Heart Wisdom

The point of liberation is not to transcend this world, to find some peaceful bliss, to run away to some cave. The point of liberation is to see the mystery that’s here and now, the sense of the sacred, the imminence of life.

Gratitude is a gracious acknowledgment of all that sustains us, a bow to our blessings, great and small. Gratitude is the confidence in life itself. In it, we feel how the same force that pushes grass through cracks in the sidewalk can invigorate our own life.

Don’t think that the seeds that you plant won’t make a difference. With equanimity, with a peaceful heart and a vast mind, you water the seeds that matter. Feel yourself a part of this web of life, be carried by it—the web of goodness.

What these divisive times ask for more than anything else is an ability to listen with the heart. When we learn to listen deeply to one another, not only do we get to know and connect with others, but it changes us.

Wise effort—the effort to be present—can also be called an act of love, for it invites us to show up for this life with open arms, open awareness, and an open heart, and to see what’s true in the world around us. By becoming present with love, we discover it is the gateway to freedom and liberation.

How do we listen to each other when we’re so polarized? In this podcast we explore how when we meditate from a place of “don’t know mind” we start to realize our hearts are big enough to hold all the opposites.

Equanimity is often taught as a complement to the practices of lovingkindness and compassion because it’s understood in Buddhist psychology that if we only practice lovingkindness and compassion, we can mistakenly get attached to the way we think things are supposed...

We need something else. We need a whole other way of living with one another. Who you are is consciousness itself, is loving awareness. You’re not limited to your personality, to your body, to the beliefs of the society around you. You have a birthright of dignity and...

What is the peaceful heart? What keeps us from it? The near-enemy, the quality that masquerades as equanimity, is indifference. Indifference is a not-caring, it’s a withdrawal. It’s based on fear, it’s a pulling away from the world. True equanimity is being at peace...

In this post-election dharma talk from 2016, Jack offers spiritual sanctuary and human possibility to a zeitgeist of fear, anger, and uncertainty.

 Here is a talk I gave on racism and interdependence in 1993. The pursuit of racial justice is a most critical task, highlighted for us right now, and I offer teachings with humility and respect. Amidst the protests and pain, I am leaning in and learning. When I...

In this podcast, we discuss these 7 teachings of Atisha, the eleventh-century Indian sage: Explore the nature of timeless awareness. Don’t be swayed by outer circumstances. Be grateful to everyone. Consider all phenomena to be dreams. Don’t brood over the faults of...

 The term “amravati” translates to “the deathless.” It is that which goes beyond birth and death. We, like the Buddhist monk’s, have the ability to go out and offer a different vision to the world of birth and death. Turn your attention back to the one who knows, to...

One of the best things that we can do in difficult times like these is to go deep inside, deep into the timeless sense of self – a larger sense of self that is separate from our fear. How do we use the practices of mindfulness and meditation to navigate great...

In this episode we explore how the outer developments of humanity must be met with an inner development of consciousness. We talk about how meditation isn’t the place to get something, it’s a place to let things go and bring an openness to what you discover. In...

How can we live with a Bodhisattva heart in these hard times? You can choose to quiet your mind and tend your heart, and become the vastness that you really are, the loving awareness. The world needs you to add your voice and your heart, and to make a difference....

For this episode, we went back into the archives to just a few weeks after the events of 9/11 for a lesson on how we can better respond to fear, tragedy, and injustice by cultivating a peaceful heart.

In this dharma talk, we explore how we can overcome the obstacles of climate change by honoring our interconnectedness. The secret is that we have to tend the inner as well as the outer. There’s something about life that

In this dharma talk, we discuss why the winter solstice is the perfect time to start anew and let what truly matters in your heart come into the light. You can play with awareness itself, and with a lens of the heart you can start to see the beauty in everybody. We’re...

  In this dharma talk, we discuss how to bring loving-awareness to all our actions in life as we tie together the concepts of Right Livelihood and redemption. Right Livelihood is considered a part of the way to enlightenment most simply because it’s very hard to...

What aspect of ourselves has been with us before our first breath and is the last to go when we die? In this podcast we discuss the timeless witness that is always with us and how spiritual practice opens us to rest in this seat of awareness. The One Who Knows, in the...

In this dharma talk, we examine how to be in this human incarnation and navigate the river of impermanence. There’s a way in which we get enchanted by the world, by its needs, by what we’re supposed to be, by all the obligations that we have. We start to see that life...

In this dharma talk, fellow teacher Mark Coleman joins me for an exploration of ways that we can harmonize with impermanence by meeting change with an open heart. Yes, we are practicing meditation to reduce stress and become calm and focused. More than that though, we...

In this dharma talk, we examine  the seeds of lovingkindness and awareness that we plant through mindfulness and meditation practice. There is something in us that longs for a deep connection – with ourselves, with the world around us and with one another. The...

Who are we? In this dharma talk, we examine the mystery of identity and how meditation can open us up to the freedom of resting in timeless awareness. What is this life? What happens when we die? We explore the sacred questions that are, in some ways, the basis of...

In this episode of the Heart Wisdom Podcast, we explore the concept of dukkha (suffering), which is the Buddha’s First Noble Truth, and how we can open our hearts to all the joy and suffering of our incarnation. There’s a whole, huge category of dukkha, that is the...

In this special episode of the Heart Wisdom Podcast, we honor the life and wisdom of my early Vipassana teacher, S.N. Goenka. In every generation, there are a few visionary and profound masters who hold high the lamp of the Dharma to illuminate the world. Like the...

Poet Alison Luterman joins me and we take turns reading poetry and talking about the power of words and creativity. Alison Luterman is a poet, essayist and playwright. Her books include the poetry collections Desire Zoo, The Largest Possible Life, and See How We...

How do we live with climate change? How do we practice with it? How do we respond to it? In this talk we explore our deep connection to the natural world. We look at climate change through the lens of the Four Noble Truths.   Artwork: Flame-Shadow

This talk begins with a reflection on identity and the strangeness of being human in this particular incarnation. We investigate the different aspects of mindfulness, differentiating between mindfulness of attention and mindfulness of the vast mystery of life. We live...

Sometimes you need a story more than food. Sometimes to hear a story and sometimes to tell it. We all carry personal stories we long to write and family stories that haunt us. Of course, stories have value. As a teacher and storyteller, I have come to respect their...

Equanimity is the willingness to be in life, but to be spacious and open, to have a vast perspective and say, "Yes, here I am, showing up, caring and loving, but I’m not in control of this game." When we stop even for a moment, when we meditate, when we take a walk in...

How can we cultivate the qualities of mindful loving awareness? How do we listen to the pulse of the world? How do we listen to one another? Mindfulness becomes a gateway for our healing and liberation. This is a radical act. The Buddha said there is a healing that...

In this podcast I'm joined by Chade-Meng Tan for an exploration of how spiritual practice and the search inside ourselves can guide us through our human predicament. Chade-Meng Tan (Meng) is an award-winning engineer, international bestselling author, thought leader,...

As you practice in Dharma you get a sense that the allowing of things is what brings freedom. In this episode, we begin with a reflection on the paradoxical course of awakening laid out by The Buddha in the Satipatthana Sutta. We look at the path of liberation offered...

One of the important qualities of a meditative life, or opening one’s self to a spiritual dimension, is that it is an opening to beauty, an opening to some sense of rhythm and happiness in the world. To the extent that we can tend all of the parts of ourselves,...

Even in the most difficult times, it is possible to see something much bigger. We need to be able to envision another world—a world that is not ruled as much by greed or hatred or fear. It won’t change until we envision this. What level do you want to dance on? As Ram...

If the liberation of consciousness is the goal of spiritual practice, then why is it such a taboo to talk about actually reaching enlightenment in this life? We can unpack the concept of enlightenment by looking at the many enlightenments written about in Buddhist...

A conversation with Sylvia Boorstein around taking the Bodhisattva vow and staying in touch with our Buddha nature as we navigate our journey of awakening. As you sit, the unfinished business of your life comes – you start to become mindful of the things that are held...