Jack Kornfield, former forest monk in Thailand, shares hilarious personal stories from his time as a monk. He discusses living in a monastery, the teachings of Ajahn Chah, and the practice of surrender and balance. The podcast also explores the concepts of non-self, opening to truth, and deepening spiritual practice.
Embracing difficulties and surrendering to the present moment are essential aspects of a forest monk's life
Ajahn Chah's teachings focus on overcoming obstacles through direct experience and developing mindfulness in daily activities
Finding freedom and liberation comes from observing and letting go of attachments, desires, and fears in both formal meditation and daily life
Deep dives
Life as a Forest Monk
The podcast episode explores Jack Cornfield's life as a forest monk in a monastery in Thailand with his teacher Ajahn Chah in the early 1980s. It delves into the importance of surrender, embracing difficulties, and developing mindfulness in all activities. Ajahn Chah's teaching focuses on overcoming fear, sleepiness, doubts, and other obstacles through direct experience. The podcast highlights the significance of letting go of attachments and finding balance in practice, and emphasizes the understanding that liberation comes from within oneself rather than relying on external factors or fixed stages of enlightenment.
Ajahn Chah's Teaching Approach
Ajahn Chah's teaching approach is characterized by humor, directness, and honesty. He creates an environment of surrender, discipline, and impeccable mindfulness in the forest monastery. He encourages students to face their fears, work with difficulties, and develop clarity of insight. Ajahn Chah emphasizes not getting caught in concepts or fixed views, but rather observing the mind with balance. He sets practical challenges for his students to overcome their attachments and habits. His teaching style includes making fun of people's trips and creating situations for them to confront their patterns and learn from firsthand experience.
The Path to Freedom
Ajahn Chah's teachings emphasize the middle path and the importance of balance. He encourages mindfulness and reflection in daily life, rather than fixating on long periods of formal meditation. His teachings encourage acceptance of impermanence and the transitory nature of all things. Ajahn Chah teaches that liberation comes from fully experiencing and letting go of desires, doubts, and judgments. He emphasizes the importance of being present, observing the mind's tendencies, and not identifying with them. Ajahn Chah's teachings invite practitioners to develop a deep understanding and direct experience of reality.
Form and Letting Go
Ajahn Chah emphasizes the importance of working with forms and letting go of attachments. He teaches the value of discipline, mindfulness, and impeccability in daily life activities. Ajahn Chah encourages practitioners to pay attention to their attachments, desires, and fears, and to develop a practice of letting go. He emphasizes not being attached to external forms or rituals, but rather using them as tools for self-reflection and growth. Ajahn Chah's teaching encourages practitioners to find freedom by working with what comes up in their practice, both in formal meditation and in daily activities.
The End of Doubts and Liberation
Ajahn Chah's teachings offer a path to overcome doubts and find liberation. He encourages practitioners to be honest with themselves, to deeply investigate their own experiences, and to not rely on external validation. Ajahn Chah teaches that happiness and freedom come from being mindful, understanding the nature of suffering and impermanence, and developing insight. He emphasizes that true wisdom arises from direct observation and practice, rather than relying on concepts or stages of attainment. Ajahn Chah's teachings point to the potential for awakening that lies within each individual, and the importance of putting the teachings into practice in daily life.
In this riveting episode, Jack shares hilarious personal stories illuminating lessons from his life as a forest monk in Thailand.
"The spirt was you just did it, and you worked with whatever came up as your practice. Living the life of a monk meant taking what came to you and working with it, whether it was difficult or easy.” – Jack Kornfield
In this riveting episode, Jack dives into:
What it was like living as a forest monk in Thailand at Ajahn Chah's forest monastery
The wisdom he learned through experiencing Ajahn Chah's four-part teachings on surrender, opening up to see clearly, working with the mind, and gaining balance/perspective
The two levels of Dharma practice: using Dharma to feel comfortable, and using Dharma to get free
Ajahn Chah's rascally yet direct interactions with students, including one with Ram Dass
Working with attachments and aversions in order to overcome them and grow spiritually
Learning how to let go and not get caught in the mind's lures, traps, and intricacies
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This episode from Insight Meditation Society on 6/7/1981 was originally published on DharmaSeed.
"Meditation practice is where you are sitting. It's not to go to some other place, or have the ideal setting, or have your coffee, or have your quiet little room. Where you are is your practice." – Jack Kornfield
