Jack Kornfield shares his wisdom on why it’s important to focus on well-being, even during times of strife.
In this conversation, the acclaimed author of books like A Path with Heart and The Wise Heart offers up his perspective on suffering and what we can do to maintain our caring heart, using practices honed over thousands of years from traditional wisdom traditions. Many of these have been validated by researchers studying the new science of personal and social well-being, suggesting an interesting confluence between ancient traditions and modern science.
Greater Good is part of a new movement in Western psychology toward positive states, drawing on capacities built into the ancient wisdom traditions of the world. Buddhist psychology is the opposite of the medical model of Western psychology, which focuses on diagnosing and healing pathology. Buddhist psychology is focused on human well-being and offers practical ways to build joy, caring, compassion, a peaceful heart, a liberated spirit, and an inner sense of freedom among the vicissitudes of life.
Modern neuroscience confirms that we can learn to steady our attention, quiet our minds, and open our hearts in a systematic way. Simple practices of mindfulness, gratitude, forgiveness, joy, and compassion positively affect our health and well-being, and beneficially affect all those that we touch. These states are our birthright; they are possible for us as human beings.
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