Jack Kornfield

Jack Kornfield has taught meditation worldwide since 1974, and is a founding teacher of the Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre, California, where he teaches and lives with his wife and daughter. He is considered to be one of the vital figures in introducing Theravada Buddhism to the West, and he has been instrumental in popularizing the practice of meditation.

Jack Kornfield graduated from Dartmouth College in 1967 and joined the Peace Corps. He was assigned to northeast Thailand, to help with the Public Health Service. This area of Thailand is home to some of the world’s oldest Buddhist forest meditation monasteries and Kornfield was drawn to them. He began studies with the Venerable Ajahn Chah, and remained to learn from him for many years. He also studied in Burma and India. Returning to the United States in 1972, Jack Kornfield co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts with meditation teachers Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein.

Jack Kornfield’s work integrates the Eastern spiritual teachings, especially those of Theravada Buddhism, with Western thought and language. His gift is his ability to translate Buddhist principles into readily understood teachings that are accessible for Western students and Western society. It helps, no doubt, that Kornfield also holds a PhD in clinical psychology and has been a practicing psychotherapist. “What people have found is that there are wonderful awakenings, mystical experiences, and profound understandings that occur in the course of practice, but these need to be integrated into everyday life or they fade. That integration is how the spiritual path matures for individuals. The generation that came to Eastern spirituality in the 1960s and 1970s was very idealistic. We thought that satori, or enlightenment, would change everything. But there’s no enlightened retirement. After the ecstasy, there’s still your family. You still have to do the laundry.”

Jack Kornfield’s books have been popular and influential. Several of them have been bestsellers, and are responsible for introducing many people to the tenets of Buddhism. They include A Path With Heart, After the Ecstasy, The Laundry, Seeking the Heart of Wisdom, A Still Forest Pool, and Stories of The Spirit, Stories of the Heart.

At the Spirit Rock Center, vipassana, or mindful awareness, is at the heart of every activity. Kornfield teaches with the other 20 members of the Spirit Rock Teacher’s Council. All the teachers are dedicated to ongoing study and dharma. They are constantly in the process of deepening their understanding and embodiment of the Buddha’s teachings. Each Spirit Rock teacher has studied and taught meditation for over 20 years, and many have trained in the monasteries of Asia. They receive four to six years of teacher training with the study of Buddhist texts and many hours of meditation practice. The center presents classes, daylong programs, and retreats.

Besides teaching and leading retreats at the Spirit Rock Center, Kornfield also speaks and teaches around the country, including the Omega Institute, The Insight Meditation Society, the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, and the Mosaic Mendocino Retreat.