684 Jack Kornfield — How to Reduce Anxiety and Polish the Lens of Consciousness
This is a OPEN AI summary of the Tim Ferriss Podcast #684- visit www.TinyTim.blog for more AI summaries, or www.Tim.blog for the official Tim Ferriss Podcasts.
Jack Kornfield is a world-renowned Buddhist teacher and author who trained as a monk in Thailand, India, and Burma. He has been teaching meditation internationally since 1974 and is one of the key teachers to have introduced Buddhist mindfulness practice to the West. Jack is the co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock Center, and is currently involved in several projects including Cloudsangha.co and the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification program. His books have been translated into 22 languages and have sold roughly two million copies. In this episode, Tim Ferriss and Jack Kornfield discuss Stan Grof, a Czech-born physician and psychiatrist who was the last legitimate LSD researcher in the 1970s. Grof's research changed his life and led him to collaborate with Kornfield at Esalen for many years.
Stanislav Grof is a psychiatrist who developed holotropic breathwork, a technique that allows people to reach profound open states using breath. This technique is based on his experiences in a monastery in Burma, where he learned about intense deep breathing. In a holotropic breathwork session, people lie down and breathe deeply and rapidly for an hour or two, often accompanied by music. The experience can be powerful and intense, with people sometimes reliving traumas or having ecstatic experiences. The goal of the breathwork is to allow people to access the vastness of their inner selves, which is often hidden away in everyday life. This can lead to profound insights and understanding, as well as increased creativity and freedom.
In this conversation, Jack Kornfield and Tim Ferriss discuss the scope of Stan Grof's experience with LSD sessions, as well as the experience of holotropic breathwork. Kornfield describes the eight types of yogic swoons, and Ferriss describes his own experiences with alternative states of consciousness.
In this conversation, Jack Kornfield and Tim Ferriss discuss the nature of consciousness. Kornfield describes consciousness as the creative principle that creates all things, and explains that we are all a part of that. He also talks about how knowing this can help us to play our part in the world more effectively.
Humans need stories to make sense of the world and their place in it. Without stories, we would be lost in the mystery of life.
In this conversation, Tim Ferriss and Jack Kornfield discuss the importance of stories and how they give meaning to our lives. Kornfield talks about the Buddhist concept of "emptiness" and how it is not necessarily a bad thing. He also talks about the importance of having a "dont-know mind" and being open to new experiences. Ferriss and Kornfield discuss how stories can be used to create suffering or joy, and how ultimately it is up to us to choose which story we want to tell.
Stanislav Grof's book "The Cosmic Game" explores the nature of reality and our place in it. Drawing on data from 5,000 LSD sessions, Grof shows how our world is manufactured in some way, and what we can learn from it. The book is meaningful because it addresses the big questions of who we are and why we are here.
The Buddha was enlightened by the Indian god Mara, who appeared to him in the form of greed, fear, and hatred. The Buddha then touched the Earth and said that humans have the right to see clearly without delusion or doubt. Mara appeared again after the Buddha's enlightenment, but the Buddha simply looked at him and said, "I see you, Mara." Mara then slunk away.
In order to deal with anxiety, it is important to first get comfortable with uncertainty. This can be done by grounding oneself in the present moment and questioning one's thoughts. It is also helpful to find where the anxiety is located in the body and to ask it what stories it tells.
In this excerpt, Jack Kornfield talks about what it means to be a mystic. A mystic is someone who is interested in vast spiritual experiences and understanding. Kornfield says that we all have the potential to be mystics, and that mysticism is not just relegated to the realm of religion. Mysticism is about the direct experience of the mystery, or the opening to it.
In this excerpt, Jack Kornfield describes the jhna practice, a type of meditation that involves focusing on one thing (such as the breath) to the point of single-minded concentration. This practice can lead to inner forms of light appearing.
Jack Kornfield describes how to enter into deep states of concentration and stillness, where one can see or listen more deeply and access vast realms of consciousness. He explains that the purpose of training to enter into these states is twofold: to develop skills in navigating one's consciousness and mind, and to gain access to information that is otherwise hidden from view.
Jack Kornfield discusses the different types of states that can be achieved through meditation and other spiritual practices. He notes that not everyone is able to achieve these states, and that some people may dedicate years of practice without ever experiencing them. Kornfield emphasizes that enlightenment is not about having experiences, but about understanding or being.
Jack Kornfield talks about how the game is not about experiences, it's about who you are as consciousness. He says that enlightenment is not about having a lot of spiritual experiences, it's about love. He talks about how we need to direct our attention to body, emotions, relationships, and thoughts to become wise.
Jack Kornfield talks about how we can learn to love and be kind to others, and how this can be the best expression of enlightenment. He also talks about how shamans in almost every culture are considered to be troublemakers, and how we should be cautious of them if they call themselves shamans.
Jack Kornfield talks about some of the wisest people he has met, including his guru Nisargadatta Maharaj. He describes Maharaj as a "pretty wise cat" who taught him that wisdom comes from understanding that one is both nothing and everything. Kornfield also talks about Tim Ferriss' question about the most reliable approaches for eliciting the experience of non-self. He suggests that psychedelics can be powerful tools for this but cautions that they should be used with discretion.
Atisha's instructions for wisdom are to consider all experiences to be dreams, be grateful to everyone, let suffering teach you compassion, don't be swayed by outer circumstances, and don't brood over the faults of others.
In his poem "A Brief for the Defense," Jack Gilbert argues that we must not let the suffering of the world keep us from enjoying our own lives. He suggests that if we deny our happiness, we are effectively praising the devil.
Community is important for our well-being, and Cloud Sangha is a company that helps people connect with others who are working on similar themes in their lives.
The Cloud Sangha community offers support and guidance for those seeking to improve their mindful awareness. Through weekly teachings and guided meditations, members of the community can learn from each other and deepen their practice. The focus is on applying mindfulness in everyday life, rather than on the specific type of practice being followed. This allows members to benefit from the collective wisdom of the group and to find support in times of need.
Ram Dass was a close friend of Jack Kornfield for many years. He was originally a professor at Harvard, but after taking LSD and meeting his guru in India, he became known as Baba Ram Dass. One of his favorite early stories is when he was teaching a crowd and a woman in the front row asked him if he was still Jewish. He replied that he was only Jewish on his parents side. Seva Foundation was started by Ram Dass and it has helped combat blindness in Nepal and India for 6 million people. Towards the end of his life, he became more loving and would tell people that he loved everything. Krishna Das, a student of their guru, said that in the end, Ram Dass became the person they thought he was when he first returned from India.
Ram Dass and Jack Kornfield discuss Ram Dass's life and work, including his journey from Harvard professor to spiritual teacher. They also talk about his book Be Here Now, and how it has helped people to accept death and aging.
Jack Kornfield and Tim Ferriss discuss the idea of the "servant" and how common the term is in Buddhism. They also talk about how people can be connected to each other and to the world around them in ways that they may not expect. Finally, they talk about how people can use their grief and despair to empower themselves and others to make positive change in the world.
In this conversation, Jack Kornfield talks about the importance of compassion and empathy. He explains that when we see someone suffering, the first step is to feel with them. However, compassion goes a step further by empowering us to reach out and help in whatever way we can. Kornfield encourages people to celebrate rather than view compassion as a grim duty.
In the podcast, Tim Ferriss interviews Jack Kornfield about compassion. Kornfield stresses the importance of feeling compassion for others and oneself, and of taking action to show compassion.
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