Jack Kornfield
Jack Kornfield (born 1945) is a teacher in the vipassana movement of American Theravada Buddhism. He trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, Burma and India, including as a student of the Thai monk Ajahn Chah. He has taught meditation worldwide since around 1974.
Biography
After graduating from Dartmouth College in 1967, Kornfield joined the Peace Corps and was assigned to the Public Health Service in northeast Thailand, where there are several Buddhist forest monasteries. Here he met Ajahn Chah, who became his teacher. Upon returning to the United States in 1972, Kornfield co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, with Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein.
Kornfield holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Saybrook Institute. He is also a founding teacher of the Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre, California, where he currently lives.
Teachings
Kornfield's work has focused on integrating Eastern spiritual teachings in an accessible way for Western students.
Enlightenment and daily life
In his book "After the Ecstasy, the Laundry" the Western Buddhist writer Jack Kornfield writes of the realistic place of spiritual enlightenment in daily living; for instance "amid all the Western masters and teachers I know, such utter 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."
Books published
His books include
- Kornfield, Jack; Breiter, Paul (1 September 1985). A still forest pool: the insight meditation ::of Achaan Chah. Quest Books. ISBN 978-0-8356-0597-7. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- Feldman, Christina; Kornfield, Jack (1991). Stories of the spirit, stories of the heart: ::parables of the spiritual path from around the world. HarperSanFrancisco. ISBN ::978-0-06-250321-3. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- Kornfield, Jack (1 June 1993). A path with heart: a guide through the perils and promises of ::spiritual life. Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0-553-37211-3. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- Goldstein, Joseph; Kornfield, Jack (29 August 1995). The Path of Insight Meditation. Shambhala. ::ISBN 978-1-57062-069-0. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- Goldstein, Joseph; Kornfield, Jack (6 March 2001). Seeking the heart of wisdom: the path of ::insight meditation. Shambhala. ISBN 978-1-57062-805-4. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- Kornfield, Jack (2 October 2001). After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart Grows Wise on ::the Spiritual Path. Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-553-37829-0. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
Kornfield lectures were featured by Joe Frank on his radio series "The Other Side."
