Quote

The first level of practice is illuminated by the qualities of courage and renunciation.

Jack Kornfield

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Jack Kornfield
Age: 79
Born: 1945
Born: July 16
Author
Psychologist
Writer
the United States of America
Level
Courage
Levels
Quality
Practice
Firsts
Illuminated
First
Renunciation
Qualities

More quotes by Jack Kornfield

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Compassion for ourselves gives rise to the power to transform resentment into forgiveness, hatred into friendliness, and fear into respect for all beings.
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Taking the one seat describes two related aspects of spiritual work. Outwardly, it means selecting one practice and teacher among all the possibilities, and inwardly, it means having the determination to stick with that practice through whatever difficulties and doubts arise until you have come to true clarity and understanding.
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The near enemy of love is attachment. Attachment masquerades as love. It says, “I will love this person because I need them.” Or, “I’ll love you if you’ll love me back. I’ll love you, but only if you will be the way I want.” This isn’t love at all - it is attachment - and attachment is rigid, it is very different from love.
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When we take time to quiet ourselves, we can all sense that our life could be lived with greater compassion and greater weakness.
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Those who are Awake live in a state of constant amazement.
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Though outer events may be difficult, the key to our happiness is how our mind responds to them.
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When we come into the present, we begin to feel the life around us again, but we also encounter whatever we have been avoiding. We must have the courage to face whatever is present - our pain, our desires, our grief, our loss, our secret hopes our love - everything that moves us most deeply.
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We need energy, commitment, and courage not to run from our life nor to cover it over with any philosophy—material or spiritual.
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We have so many ideas and beliefs about ourselves. We told ourselves story about what we want and who we are, smart or kind. Often these are the unexamined and limited ideas of others that we have internalized and then gone on to life out.
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To bow to the fact of our life's sorrows and betrayals is to accept them and from this deep gesture we discover that all life is workable. As we learn to bow, we discover that the heart holds more freedom and compassion than we could imagine.
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Life without forgiveness is unbearable.
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There are several different kinds of painful feelings that we might experience, and learning to distinguish and relate to these feelings of discomfort or pain is an important part of meditation practice, because it is one of the very first things that we open to as our practice develops.
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Do not doubt your own basic goodness. In spite of all confusion and fear, you are born with a heart that knows what is just, loving, and beautiful.
Jack Kornfield
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To see the preciousness of all things, we must bring our full attention to life
Jack Kornfield
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True emptiness is not empty, but contains all things. The mysterious and pregnant void creates and reflects all possibilities. From it arises our individuality, which can be discovered and developed, although never possessed or fixed.
Jack Kornfield
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What we seek is what we are.
Jack Kornfield
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We have only now, only this single eternal moment opening and unfolding before us, day and night.
Jack Kornfield
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With growing awareness, you can see where you're caught or where you suffer or where you create suffering. You can then turn toward the difficulties that arise in your life with compassion, bow, and say, these too are part of human incarnation.
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As we step out of the way new things are born.
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In this world there are two great sources of strength. One rests with those who are not afraid to kill. The other rests with those who are not afraid to love.
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