Ep. 273 – The Search for Ajahn Chah: Embodying the Heart of Authenticity

Heart Wisdom with Jack Kornfield

Be Here Now Network

Kornfield, Religion & Spirituality, Religion, Jackkornfield, Buddhism, Spirituality, Jack Kornfield

4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 22 January 2025

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this defining talk, Jack shed's light on his adventurous journey to Thai meditation master Ajahn Chah, and how upon returning home, he had to learn to embody a heart of authenticity.

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“Being with Ajahn Chah was being with a person who rested in their Buddha Nature, their own true nature. He was just himself. He was really at peace with himself. You could feel it from the energy of his presence, rooted like a great tree in the earth.” – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

His mystical journey to learn with Thai meditation master Ajahn Chah,
Needing to work his way down the chakras to fully live this human life
Sudden awakening versus gradual change on the spiritual path
Ramana Maharshi and liberation through facing one’s own death
How to live in your soul and dance your unique dance
What it’s like hanging out with monks covered in wild bees
Ajahn Chah’s tree-like quality of roundedness, freedom, and openness
Matching our thoughts and actions with our values
His first time experience rapture in meditation
The transformative aspects of therapy, bodywork, marriage, family
Ram Dass and the healing quality of presence
Navigating differences in our romantic relationships
Learning to acknowledge the pain and loss beneath our anger
Opening to life’s lessons of compassion, wisdom, and wakefulness
The gift of spiritual community and sharing our authenticity
Embodying the timeless eternal truth of mindfulness, intimacy, and wakefulness

“To love another person just as they are is the only kind of love that makes any sense.” – Jack Kornfield

“There’s an intimacy and a presence that is true about mindfulness: it’s either now or never.” – Jack Kornfield

This Dharma Talk recorded on 9/14/1992 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on DharmaSeed.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Being with him was being with a person who rested in their Buddha nature, in their own true nature.
0:10.0	He was just himself and he was really at peace with himself.
0:14.0	And you could feel it from just the energy of his presence.
0:18.0	I could feel it.
0:20.0	There was a sense, as I got to know him, of being with a
0:23.7	person who was rooted like some great tree in the earth. And one time near the end of his life,
0:30.7	somebody asked him if he was enlightened. And he said, do I know? He said, I'm just like a tree. And there's fruit and birds come and nest in the tree,
0:41.0	and flowers seem to blossom.
0:43.1	And the tree just is its own nature.
0:46.3	And that's the sense that I had of him.
0:48.4	He just was there.
1:01.3	To love another person just as they are is the only kind of love that makes any sense,
1:06.1	says Jack Cornfield in episode 273 of heart wisdom,
1:11.2	The Search for Ajin-Cha, embodying the heart of authenticity.
1:18.1	This is a very cool episode, one of those episodes that feels defining.
1:27.1	Very much like the first Ram Dass episodes where he takes you through his spiritual journey.
1:31.9	This is the Jack Cornfield version of that,
1:38.2	and it really sparked something in my heart listening to this.
1:41.7	I don't know if you've ever had those podcasts,
1:44.0	or those Dharma talks or those teachings where they feel alive,
1:48.7	not just in the sense of, hey, this works for me in my life, but synchronicities come around them.
1:58.6	There's a depth to the lessons and they play into how your day is going as you're
	...

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