Jack Kornfield is a bestselling American author and teacher in the vipassana movement in American Theravada Buddhism. He trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, Burma, and India, first as a student of the Thai forest master Ajahn Chah and Mahasi Sayadaw of Burma. He has taught meditation worldwide since 1974 and is one of the key teachers to introduce Buddhist Mindfulness practice to the West. In 1975, he co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, with Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein, and subsequently in 1987, Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California. Kornfield has organized teacher training and led international gatherings of Buddhist teachers including the Dalai Lama and has worked as a peacemaker and activist. May his quotes inspire you to take action so that you may live your dreams.
1. “Peace requires us to surrender our illusions of control. We can love and care for others but we cannot possess our children, lovers, family, or friends. We can assist them, pray for them, and wish them well, yet in the end their happiness and suffering depend on their thoughts and actions, not on our wishes.” Jack Kornfield
2. “When the stories of our life no longer bind us, we discover within them something greater. We discover that within the very limitations of form, of our maleness and femaleness, of our parenthood and our childhood, of gravity on the earth and the changing of the seasons, is the freedom and harmony we have sought for so long. Our individual life is an expression of the whole mystery, and in it we can rest in the center of the movement, the center of all worlds.” Jack Kornfield
3. “Letting go does not mean not caring about things. It means caring for them in a flexible and wise way. In meditation, we pay attention to our body with care and respect.” Jack Kornfield
4. “When we get too caught up in the busyness of the world, we lose connection with one another – and ourselves.” Jack Kornfield
5. “The entire teaching of Buddhism can be summed up in this way: Nothing is worth holding on to.” Jack Kornfield
6. “This life is a test – it is only a test. If it had been an actual life, you would have received further instructions on where to go and what to do. Remember, this life is only a test.” Jack Kornfield
7. “True emptiness is not empty but contains all things. The mysterious and pregnant void creates and reflects all possibilities. From it arises our individuality, which can be discovered and developed, although never possessed or fixed.” Jack Kornfield
8. “True love and prayer are learned in the hour when love becomes impossible and the heart has turned to stone.” Jack Kornfield
9. “Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.” Jack Kornfield
10. “Wisdom says we are nothing. Love says we are everything. Between these two our life flows.” Jack Kornfield
11. “To meditate is to discover new possibilities; to awaken the capacities of us has to live more wisely, more lovingly, more compassionately, and more fully.” Jack Kornfield
12. “To bow to the fact of our life’s sorrows and betrayals is to accept them; and from this deep gesture we discover that all life is workable. As we learn to bow, we discover that the heart holds more freedom and compassion than we could imagine.” Jack Kornfield
13. “As surely as there is a voyage away, there is a journey home.” Jack Kornfield
14. “Let go of the battle. Breathe quietly and let it be. Let your body relax and your heart soften. Open to whatever you experience without fighting.” Jack Kornfield
15. “Since death will take us anyway, why live our life in fear? Why not die in our old ways and be free to live?” Jack Kornfield
16. “Even Socrates, who lived a very frugal and simple life, loved to go to the market. When his students asked about this, he replied, I love to go and see all the things I am happy without.” Jack Kornfield
17. “We must look at ourselves over and over again in order to learn to love, to discover what has kept our hearts closed, and what it means to allow our hearts to open.” Jack Kornfield
18. “As we encounter new experiences with a mindful and wise attention, we discover that one of three things will happen to our new experience: it will go away, it will stay the same, or it will get more intense. Whatever happens does not really matter.” Jack Kornfield
19. “The knowledge of the past stays with us. To let go is to release the images and emotions, the grudges and fears, the clingings and disappointments of the past that bind our spirit.” Jack Kornfield
20. “Acceptance is not passivity. It is a courageous step in the process of transformation.” Jack Kornfield
21. “Anger shows us precisely where we are stuck, where our limits are, where we cling to beliefs and fears.” Jack Kornfield
22. “We need to learn how to honor and use a practice for as long as it serves us.” Jack Kornfield
23. “When we feel anger toward someone, we can consider that he or she is a being just like us, who has faced much suffering in life.” Jack Kornfield
24. “In our charade with ourselves we pretend that our war is not really war. We have changed the name of the War Department to the Defence Department and call a whole class of nuclear missiles Peacekeepers!” Jack Kornfield
25. “Within the mystery of life there is the infinite darkness of the night sky lit by distant orbs of fire, the cobbled skin of an orange that releases its fragrance to our touch, the unfathomable depths of the eyes of our lover. No creation story, no religious system can fully describe or explain this richness and depth. Mystery is so ever-present that no one can know for certain what will happen one hour from now.” Jack Kornfield
26. “Through practice, gently and gradually we can collect ourselves and learn how to be more fully with what we do.” Jack Kornfield
27. “Taking the one seat describes two related aspects of spiritual work. Outwardly, it means selecting one practice and teacher among all the possibilities, and inwardly, it means having the determination to stick with that practice through whatever difficulties and doubts arise until you have come to true clarity and understanding.” Jack Kornfield
28. “There is a web of life into which we are born, from which we can never fall.” Jack Kornfield
29. “Do not scratch when itched, nor shift when cramped, nor pause when tired.” Jack Kornfield
30. “The path of awakening begins with a step the Buddha called right understanding.” Jack Kornfield
31. “Never hurts to think too highly of a person; often they become ennobled and act better because of it.” Jack Kornfield
32. “The basic principle of spiritual life is that our problems become the very place to discover wisdom and love.” Jack Kornfield
33. “You must be present to win.” Jack Kornfield
34. “Our life is shaped and determined by our thoughts. Usually we are only half conscious of the way thoughts direct our life; we are lost in thoughts as if they are reality. We take our own mental creations quite seriously, endorsing them without reservation.” Jack Kornfield
35. “In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.” Jack Kornfield
I hope you enjoyed these Jack Kornfield Quotes On Success. Do let us know which one was your favorite in the comments section below.
