Let yourself think of someone you care about. Picture them, remember them, see them in your mind's eye or hold them in your heart. Imagine their happiest moment as a child. Then begin to wish them well: "May you be joyful. May you remember the child of spirit that was born in you. May your joy increase. May the causes for happiness and joy grow stronger in your life." Then imagine this person wishing the same for you.

Visit www.jackkornfield.com for meditations, articles & other materials.

Joy (Mudita) Meditation - Jack Kornfield

Let the breath be natural. Let the heart be soft to receive whatever arises with compassion. Now with this embodied presence, begin to notice the play of your human experience—sensations, sounds, feelings and thoughts. Become the loving witness of it all.

Visit https://www.jackkornfield.com​​ for meditations, articles & other materials.

Calm, Clarity, Compassion Meditation — Jack Kornfield

Rumi poem, "Surrender," from Tara's talk on 2014-02-26. 
www.tarabrach.com

Rumi Poem - Surrender

In this talk, from the Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Jack Kornfield discusses how to navigate change in relation to the Buddhist concept of impermanence. He touches on the importance of meditation in cultivating a healthier perspective toward change. When we are quiet, we can rest in loving awareness and see our true nature from the heart of understanding. When we accept that change is inevitable, and find our composure in that knowledge, we can reenter the river of experience.

Jack Kornfield Heart Wisdom Hour - Ep. 01 - Impermanence

This 3 part series is based on a teaching story from the Upanishads that shows our potential to awaken from an ego-based trance and discover the full luminosity and freedom of our natural awareness.  In each class we'll explore one of the three gifts considered as essential on the spiritual path.  The first is the capacity to forgive, to let go of the blame and resentment that prevents our hearts from being open and free.  The second gift is "inner fire," the capacity to devote ourselves wholeheartedly to what we most cherish.  The third gift is a "mirror" or the capacity to look deeply into our own hearts and minds and realize the truth of who we are. Each class includes guided meditations that explore how these gifts can be nourished right here and now in our lives.

Three Liberating Gifts - Part 1 - Forgiveness - Tara Brach

Three Liberating Gifts - Part 2 - Inner Fire - TaraBrach

This 3 part series is based on a teaching story from the Upanishads that shows our potential to awaken from an ego-based trance and discover the full luminosity and freedom of our natural awareness. In each class we'll explore one of the three gifts considered as essential on the spiritual path. The first is the capacity to forgive, to let go of the blame and resentment that prevents our hearts from being open and free. The second gift is "inner fire," the capacity to devote ourselves wholeheartedly to what we most cherish. The third gift is a "mirror" or the capacity to look deeply into our own hearts and minds and realize the truth of who we are. Each class includes guided meditations that explore how these gifts can be nourished right here and now in our lives.

Three Liberating Gifts Part 3 - Looking In the Mirror - TaraBrach

The skillful use of inquiry - asking questions in a way that energizes and focuses our attention - brings what is hidden into the light of awareness. This talk explores the healing that arises as we investigate the unseen, unfelt parts of our psyche, and the freedom discovered as we look into the very essence of who we are.

Investigating Reality - TaraBrach

Meditation One: Establishing A Mindfulness Meditation Practice

Jack’s timeless wisdom leads the way as he responds to a handful of questions concerning some of the common struggles encountered on the human plane.

How can we be present with difficult situations without indulging the emotions? The problem often lies more in the narratives we tell about ourselves and others that perpetuate the suffering. We must be willing to allow the energies of life to rise and fall as they do, all the while expanding our capacity to feel without necessarily believing the storyline, which is often biased and untrue to begin with. In learning to be with our emotions we are better able to respond from a place of wisdom rather than an expectation of how it should be.

Taking time to recognize the distinction between wise and unskillful desire is a practical and effective method for addressing the root causes for much of our suffering. Through examining our impulses, we gain the perspective necessary to determine if the associated actions will ultimately increase our joy or our sorrow.

Jack reminds us that we don’t need to get rid of anything, we just have to remember who we really are and operate from that deeper self. The seeds we plant in the garden of the heart are not separate from us in their origin or their blossoming.

Jack Kornfield – Heart Wisdom - Ep. 46 - The Stories We Tell

Listen to an excerpt of Sharon Salzberg's REAL LOVE audiobook, read for you by the author.

You are a person worthy of love. You don't have to do anything to deserve all the love in the world.

Real Love is a creative tool kit of mindfulness exercises and meditation techniques that help you to truly engage with your present experience and create deeper love relationships with yourself, your partner, friends and family, and life itself.

Sharon Salzberg, a leading expert in Lovingkindness meditation, encourages us to strip away layers of negative habits and obstacles, helping us to experience authentic love based on direct experience rather than preconceptions. Across three sections Sharon explains how to dispel cultural and emotional habits and direct focused care and attention to recapture the essence of what it is to love and be loved.

With positive reflections and practices, Sharon teaches us how to shift the responsibilities of the love that we give and receive to rekindle the powerful healing force of true connection. By challenging myths perpetuated by popular culture, we can undo the limited definitions that reduce love to simply romance or passion and give the heart a much needed tune-up to connect ourselves to the truest experience of love in our daily lives.

Buy the audiobook

Real Love by Sharon Salzberg, audiobook excerpt

Meditation teacher, author, and clinical psychologist: Tara Brach has practiced and taught meditation for over 40 years, with an emphasis on vipassana (mindfulness or insight) meditation. Tara is a teacher and founder of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington. A clinical psychologist, Tara is the author of Radical Acceptance, True Refuge, Radical Compassion, and Trusting the Gold. Her podcasts are downloaded over 2 million times a month.