Ep. 286 – The Great Ocean of Change: Letting Go Into What Is
Heart Wisdom with Jack Kornfield
Be Here Now Network
4.8 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 22 April 2025
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Exploring how to stay buoyant and balanced on life's great ocean of change, Jack sets our spiritual compass for letting go into what is.
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"What we're asked to do here is a very deep thing, which isn't to change ourselves, but to give ourselves to our life, to practice with continuity and care, bowing, opening. It's really like being in labor, if you've ever had a child or been there for childbirth, it's a birth of your life, a birth of yourself, over and over, letting go to what is." – Jack Kornfield
In this episode of Heart Wisdom, Jack mindfully explores:
- The Tibetan story of Avalokitesvara, Green Tara, and White Tara
- The spiritual wisdom of a duck resting on the ocean
- Floating softly on life's constant ocean of change
- Experiencing ourselves as an always flowing river of life
- Bowing to the truth of impermanence
- Selflessness, emptiness, and openness
- Seeing through the dreamlike mirage of 'who you think you are'
- Letting go into the ever-changing process of life
- Honoring the truth of what's here and now
- Suffering, opening your heart, and connecting to all beings
- Awakening the great heart of compassion
- Ram Dass and the gift of service
- Meeting death with curiosity, play, and wisdom
- Rebirthing ourselves over and over again
- Giving ourselves over sincerely to our life, letting go into what is
- Awakening the great wisdom and heart of the Buddha in every circumstance
- How surrender leads directly to freedom
This Dharma Talk recorded on 1/3/93 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on DharmaSeed.
“The more we pay attention, the more we sense ourselves as a river of life." – Jack Kornfield
Interested in learning more on this topic? Check out our most recent Here and Now episode for Ram Dass’ perspective on the ocean of change.
About Jack Kornfield:
Jack Kornfield trained as a Buddhist monk in the monasteries of Thailand, India, and Burma, studying as a monk under the Buddhist master Ven. Ajahn Chah, as well as the Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw. He has taught meditation internationally since 1974 and is one of the key teachers to introduce Buddhist mindfulness practice to the West. Jack co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, with fellow meditation teachers Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein and the Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre, California. His books have been translated into 20 languages and sold more than a million copies.
Jack is currently offering a wonderful array of transformational online courses diving into crucial topics like Mindfulness Meditation Fundamentals, Walking the Eightfold Path, Opening the Heart of Forgiveness, Living Beautifully, Transforming Your Life Through Powerful Stories, and so much more. Sign up for an All Access Pass to explore Jack’s entire course library. If you would like a years worth of online meetups with Jack and fellow community, join The Year of Awakening: A Monthly Journey with Jack Kornfield.
Stay up to date with Jack and his stream of fresh dharma offerings by visiting JackKornfield.com and signing up for his email teachings.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. |
| 0:04.9 | Investing in your mental health is one of the best things you can do for yourself. |
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| 0:46.2 | month. That's BetterHelp, h-elp.com slash heart wisdom now we are ready to look at something pretty special |
| 1:01.4 | it is a duck riding the ocean a hundred feet beyond the surf as he cuddles in the |
| 1:07.9 | swells there's a big heaving in the Atlantic today, |
| 1:11.6 | and he is part of it. |
| 1:13.6 | He can rest while the Atlantic heaves |
| 1:16.6 | because he rests in the ocean. |
| 1:18.6 | Probably he doesn't know how large the ocean is, |
| 1:22.6 | and neither do you, but he realizes it. |
| 1:26.6 | And what does he do, I ask you? |
| 1:30.1 | He sits down in it. |
| 1:32.2 | He reposes in the immediate as if it were infinity, which it is. |
| 1:38.4 | That is religion, and the duck has it. |
| 1:41.7 | How about you? We're asked to do a very deep thing, which isn't to change ourselves, but to give ourselves over fully to this life. |
| 1:58.0 | Says Jack Cornfield, in episode 286 of heart wisdom, |
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