I'm Oprah Winfrey. Welcome to Super Soul Conversations, the podcast. I believe that one of

the most valuable gifts you can give yourself is time, taking time to be more fully present.

Your journey to become more inspired and connected to the deeper world around us starts right

now.

Jack Cornfield is considered one of the elders of American Buddhists thought. Ivy League

educated Jack majored in Asian studies at Dartmouth and found himself drawn to Buddhism,

though he was raised in a Jewish home. He spends much of his time teaching and lecturing,

sharing the wisdom he's gained over 40 years of practicing Buddhism.

In 1967, Jack joined the Peace Corps and requested a post in a Buddhist country. He was sent

to rule Thailand, and when his assignment ended, he decided to stay and devote his energy

to the practice of Buddhism. He then began formal training as a monk.

Through the rigors of monastic life, meditating for hours, eating very little and owning

few possessions, Jack finally experienced the deep awakening he longed for. After five

years, he decided to leave the monastery and head home to share what he'd learned, integrating

the ancient teachings of Buddhism with life in the modern world, and that became his mission.

A prolific writer, he's authored 13 books, his most recent, Bringing Home the Dharma,

is all about applying Buddhist practices to our everyday lives. Jack says, we don't have

to travel to the Himalayas or a mountaintop monastery to find enlightenment and peace.

We all can experience it right where we are.

So let's start at the very beginning if we can. What is Buddhism? Is it a religion or

tradition or a way of being? Buddhism started with the teachings of the Buddha, and then

for some people it became a religion. So it's certainly a big world religion. But on

...