Ep. 196 – The Art of Paying Attention

Illuminating the art of paying attention, Jack shares hilarious stories and mindful insights around how we can let go into the present.

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"To learn the art of paying attention requires some practice, that we learn how to sit and steady ourselves, to steady our bodies, and listen with a steadiness of heart, to actually be with what is here in our experience—pleasant and unpleasant, beautiful and ugly. That's what sitting is about, really, is to sit and be with the 10,000 joys and 10,000 sorrows, to see them, feel them, and let ourselves be as we are." – Jack Kornfield

In this episode, Jack artfully illuminates:

• How your spiritual path is truly in your own hands; other's can point the way, but you must walk it
• The Buddha's four aspects of Right Effort
• Learning the art of paying attention, and applying this to sit with life's 10,000 joys and sorrows
• The Samurai way of going through the path of fire
• Jack's hilarious personal experience solving koans on Zen retreats
• Letting go into the present moment (while still acting in the world)

"As one Zen master says, 'Just put it down, put everything down. Just be here and forget about the past and future. That's enough.'" – Jack Kornfield

This Dharma talk from March 13, 1989 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on DharmaSeed

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