Over the last 40 years, Jack Kornfield has been a significant force in bringing Buddhist practices to the United States. In 1967, he graduated from Dartmouth College, joined the Peace Corps, and was assigned to service in Thailand. Kornfield then trained as a Buddhist monk in the monasteries of Thailand, India, and Burma, studying under many influential teachers. After returning…
Dharma Teacher Josh Korda Reflects on What the Buddha Said about Social Connection
The three treasures are the path to the awakened mind, and they are that awakening itself. They point to the ultimate nature that is realized through practice, as well as to how that nature manifests in our practice and actualization, how we embody our understanding of the real nature of things. The Buddha, dharma, and sangha are the real activity…
I’ll never forget my astonishment when I heard the Tibetan teacher Nyshul Khen Rinpoche say, “Everything hangs on intention.” I thought, “Of course! Nothing happens without intention. It’s so crucial!” Wise intention is one of the steps of the Buddha’s eightfold path, and it might be the most important one. Wise intention is what keeps our lives heading in the…
As human beings, we all try our best to bring about a world based on kindness and compassion. What seems to go wrong, however, is that what I want, what I personally would like, becomes more important than the benefit of the whole community. Whether we look at religion, philosophy, science, development, or politics, wherever there has been human society…