Ep. 275 – Desire, Love, and Spiritual Passion

Heart Wisdom with Jack Kornfield

Be Here Now Network

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

4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 6 February 2025

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Love is in the air, as Jack explores the nature of desire, relationships, and spiritual passion—offering wisdom on stabilizing the heart, navigating distractions, and awakening to the timeless and sacred.

Learn How to Thrive in Love: Buddhist Secrets to Transform Your Relationships with Jack Kornfield and Trudy Goodman beginning Feb 17 – join anytime!

“If you know what it’s like to really fall in love with someone, then you can begin to sense what it means to bring the full presence of attention to your life.” – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack mindfully explores:

The Buddha on mindfulness and awareness
Stabilizing the heart, mind, and body in the present
Overcoming distractions and difficult moods
Being aware of desires arising and passing
Chanda – spiritual passion, the desire for awakening
The connection between power, insecurity, and fear
How to stop feeding the hungry heart in unskillful ways
The difference between desire and love
Relationship, marriage, and staying in love
A moving love story from Thich Nhat Hanh
Reclaiming our humanity and animal nature
Reawakening mystery, gratitude, awe
Touching that which is timeless and sacred
Avalokitesvara, the Buddha of infinite compassion
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj and living your fullness
Noticing what tempts you away during meditation

“What direction do our personal desires take us? It’s good to study them. As my teacher Ajahn Chah said, ‘It may be a very fast car, but you ought to look at what road you’re going down and which way it’s headed.'” – Jack Kornfield

“Perhaps what we most deeply desire is immensely simple—to reclaim our humanity, our animal nature that Jung talked about, the wondrous senses, the sense of the spirit of awe, the remembering, the reawakening of that sense of gratitude and mystery for life.” – Jack Kornfield

This Dharma Talk recorded on 9/28/1992 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on DharmaSeed.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	People are already turning to AI for therapy-style support, asking chatbots for advice and input on a wide range of personal issues.
0:09.0	If we can ask questions and receive decent answers from AI, what does this mean for the role of the world's ancient wisdom traditions and the teachers who transmit them human to human?
0:19.0	Join Buddhist teacher David Nicturn and Duncan Trussell, comedian and creator of the Netflix animated series The Midnight Gospel, for a free online event on Tuesday, February 11th at 6 p.m. Eastern Time.
0:31.8	Together they'll explore the intersection of ancient wisdom and modern technology, how artificial intelligence might influence spiritual practice,
0:39.0	and the evolving role of mindfulness teachers in the digital age.
0:42.9	They'll also discuss Dharma Moon's renowned mindfulness meditation teacher training program.
0:47.7	Visit Dharmamoon.com slash wisdom.
0:50.6	That's Dharmamoon.com slash wisdom.
0:52.8	For more info and reserve your spot for the free online event with David Nick Turn and Duncan Dressel.
1:04.7	So what direction do our desires take us, our own personal desires?
1:09.6	It's good to study them.
1:12.8	As my teacher, Ajan Shah said,
1:19.0	it may be a very fast car, but you ought to look at what road you're going down, which way it's headed. They go different ways. If you know what it's like to really fall in love with someone, then you can begin to
1:33.2	sense what it means to bring the full presence of attention to your life.
1:38.7	Says Jack Cornfield, paraphrasing Ticknott Hahn, in episode of Heart Wisdom, Desire, Love, and Spiritual Passion.
1:49.8	This is a Dharma talk stemming from September 28, 1992 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center,
1:58.1	and it dives into relationships marriage love desire
2:03.5	passion and chanda spiritual passion our desire to awaken this is a timely episode for
2:11.7	couple of reasons I know February is a reason to celebrate for many reasons.
2:18.7	It is Black History Month.
2:20.9	We're finally out of the longest January in the history of the world.
2:25.4	And also, love is in the air.
	...

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