The Wise Heart: Buddhist Psychology for the West
The key to wise thought is to sense the energy state behind the thought.
Jack Kornfield • The Wise Heart: Buddhist Psychology for the West
Just got a great example of wise thought: I got upset over food being served at the clinic. Panick and upset immediately came upon me. Now applying Jack’s method, I look at the energy behind the thoughts and see that fear and panic resulting in pain.I tried to be okay, not get annoyed with my surroundings, continue to do what I was doing (eating my broth) as softly and calmly as possible. Then I sat down, read a story from the book and it moved me to tears. I had a Judging thought: that would be the second time I cry today. And then my mind wandered around the thoughts of crying, pain, sadness at not being with my beloved Ganesh. Bad timing, love not being realized. That is a real reason to feel pain and suffer. I am apart from my beloved and it’s hard. But then also I am free, he is free, we can find solutions. And I hold him in my heart. Always. I feel settled, seeing the beauty of love getting over the earlier fear and panic. It’s going to be an interesting few days here...
The quieting of our mind is a political act. The world does not need more oil or energy or food. It needs less greed, less hatred, less ignorance.
Jack Kornfield • The Wise Heart: Buddhist Psychology for the West
Mindfulness and fearless presence bring true protection. When we meet the world with recognition, acceptance, investigation, and non-identification, we discover that wherever we are, freedom is possible, just as the rain falls on and nurtures all things equally.
Jack Kornfield • The Wise Heart: Buddhist Psychology for the West
In its sky-like function, consciousness is unchanging, like the sky or the mirror. In its particle-like function, consciousness is momentary. A
Jack Kornfield • The Wise Heart: Buddhist Psychology for the West
Ajahn Chah used to shake his head and smile, “You have so many opinions. And you suffer so much from them. Why not let them go?” I
Jack Kornfield • The Wise Heart: Buddhist Psychology for the West
A psychology of interdependence helps to solve this dilemma. Through meditation we discover that the duality of inner and outer is false. Thus when Gandhi was lauded for all his work for India, he demurred, “I do not do this for India, I do this for myself.”
Jack Kornfield • The Wise Heart: Buddhist Psychology for the West
If you close your eyes and feel carefully, you won’t feel a “body.” Body is only a word, the idea or concept level. What you will actually feel are areas of hardness and softness, of pressure, heaviness, and textures such as rough and smooth. This is the earth element. You will also feel areas of warmth and coolness. This is the fire or temperature
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What we practice becomes habit.
Jack Kornfield • The Wise Heart: Buddhist Psychology for the West
Now bring into awareness any story, situation, feelings, and reactions that it is time to let go of. Name them gently (betrayal, sadness, anxiety, etc.) and allow them the space to be, to float without resistance, held in a heart of compassion. Continue to breathe. Feel the unhappiness that comes from holding on. Ask yourself, “Do I have to continu
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Letting go practice - essentially what I was doing in a]Kamalaya
“It’s simple—be the knower, not the owner.”