

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Translations of sampajañña (clear comprehension) and its role in Dhamma practice. [Clear comprehension ] [Translation] [Mindfulness]


Readings from The Island, Session 3 – Jan. 9, 2025

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2. “Something that I’ve noticed is that my wish to translate something differently at one point in my practice changes later when I realize, ‘Hmm … perhaps I’m just trying to get around the point.’ I feel uncomfortable with that translation and then later on realize I have to practice with this one. Does that sometimes happen to you?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Translation ] // [Truth]

Story: Jack Kornfield translates for Ajahn Chah at Insight Meditation Center and puts his own spin on the precepts. Ajahn Chah figures it out. [Jack Kornfield] [Ajahn Chah] [Joseph Kappel] [Insight Meditation Society] [Precepts]


Readings from The Island, Session 52 – Mar. 24, 2025

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1. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: When Ajahn Chah went to America, he emphasized the importance of sīla. [Ajahn Chah] [Culture/West] [Virtue] // [Insight Meditation Society]

Story: Jack Kornfield asks Ajahn Chah what he thinks about Buddhist teachings coming to the West. Ajahn Chah replies, “I haven’t seen any Buddhism yet.” Told by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Jack Kornfield]

Story: Ajahn Chah discerns that Jack Kornfield isn’t accurately translating his teachings about sīla. Told by Ajahn Amaro. [Jack Kornfield] [Joseph Kappel] [Translation]

Reflections by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno about SN 20.7 and poetic and literary expressions of Dhamma. [Teaching Dhamma] [Verses] [Great disciples] [Isan]

Sutta: SN 8: Vaṅgīsasaṁyutta.