Jack Kornfield
| Jack Kornfield | |
|---|---|
Jack Kornfield, 2005
|
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| School | Theravada |
| Personal | |
| Born | July 16, 1945 United States |
| Senior posting | |
| Title | Vipassana Meditation Teacher |
| Religious career | |
| Website | JackKornfield.com |
Jack Kornfield (born July 16, 1945) is a bestselling American author and teacher in the vipassana movement in American Theravada Buddhism.[1] He trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, Burma and India,[2] 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.
Biography
Kornfield is one of four boys[3] born to Jewish parents.[4]
After graduating from Dartmouth College in Asian Studies in 1967,[5] Kornfield joined the Peace Corps and was sent to Thailand.[3] There he met and became a monk under the renowned forest master Ajahn Chah, and later practiced with Mahasi Sayadaw of Burma.[5] Upon returning to the United States, Kornfield co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts,[3] with Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein in 1975. In 1974 he became a founding faculty member of Naropa Buddhist University. In 1987 he co-founded Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre, California.[3]
Kornfield has trained many of the Vipassana teachers in America, and hosted and led gatherings for Buddhist teachers together with the Dalai Lama and worldwide. Trained with a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Saybrook Institute,[6] Kornfield has written extensively on the bridge between Eastern and Western psychology.
His daughter Caroline is a graduate of Berkeley Law[3] and practices Asylum Law. His ex-wife Liana is an artist and therapist.[3] His partner Trudy Goodman is the founding teacher of InsightLA.
Teachings
Kornfield has worked to make Buddhism accessible for Westerners.[7] He has focused on combining loving kindness and self compassion with the practice of mindfulness, and incorporating together the wisdom of Eastern and Western psychology.
In Jack Kornfield's book After the Ecstasy, the Laundry, he writes about the honest development of the wise heart within the cycles of day-to-day life; for instance "amid all the Western masters and teachers I know, some idealistic perfection is not apparent. Times of great wisdom, deep compassion, and a real knowing of freedom alternate with periods of fear, confusion, neurosis, and struggle. Most teachers will readily admit this."[8]
Books published
His books include
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Kornfield lectures were featured by Joe Frank on his radio series "The Other Side."
References
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External links
- Jack Kornfield audio from the DIY Dharma website
- The Eightfold Path for the Householder from the Urban Dharma website
