Speaker 1: Pushkin. Hey, y'all's justin Richmond. This is a very different
Speaker 1: episode of Broken Record. We're of course continuing to drop
Speaker 1: regular music episodes on Tuesdays, and last week we even
Speaker 1: dropped a bonus episode with John Legend for you guys,
Speaker 1: but we wanted to break format real quick to bring
Speaker 1: you an episode that could maybe help alleviate a lot
Speaker 1: of the fear and anxiety we're feeling right now. This
Speaker 1: is Rick Rubin talking with his friend Jack Cornfield. Jack
Speaker 1: is a world renown Buddhist and meditation teacher. He's long
Speaker 1: been one of the most influential figures in American Buddhism,
Speaker 1: and he agreed to connect with Rick via zoom to
Speaker 1: guide him and you through a couple of different meditations.
Speaker 1: We hope you find these useful and visit these guide
Speaker 1: meditations as frequently as you need. I know for me,
Speaker 1: I've been doing these a couple of times a day
Speaker 1: and has really been helping. So we hope you enjoy
Speaker 1: and be well. This is Broken Record liner notes for
Speaker 1: the digital Age. I'm justin Richmond. Here's Rick Rubin with
Speaker 1: Jack Hornfield. This is unusual because typically in this space
Speaker 1: we talk only about music and it seemed like in
Speaker 1: this moment, it might be helpful to people to have
Speaker 1: something to soothe them in this time of crisis. Many
Speaker 1: people are at home with a lot of thoughts in
Speaker 1: their heads and dealing with an unusual stress that none
Speaker 1: of us are prepared for. And I thought, who do
Speaker 1: I know who has tools that might be helpful? And
Speaker 1: the first person that came to mind was you, Jack
Speaker 1: well as a good friend and somebody who's worked with
Speaker 1: you on creative projects. I'm really happy that we're connecting together.
Speaker 1: This feels like a critical time for the music of
Speaker 1: the heart as well as the music of the voice
Speaker 1: and instruments. We actually need to find and sense how
Speaker 1: we can keep making music in our life during this
Speaker 1: outer crisis. Beautiful, So any suggestions for those of us
Speaker 1: who are struggling in this moment, Well, let me talk
Speaker 1: a little bit and then lead a meditation and maybe
Speaker 1: talk a little more ley another meditation than you and
Speaker 1: I can dialogue as well, and anytime you want to
Speaker 1: break in and ask something. This is a spontaneous conversation.
Speaker 1: The Sufis call it a so bad, which is a
Speaker 1: conversation of the heart where we're talking heart to heart
Speaker 1: to one another. And it seems to me in this
Speaker 1: time that we have a choice. Epidemics, earthquakes, tornado's floods,
Speaker 1: they happen periodically. They're part of the cycle of life
Speaker 1: on earth. The question is how do we respond. If
Speaker 1: we respond with greed or hatred, fear and ignorance, it
Speaker 1: increases the suffering. If we respond with generosity, clarity, steadiness,
Speaker 1: and love, it's a whole different game. And it seems
Speaker 1: more than anything that this is the time for love.
Speaker 1: The image in the Buddhist teachings is of the Bodhisatva,
Speaker 1: who someone that's vows or is committed to alleviate suffering
Speaker 1: and bring blessings and benefits no matter what the circumstances.
Speaker 1: A Bodhisata lives with courage and dignity and radiates a
Speaker 1: kind of compassion or whatever they touch. Now, you know,
Speaker 1: you might hear this as a sort of metaphor and
Speaker 1: old archetype, but it's not. As Boists were now asked
Speaker 1: to hold a certain measure of the tragedy of the
Speaker 1: world in our hearts and respond with love. And the
Speaker 1: bodhisattva path is in front of us and around us,
Speaker 1: and we can see it all around, who see bodhisattvas
Speaker 1: being singing from their balcony to those shut inside or
Speaker 1: in young neighbors who are caring for the elders nearby,
Speaker 1: or the healthcare workers who go in in spite of
Speaker 1: the dangers, or the unheralded ones who simply stock the
Speaker 1: shelves of our grocery stores and truck the food so
Speaker 1: that we can all still have the you know, the
Speaker 1: sustenance to live. It is a very very hard time
Speaker 1: for all of us. As a father, if my daughter
Speaker 1: called me and said, Daddie, I need you, I would
Speaker 1: fly anywhere on the earth to help her, to protect her.
Speaker 1: But now she and her firefighter husband who's also a paramedic,
Speaker 1: and my little grandson who's a year and a half old,
Speaker 1: await the virus. His urban fire department, like many hospitals
Speaker 1: and first responders, doesn't have masks, and eighty percent of
Speaker 1: their work is emergency medical calls, and they all expect
Speaker 1: to get the virus, and they won't be tested because
Speaker 1: the department can't afford to lose too many of their firefighters.
Speaker 1: So I pause, and I say, what can I do?
Speaker 1: What can we do? Because we all have aging parents,
Speaker 1: or children that we care about, or friends and so forth.
Speaker 1: In this moment, we need to sit quietly and take
Speaker 1: a deep breath and acknowledge all the feelings, the fears
Speaker 1: and apprehensions, the uncertainty, the helplessness, and hold all these
Speaker 1: feelings with the compassionate heart. We can say to all
Speaker 1: these feelings, to the uncertainty and the fears, thank you
Speaker 1: for trying to protect me. We can sense them and
Speaker 1: then respond, I'm okay for now. Or we can imagine
Speaker 1: taking our fears and putting them in the lap of
Speaker 1: Mother Mary or the Buddha or kwanyin the goddess of
Speaker 1: infinite compassion, or place them in the hearts and hands
Speaker 1: of the generations of brave physicians and scientists who tended
Speaker 1: the world informer epidemics. When we do this, we can
Speaker 1: feel ourselves part of something greater, a connection with the
Speaker 1: generations of survivors in the vast web of history and
Speaker 1: life being carried, as the ojibwe elders say, by great
Speaker 1: winds across the sky. This is a time of mystery
Speaker 1: and uncertainty, and it helps just to pause and take
Speaker 1: a deep breath, because the veils of separation are parting,
Speaker 1: and we see the reality of interconnection apparent to everyone
Speaker 1: on this earth. We've needed this pause, perhaps even needed
Speaker 1: our isolation to see how much we need one another.
Speaker 1: So as we do, and I'll lead a meditation that
Speaker 1: helps us to do this, we can begin to realize
Speaker 1: that it's also time for us to add our part.
Speaker 1: The body satwa deliberately turns towards the suffering around to
Speaker 1: serve and help those in whatever way they can. And
Speaker 1: this is the test we've all been waiting for. We
Speaker 1: know how to do this as human beings. So we'll
Speaker 1: talk about this and the kind of direction and bow.
Speaker 1: But with these words to start with, I'd like to
Speaker 1: invite those who listen to do a meditation. Is that
Speaker 1: all right, Rick? Yes? Please? So if wherever you're listening
Speaker 1: in this case, I'm assuming you're probably not driving, hopefully
Speaker 1: safe and sequestered at home, let yourself say it in
Speaker 1: a way that's comfortable and stable, your eyes closed gently,
Speaker 1: and bring your attention just here and now land back
Speaker 1: in your body. You know, your feet on the earth,
Speaker 1: and as you return to the body that you've been given,
Speaker 1: which is really the body of the earth Earth, come alive.
Speaker 1: Notice what you find without loving awareness, you likely will
Speaker 1: find tension in the body, contractions, the responses of fight
Speaker 1: flight or freeze of fear, the accumulation of the stress
Speaker 1: that we've all been under. As you pay attention to
Speaker 1: your body and to all the contractions, hot, cold, tensions
Speaker 1: and pains, let them be held in a loving awareness,
Speaker 1: without resistance, without judgment, with a kind presence of attention,
Speaker 1: and you'll notice that your body responds to this caring attention.
Speaker 1: As you feel what's present and make space with loving awareness,
Speaker 1: things can intensify, move change, and gradually soften. To help
Speaker 1: this even further, bring in the quality of compassion of
Speaker 1: a tender heart, and say to your body, thank you
Speaker 1: for trying to protect me all the contractions and the
Speaker 1: tensions or ways your body has to ward off and
Speaker 1: protect you. Thank you for this. I'm okay right now,
Speaker 1: thank you. You can release and relax and return into
Speaker 1: the earth the tensions, the pains, let the breath deepen
Speaker 1: in the space of loving awareness, open and now bring
Speaker 1: your attention to the area of your heart and notice
Speaker 1: what feelings are present. There might be sadness or grief,
Speaker 1: worry and anxiety or fear. There might be tears, longing, regret, helplessness.
Speaker 1: There might also be tenderness and love, courage. Tune in
Speaker 1: and let yourself acknowledge what you feel in your heart,
Speaker 1: what's being carried as we go through this crisis together.
Speaker 1: You can know and acknowledge the feelings that are present,
Speaker 1: almost as if with a about you can name them
Speaker 1: softly whispered oh, sadness or fear, longing, anger. Whatever is
Speaker 1: present can be named tenderness and love as well. And
Speaker 1: as you name the feelings that are present, allow them
Speaker 1: to open in the space of your loving awareness, without judgment,
Speaker 1: without resistance. Just let them be and let them open
Speaker 1: as they need to, even stronger if that's what happens.
Speaker 1: Give them the space. Let your loving awareness be the
Speaker 1: space in the heart can let go layer by layer
Speaker 1: and open and again bring in the quality of compassion
Speaker 1: that tenderness toward all these feelings you've been carrying. And
Speaker 1: as you've named and acknowledge them, as if to bow
Speaker 1: to them, you can say thank you, thank you for
Speaker 1: trying to protect me and care for me. Thank you
Speaker 1: worry and fear, sadness, And as you acknowledge them with gratitude,
Speaker 1: thank you. You can also say I'm okay right now,
Speaker 1: thank you, I'm all right, And make space for these
Speaker 1: feelings to open and soften and dissipate in whatever they will,
Speaker 1: whatever way they will. And now go to your mind,
Speaker 1: all the plans and thoughts, the regrets, the analyzing, the worries,
Speaker 1: all of it. They're trying to figure it out, when
Speaker 1: much of this is really a mystery unknown. And again
Speaker 1: you can acknowledge what's present as if we're about racing mind, confusion,
Speaker 1: worried thoughts, planning, and as you whisper the name of
Speaker 1: what's present, allow it to be held acknowledge respectfully in
Speaker 1: the vast space of loving awareness. And notice what happens
Speaker 1: as you bring this kind attention to the states of mind,
Speaker 1: How they too can open, intensify, expand, and like clouds,
Speaker 1: begin to soften and dissipate in the vastness of your
Speaker 1: loving awareness. Thank them, say thank you for trying to
Speaker 1: protect me, for trying to help and care for me.
Speaker 1: I can use you, I can use thinking when it's needed.
Speaker 1: But the overactive, overworried, overtired, overstimulated mind, thank you, You've
Speaker 1: done your job. I'm okay right now, Thank you, And
Speaker 1: feel how you are okay, just where you are present, gracious,
Speaker 1: bring in the compassion. Compassion for this overworked and troubled mind,
Speaker 1: a tenderness held in loving awareness and compassion. Let the
Speaker 1: mind settle, and now let yourself feel seated here on
Speaker 1: the earth in this remarkable human incarnation, a growing steadiness
Speaker 1: and simplicity. This is the time to steady the heart,
Speaker 1: begin to trust that you can be present for all
Speaker 1: that arises, and hold it in the great heart of
Speaker 1: compassion and loving awareness. And notice now that all the
Speaker 1: things you've been experiencing, the word that you hear, the
Speaker 1: sensations of the body, the emotions and thoughts, they've all
Speaker 1: been received by consciousness, by awareness itself. This is who
Speaker 1: you really are, the timeless consciousness that was borne into
Speaker 1: your body, that will leave your body when you die.
Speaker 1: You are not this physical body, although you are graced
Speaker 1: to have it. You are not the passing emotions and thoughts.
Speaker 1: Rest back in the vast open space of loving awareness.
Speaker 1: It is who you really are, the witness to all things.
Speaker 1: When a child is born, our first gesture is one
Speaker 1: of love. We love them. When a dear one dies,
Speaker 1: our last response is to hold their hands and offer
Speaker 1: a gesture of love. This is all that matters. Timeless
Speaker 1: love and awareness is who you really are, from the beginning,
Speaker 1: in the middle, right now, and in the end. Trust yourself.
Speaker 1: Trust that you have the capacity to be present for
Speaker 1: this life, with its joys and its sorrows, its unbearable
Speaker 1: beauty in the ocean of tears. You have within you
Speaker 1: the great heart of compassion, the wisdom of loving awareness.
Speaker 1: Rest in it, Relax into it. It is your refuge,
Speaker 1: it is your home. Now when you're ready, let your
Speaker 1: eyes open again gently and let yourself sense how it's
Speaker 1: possible for you to be present for all the tensions
Speaker 1: and the difficult emotions and the stories in the mind,
Speaker 1: and not be so caught up in them that you
Speaker 1: become the wise one, the loving witness, with a steadiness
Speaker 1: and a courage. This is the time to steady yourself,
Speaker 1: and it affects everyone else. Many of you will have
Speaker 1: heard the words of Zenmaster Tikno on when the crowded
Speaker 1: Vietnamese refugee boats met with storms or pirates. If everyone panicked,
Speaker 1: all would be lost. But if even one person on
Speaker 1: the boat remains steady and calm, it was enough. It
Speaker 1: showed the way for everyone to survive. And you know
Speaker 1: who that one person is, don't you? In your family,
Speaker 1: in your community, in this world, you have this capacity
Speaker 1: and to quiet yourself, to steady, to quiet the mind
Speaker 1: and tend the heart every day gives you the grounding
Speaker 1: and presence reminds you of the courage and dignity you
Speaker 1: have to move through the with the tears and the
Speaker 1: humor that's everywhere. And you can be a beacon, a
Speaker 1: medicine of the heart for all you touch. So, Rick,
Speaker 1: I'd like to pause here and maybe have a little dialogue,
Speaker 1: and then I have some more things to add and
Speaker 1: another meditation perhaps, but I want to check in with
Speaker 1: you and see how this practice was for you. It
Speaker 1: really helped me if I felt my whole body change
Speaker 1: and lighten and relax. And when we talked about the heart,
Speaker 1: there was a sense of a protection and like a
Speaker 1: closing down that opened and blossomed as he was speaking.
Speaker 1: And I think I'm going to listen to those words
Speaker 1: every day from now on until until things come back
Speaker 1: to more of a sense of normalcy. We thank you.
Speaker 1: It was a little long, I don't know, maybe fifteen
Speaker 1: minutes or something, and of course none of this is planned.
Speaker 1: We're all actually living by brail, trying to feel our
Speaker 1: way through this crisis with the best wisdom and care
Speaker 1: we can. But if people want to relisten to it,
Speaker 1: it's wonderful to take time in whatever way you can,
Speaker 1: to pause and quiet the mind and tend the heart
Speaker 1: and ground the body. So helpful, beautiful. It really changes everything,
Speaker 1: just that we realize that how powerful the mind is,
Speaker 1: and how when confronted with these situations, how reactive we become,
Speaker 1: and to be able to just step aside for a
Speaker 1: moment and reset and reground and started new when we
Speaker 1: come back after the words, it seems to make us
Speaker 1: stronger in dealing with the difficulty. Yes, yeah, it does,
Speaker 1: certainly does. For me. I know it in the morning.
Speaker 1: It's a way to steady myself for the day I had.
Speaker 1: At the end of the day, it's a way of
Speaker 1: releasing the tensions and all the emotions that get touched
Speaker 1: by all of us are communicating in this electronic web.
Speaker 1: We can't hold each other's hands, but we're connecting in
Speaker 1: other ways that we're desperate for. We can't do this alone.
Speaker 1: We need one another and at the end of the
Speaker 1: day to settle down and reconnect with my own body
Speaker 1: and heart and mind. I find really helpful beautiful. I
Speaker 1: have a friend who made a suggestion speaking to what
Speaker 1: you mentioned about not having touch. Getting a really soft
Speaker 1: blanket and wrapping yourself in a soft blanket and experiencing
Speaker 1: the feeling of the blanket on your skin can really
Speaker 1: stimulate that the touch sense and give us a sense
Speaker 1: of comfort. I like that image very much, and the blanket.
Speaker 1: I think of Linus's blanket. You know, he gets a
Speaker 1: little bit freaked out the days that it's put in
Speaker 1: the dryer. Right. But there's something it's both literal, which
Speaker 1: your friend has said, and beautiful, and it's also symbolic
Speaker 1: that in some way it's useful in these times to
Speaker 1: sense what it is that nourishes us, that helps us
Speaker 1: feel like we're tending ourselves well with love, with care,
Speaker 1: or tending those around us. So it's a great suggest
Speaker 1: beautiful and also been It has been recommended to find
Speaker 1: daily practices to do to occupy yourself and either learning
Speaker 1: a new skill or reading something you've always wanted to read,
Speaker 1: or practicing a new exercise or learning an instrument. It's
Speaker 1: a great opportunity to make use of this time instead
Speaker 1: of just dwelling on the darkness and the fears. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you can go to con academy and take a course
Speaker 1: in anything, or you can learn to cook in the
Speaker 1: ways that you never have before, or as you say,
Speaker 1: learn to make music. And you know, in that way,
Speaker 1: let there be something that's beautiful and fruitful that grows
Speaker 1: for you. It also helps to make a schedule for yourself.
Speaker 1: I read a meet that's going around that says, especially
Speaker 1: in the morning, put on your damn pants. You know,
Speaker 1: don't sit around in your in your pajamas all day,
Speaker 1: but actually change the experience so that you feel like, yes,
Speaker 1: I'm here in this life, meeting this day and deliberately
Speaker 1: a part of it. And make a schedule. You know,
Speaker 1: is this is the rhythm by which I want to
Speaker 1: learn or study or reach out or meditate or whatever
Speaker 1: it is. All of that's good. On my website Jack
Speaker 1: Hornfield dot com, there is a talk, a written piece,
Speaker 1: and some videos on how to do a home retreat,
Speaker 1: And there's videos with my colleague Tar Brock and I
Speaker 1: leading a half day retreat for those who are interested
Speaker 1: or relatively new to meditation and want support of how
Speaker 1: to do this. That's another support that people can find
Speaker 1: helpful in this time. Beautiful. That sounds great. So many
Speaker 1: people I know are interested in doing a retreat and
Speaker 1: can never find the time, And it seems like a
Speaker 1: perfect opportunity to take advantage of the situation for something positive. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And the beautiful thing is that these are like making music.
Speaker 1: There isn't the right way to do it. You become
Speaker 1: the jazz musician. You get the riff from the meditation,
Speaker 1: and then you find your way to make music with it.
Speaker 1: For some it will be much quieter. For others there'll
Speaker 1: be a little bit more activity of doing an active
Speaker 1: compassion or loving kindness for their body and heart and
Speaker 1: mind people around them. You get to experiment and play
Speaker 1: as an inner artist with all of this. Beautiful How
Speaker 1: did you find yourself on this path? Originally I was
Speaker 1: doing pre med studies at Dartmouth College, thinking I would
Speaker 1: learn to be a physician, and I accidentally, on purpose,
Speaker 1: took a class in Asian studies and Buddhists teachings from
Speaker 1: this wonderful old professor who'd come up from Harvard. His
Speaker 1: name was doctor winsit Chan, and sometimes he would sit
Speaker 1: cross legged on the desk and talk about Laotsu and
Speaker 1: the Buddha and Confucius, but really he was talking about
Speaker 1: the wisdom of the heart. And when he talked about Buddhism,
Speaker 1: he said that there are teachings that life has suffering,
Speaker 1: but that's not the end of the story. There are
Speaker 1: causes for the suffering, greed, hatred, fear, and ignorance, and
Speaker 1: there's a path to the end of suffering. And I
Speaker 1: sat up in my seat because my own background and
Speaker 1: family had been a pretty difficult one. We were middle
Speaker 1: class and all of that, but my father was a
Speaker 1: violent and abusive person who would beat my mother black
Speaker 1: and blue, who would terrorize us as children, and it
Speaker 1: was also completely unpredictable. We never knew when the car
Speaker 1: was coming home what was going to come out the door.
Speaker 1: So when I heard that, oh, Buddhism not only acknowledgist suffering,
Speaker 1: but it teaches the ways to heal the heart and
Speaker 1: to a path to a kind of inner well being
Speaker 1: in the face of suffering, I've got really interested. And
Speaker 1: so I changed my major and majored in Asian studies
Speaker 1: in Buddhist teachings. And then it was in the nineteen sixties.
Speaker 1: I wanted to see if there were still those great
Speaker 1: old zen masters that you read about. So I asked
Speaker 1: the Peace courts to send me to a Buddhist country
Speaker 1: to look for a teacher. And I was assigned to
Speaker 1: Thailand and spent a couple of years working on village
Speaker 1: medical teams in the remote parts of Thailand on the
Speaker 1: border of Laos, And there I found a remarkable teacher
Speaker 1: with whom I studied and became a Buddhist monk, and
Speaker 1: all the things that I was just talking about. It's funny,
Speaker 1: you know. I got a call one time from the
Speaker 1: Alumni magazine of Dartmouth. They wanted to do a cover
Speaker 1: story on weird graduates, and I guess fit the bill.
Speaker 1: And part of what I said is that I felt
Speaker 1: like I had I received only half an education. That
Speaker 1: an Ivy League education was good for the mind and
Speaker 1: history and philosophy and science, but I also needed an
Speaker 1: education of the heart. How to deal with the pain
Speaker 1: from my family, with the anger of my father, his rage,
Speaker 1: and what to do with my own anger because I
Speaker 1: didn't want to be like him, How to deal with
Speaker 1: forgiveness or compassion, How to deal not just with my emotions,
Speaker 1: but with all the different states of mind, how to
Speaker 1: have a wiser relationship to myself and to the people
Speaker 1: around me. This is the curriculum of the heart. And
Speaker 1: I found it there in the monastery teachings that had
Speaker 1: been passed on for thousands of years. And now, of
Speaker 1: course it's become my life work with a number of
Speaker 1: other wonderful friends. Unfortunately, it's been available to lots of
Speaker 1: other people. When I came back and I met my
Speaker 1: colleagues Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzburg, and we all began to
Speaker 1: teach together in nineteen seventy four. We had no idea
Speaker 1: that mindfulness was going to become a watchword in the society.
Speaker 1: People asked us what happened to you? You seem so
Speaker 1: much happier and better. Can you show us? Can you
Speaker 1: tell us? And we said, sure, we'll make a retreat.
Speaker 1: Who will create a place a center if people are asking.
Speaker 1: And then it just grew by itself, like good things
Speaker 1: too beautiful. It's amazing how we find our paths and
Speaker 1: they grow just based on the need of the world.
Speaker 1: It seems it seems everybody has a role in filming
Speaker 1: a puzzle piece, and together we make it happen. Yeah,
Speaker 1: my good friend Maladoma Somey, who's West African shaman and
Speaker 1: medicine man, said, among the Dagara people, which is his people,
Speaker 1: they believe that every child who is born comes into
Speaker 1: the world carrying a certain cargo. And I love this metaphor.
Speaker 1: It sort of comes from the cargo ships that apply
Speaker 1: the rivers of Best Africa. And what they believe is
Speaker 1: that the task of every child or every human being
Speaker 1: is to have a sense of what that cargo is,
Speaker 1: you could call it, what are their gifts, and to
Speaker 1: deliver their cargo to this world. And their gifts can
Speaker 1: be as simple as a temperament that smiles at people
Speaker 1: and makes them feel that there's someone who sees them,
Speaker 1: honors them, values them. It's not the great gifts of
Speaker 1: recording the Beethoven's Ninth Symphony or something. Yes, we might
Speaker 1: have some amazing gifts. Everybody has amazing gifts because we're
Speaker 1: human beings and the fact that we live and exist
Speaker 1: in this complex, extraordinary society, we're already amazing amazing enough.
Speaker 1: But to be able to sense that we have something
Speaker 1: to give and then to offer it as a gesture.
Speaker 1: A poem aport for someone else, a work of art,
Speaker 1: a dinner that we make for those we love, all
Speaker 1: of those things. And your work, Rick, over all these
Speaker 1: years has been to listen deeply, not just to the
Speaker 1: music of your artists, but somehow to their gifts. And
Speaker 1: I think somehow in that Foster helped them find their
Speaker 1: gifts and bring them out. Would you say that's true?
Speaker 1: It's true, And it's strange because I didn't even know
Speaker 1: there was such a I didn't know that was a job,
Speaker 1: but it again, it revealed itself as and this is
Speaker 1: what it is. Who's by no means an aspiration or
Speaker 1: even a possible dream, This would be my life. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I think in many ways for almost all of us,
Speaker 1: that's as you were saying, that's how life unfolds. We
Speaker 1: don't really know, and what we can do is be present.
Speaker 1: And as we become present enough, steady enough in some way,
Speaker 1: then we're able to dance with what comes. We're able
Speaker 1: to listen and feel the rhythm and respond, and our
Speaker 1: presence and our attention already our gifts, and they lead
Speaker 1: us to what to what's needed next, And that that
Speaker 1: idea of us not really knowing, I think that's the
Speaker 1: most powerful of all messages, is to accept that we
Speaker 1: don't know m in that we're all children, you know,
Speaker 1: we're all nobody's really an expert at anything, and we
Speaker 1: all have to find our way. And there's some great
Speaker 1: strength in knowing that it's not just a question of
Speaker 1: listening to an outside force for our information, but our
Speaker 1: ability to go inside and trust ourselves. Beautiful. My teacher Rajuanshah,
Speaker 1: who lived in the forests and the border of Thailand
Speaker 1: in Laos, this forest monastery, he was fond of saying,
Speaker 1: it's uncertain, isn't it? You could ask him almost anything,
Speaker 1: you know, tell me, you could ask the high falutin question,
Speaker 1: tell me about an enlightenment, and he, you know, he
Speaker 1: was supposed to be enlightened. He would just smile and say,
Speaker 1: it's uncertain, isn't it? Or he would you know, you
Speaker 1: would ask him, you know, a much more mundane question,
Speaker 1: and he might see it's uncertain. It was the and
Speaker 1: he was so present and relaxed in the wisdom of
Speaker 1: uncertainty and mystery. I remember when I was a kid,
Speaker 1: one of the things that I liked to do was
Speaker 1: to go out on a starry summer night and lie
Speaker 1: on the grass and look up at the canopy of
Speaker 1: the sky. But then I would imagine that I was
Speaker 1: on the bottom of the world, because there isn't really
Speaker 1: a top or a bottom, and that I was being
Speaker 1: held like the magnet of gravity was holding me against
Speaker 1: the surface of the earth so I didn't fall down,
Speaker 1: and I would be looking down into a sea of stars,
Speaker 1: and there was this rush of joy and fear and
Speaker 1: beauty and feeling that I was floating magnet magnetically held
Speaker 1: on this planet, moving through the sea of stars. And
Speaker 1: if anybody thinks they really understand, just go out on
Speaker 1: a night that's clear and spend some time looking at
Speaker 1: the stars. The idea, whether it's in spiritual practice or
Speaker 1: artistic practice, is not to see perfection. I think of
Speaker 1: sadmaster Ryokan, the most beloved poet in Japan, where he
Speaker 1: wrote last year a foolish monk, this year, no change.
Speaker 1: And the idea isn't so much to perfect ourselves, according
Speaker 1: to some imagine standard. Maybe the point is to perfect
Speaker 1: our love, to be able to live this life from
Speaker 1: the place of love for ourselves and that which is around,
Speaker 1: and deliver our cargo, give our gifts. Beautiful. I'm going
Speaker 1: to take your suggestion of looking at the stars as
Speaker 1: a homework assignment tonight, and if it's clear, I'm going
Speaker 1: to spend a good deal of time with the stars.
Speaker 1: Oh lovely. Maybe maybe your little boy Rah will come
Speaker 1: out with you for a little bit too, Beautiful, he
Speaker 1: loves and stars view the stars. Well, I have a
Speaker 1: little more of another practice to lead, if that's okay
Speaker 1: to talk a tiny bit about it and then do
Speaker 1: another practice together. Yes, all right, fantastic. So this is
Speaker 1: a practice that again builds on the Buddhist tradition, but
Speaker 1: is really quite universal. In the Buddhist tradition, as I said,
Speaker 1: there is this notion of the Bodhisattva of being any
Speaker 1: of us, all of us, who is committed to alleviating
Speaker 1: suffering or bringing blessings no matter what the circumstances. And
Speaker 1: for the Bodhisatva, difficulties are like their bread and butter. Okay,
Speaker 1: now is the time to step up if you some way.
Speaker 1: This is the test, This is really what I need
Speaker 1: to do. So, as a Bodhisattva, you begin to notice
Speaker 1: that your response in this uncertainty has to come from
Speaker 1: a very deep place in your heart, what is your
Speaker 1: best intention, your most noble aspirations, especially going through the
Speaker 1: kind of difficulty that we as all of humanity are facing.
Speaker 1: And if you let yourself listen, you'll come to a
Speaker 1: kind of inner knowing. Sometimes in some traditions it's called
Speaker 1: a vow that becomes your north star, so that whenever
Speaker 1: you get lost, to remember and it reminds you what
Speaker 1: really matters to you. So if you would let yourself
Speaker 1: sit quietly and again, let your eyes close gently, and
Speaker 1: come back to the loving awareness presence for your own
Speaker 1: body seated here on this earth, for your own heart
Speaker 1: and mind. Again, each time you tune in, let the
Speaker 1: body and heart and mind settle, held in the field
Speaker 1: of loving awareness that doesn't resist or try to judge
Speaker 1: or change, but tenderly with compassion, says Ah. This is
Speaker 1: the experience now, the experience of your own mysterious humanity.
Speaker 1: And as you say quietly, you might even reflect on
Speaker 1: those beings who've inspired you from history or from your
Speaker 1: own life, who like you are called to do, have
Speaker 1: gone through really hard times with dignity, courage, and love,
Speaker 1: and they ask your heart, what is my best intention
Speaker 1: or what is my highest or most dignified, noble aspiration
Speaker 1: in living through this difficult time? What would it be?
Speaker 1: And it doesn't have to be grand or poetic. It
Speaker 1: might be as simple as I vowed to stay kind.
Speaker 1: But let your heart answer. You can listen, you can
Speaker 1: sense in a respectful and tender and courageous way. You
Speaker 1: can know and recite in whatever simple way you can,
Speaker 1: your vow to yourself, your intention. I vow to remain
Speaker 1: kind no matter what or whatever it is. And when
Speaker 1: you're ready, let your eyes open again. And this is
Speaker 1: a treasure. When the podcast is over, write it down,
Speaker 1: put it on a piece of paper, and place it
Speaker 1: in a spot where you will see it. If you
Speaker 1: have a spot that's your altar, or a place where
Speaker 1: you put things that are precious, or maybe it's just
Speaker 1: you know, by the sink as a reminder when you
Speaker 1: wake up in the morning, or take to the mirror,
Speaker 1: but someplace that holds your vow for it's time for
Speaker 1: you to be the medicine, the uplifting music, the lamp
Speaker 1: in the darkness to burn stout would love to be
Speaker 1: a carrier of hope for people around you. And even
Speaker 1: if there's a funeral, funeral which there will be to
Speaker 1: send them off for a song. When you tune into
Speaker 1: your vow, trust your dignity and goodness. If others hoard,
Speaker 1: you can help, and if others deceive, you can speak
Speaker 1: the truth, stand up for it. And where others are
Speaker 1: overwhelmed or uncaring, you can be kind, respectful. And when
Speaker 1: you worry about your parents or your children, your beloved's,
Speaker 1: the vulnerable ones, let your heart open to share in
Speaker 1: everyone's care for their parents. It's not just your parents,
Speaker 1: but it's all of those of us around the world
Speaker 1: or holding their parents well being in their hearts, or
Speaker 1: their children or their loved ones. And breathe together with us.
Speaker 1: All we are holding our parents, we're holding our children,
Speaker 1: we're holding our loved ones. This is called the Bodhisattva's
Speaker 1: great heart of compassion, and it's yours. It's in you.
Speaker 1: It opens to those who are vulnerable, those who are suffering,
Speaker 1: all of us, even those who are causing suffering, held
Speaker 1: in the compassionate heart, for we're in this together. And
Speaker 1: as you quiet yourself, then you can sense that you
Speaker 1: know how to respond. It will get clear, how to
Speaker 1: help those around you, how to contribute, to bring your
Speaker 1: gifts now or as things unfold, because even if you're
Speaker 1: shut in, and maybe you can do things online, and
Speaker 1: maybe you're young and you can buy groceries for the elderly,
Speaker 1: or maybe you can make music and send things around.
Speaker 1: This will end. The cycle of the epidemic will run
Speaker 1: through the bodies of humanity. Many will be sick, many
Speaker 1: may die, but it has an end, and as it does,
Speaker 1: will be called upon to rebuild a new world, to
Speaker 1: find a vision for our common humanity in the most
Speaker 1: beautiful way possible. So you are also gathering your strength
Speaker 1: and sensing your capacity to make a difference, to be
Speaker 1: the one that the world needs, that one on the boat.
Speaker 1: So Rick, my friend, how is this as a practice
Speaker 1: for you? Beautiful? Thank you so much. Yeah, we're in
Speaker 1: this together. We're holding virtual hands in a certain way.
Speaker 1: It's all virtual. It's all the play of mind and consciousness.
Speaker 1: That's what it is. We think it's somehow out there,
Speaker 1: but actually it's all woven together in this vast field
Speaker 1: of awareness and consciousness. It's what we are. But we
Speaker 1: can connect like this and it matters so much. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: it's so helpful. It's so helpful. You have no idea, well,
Speaker 1: it's helped me so. And it's funny, you know, each
Speaker 1: time I teach, it's like, I'm sure it's true for
Speaker 1: your good musicians as well. Each time you do it.
Speaker 1: It's not just for some one else. It's your body
Speaker 1: and your instrument, your horn, whatever it is. You know,
Speaker 1: your acts making music for itself, for its own sake. Yes,
Speaker 1: and so we're all doing that, me too, and I'm
Speaker 1: grateful to be able to do it. But mostly take
Speaker 1: care of yourself, you know, be safe and protected and
Speaker 1: of all things, be loving to your own being into
Speaker 1: all that you touch around you. Thank you so much, Jack,
Speaker 1: my pleasure. I'm I'm a bit speechless and spaced out
Speaker 1: from everything. You Well, we'll give it the next time.
Speaker 1: We'll do a grounding meditation. I'm a little spaced out today, Jack,
Speaker 1: because I'm on the I just did. Have you ever
Speaker 1: heard of a potato hack? No? Okay, it's a three
Speaker 1: day fast, but it's not really a fast. The only
Speaker 1: thing you're allowed to eat are potatoes for three days,
Speaker 1: white potatoes, and they have to be cooked, cooled, cooked, cooled, cooked, cooled.
Speaker 1: So what it does is it changes the carbohydrate from
Speaker 1: start from just traditional starch to the kind of starch
Speaker 1: that feeds the gut bacteria. Interesting. Yeah, and it resets
Speaker 1: your whole relationship to food, So it's really send me
Speaker 1: a send me a link to that. I have to say, Rick,
Speaker 1: you have to understand that you're weird, but you're good weird.
Speaker 1: So I'd love to see this link. Maybe we'll try. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's great. It's I'm completely spaced out because I haven't
Speaker 1: had any food yet today at all. For the last
Speaker 1: three days. It's only been potatoes for some reason. Seem
Speaker 1: to make me nauseous. You, I mean, we've eaten together
Speaker 1: enough for you to know I don't normally eat carbohydrates.
Speaker 1: You know that I don't either, so this is like
Speaker 1: I'm really interested. Yeah, it's a really bizarre switch, but
Speaker 1: it feeds the bacteria and it resets your whole system.
Speaker 1: But I'll send you information about it. Pretty interesting, really fun.
Speaker 1: All right, I might send you some other stuff too.
Speaker 1: Thank you to take care, lots of love, right. We
Speaker 1: really appreciate Jackcornfield coming on the show to share those
Speaker 1: meditations with us. If you'd like to explore Jack's work
Speaker 1: some more, you can go to Jackcornfield dot com. You
Speaker 1: can also find a link in the show description, or
Speaker 1: by visiting broken record podcast dot com. Stay safe, everyone,