Jack Kornfield Practice Quotations

Spiritual practice should not be confused with grim duty. It is the laughter of the Dalai Lama and the wonder born with every child.

No amount of meditation, yoga, diet, and reflection will make all of our problems go away, but we can transform our difficulties into our practice until little by little they guide us on our way.

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

We can bring our spiritual practice into the streets, into our communities, when we see each realm as a temple, as a place to discover that which is sacred.

The Sufis have a saying: "Praise Allah, and tie your camel to a post." This brings together both parts of practice: pray, yes, but also make sure that you do what is necessary in the world.

Samadhi doesn’t just come of itself; it takes practice.

A factor that greatly supports the opening of energy in practice is exercise and care of the physical body.

Meditation practice is neither holding on nor avoiding; it is a settling back into the moment, opening to what is there.

As we follow a genuine path of practice, our sufferings may seem to increase because we no longer hide from them or from ourselves. When we do not follow the old habits of fantasy and escape, we are left facing the actual problems and contradictions of our life.

Where we tended to be judgmental, we became more judgmental of ourselves in our spiritual practice.

In Buddhist practice, the outward and inward aspects of taking the one seat meet on our meditation cushion.

To learn to concentrate we must choose a prayer or meditation and follow this path with commitment and steadiness, a willingness to work with our practice day after day, no matter what arises.

Through practice, gently and gradually we can collect ourselves and learn how to be more fully with what we do.

The independence and rebelliousness of our adolescence offer us yet another quality essential to our practice; the insistence that we find out the truth for ourselves, accepting no one's word above our own experience.

There are many ways up the mountain and each of us must choose a practice that feels true to our heart.

All of spiritual practice is a matter of relationship: to ourselves, to others, to life's situations.

We need to learn how to honor and use a practice for as long as it serves us—which in most cases is a very long time—but to look at it as just that, a vehicle, a raft to help us cross through the waters of doubt, confusion, desire, and fear.

Wherever you are is the perfect place to awaken. This moment is the exact place to practice compassion and loving awareness. You have all the ingredients to breathe and find freedom just where you are.

The goal of practice is always to keep our beginner's mind.