Ep. 283 – The Imaginal Cells of the Butterfly

Heart Wisdom with Jack Kornfield

Be Here Now Network

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

4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 1 April 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This episode was recorded on 3/03/25 as a part of Spirit Rock’s Monday Night Dharma Talk Series

“You are the imaginal cells. You are the ones who are called to hold the vision of a wise society where people respect each other, where we care for the vulnerable, where we understand the universal teaching, ‘Hatred never ceases by hatred, but by love alone is healed.’ This is you.'” – Jack Kornfield

In this episode of Heart Wisdom, Jack mindfully explores:

Staying centered amidst life’s struggles Stopping blame and “right and wrong
Navigating Late-Stage Capitalism in the 21st Century
The Great Turning as an opportunity to reset our lives as human beings
The Great Turning as a birth process—messy, painful, dangerous, and beautiful
Remembering your fearlessness amidst politics and news media Becoming “imaginal cells” of the butterfly
Trusting the constant renewal of life and nature Black Elk, Gary Snyder, and the power of loving the earth
Meditation and sitting with heartbreak
Dissolving guilt, fear, and doomscrolling
Carrying your light with nobility, respect, and dignity
Trusting the big picture, the vast cosmic view
Remembering who you are and living from it
The possibility of a new underground railroad
Recognizing that we are the imaginal cells of the world

Learn the Dynamic Art of Interactive Guided Meditation with Jack Kornfield in this online masterclass beginning April 7!

“Here we are, 21st century, late-stage capitalism, which has gotten to the place where there’s further extremes of rich and poor for exploitation. We’re at the time what Joanna Macy calls the Great Turning—the great opportunity really for us to reset our lives as human beings.” – Jack Kornfield

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Here we are.
0:06.3	21st century, late stage capitalism, which has gotten to the place where there's
0:15.1	further extremes of rich and poor or exploitation.
0:27.7	And we're at the time what Joanna Macy calls the great turning, kind of the great opportunity really for us to reset our lives as human beings.
0:48.1	You are the imaginal cells of the butterfly, says Jack Cornfield in episode 283 of Heart Wisdom.
0:49.5	This is a wonderful video episode, presented by Be Here Now Network, originally recorded for the Spirit
0:57.0	Rock Monday Night Darmatalk and live stream, which Jack does generally monthly, and Spirit
1:02.7	Rock has every Monday night. Lately, Jacks have been quite, I don't want to say political,
1:09.8	but he's speaking deeply to the transformation
1:14.2	that society is going under due to the causes and conditions of the current zeitgeist.
1:24.3	And one of the more beautiful things that he's been doing is rather than shaking us awake with fear politics, which seems to be happening everywhere you go.
1:36.7	If you happen to walk into somewhere where a TV is on and the news happens to be blaring, or if you just swipe to a, whatever the next
1:45.4	reel is on Instagram, it's right there too.
1:48.9	So what Jack offers through his teachings, what he learned through Ajan Shah and Mahagosananda,
1:55.5	how to become an island of peace and hope, how to be a beacon, like Ticknott-Han says, for those who could use a little
2:04.4	light.
2:05.4	Well, the metaphoric and poetic beauty of Jack's words in this episode are not lost.
2:16.1	This is the imaginal cells of the butterfly.
2:22.2	What he offers us is the reflection that the caterpillar has no idea what's going on when
2:30.2	it's starting to cocoon, but when it goes into its hibernating kind of soupy-goopy process,
2:38.0	there's these cells that come out,
2:39.8	these imaginal cells,
	...

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