Sign up for my free "5-Bullet Friday" newsletter: https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-yt/ Every Friday, I send out an exclusive email with the five coolest things I’ve found (or explored) that week. It could include exclusive giveaways or chances to interact with me, books, gadgets, albums, articles, new hacks/tricks, and — of course — all sorts of weird stuff I dig up around the world. Jack Kornfield (@JackKornfield) trained as a Buddhist monk in the monasteries of Thailand, India, and Burma, shortly thereafter becoming one of the key teachers to introduce Buddhist mindfulness practice to the West. He has taught meditation internationally since 1974. Jack has had a profound and direct impact on my life, and I’m thrilled to have him on the podcast once again. Jack co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts (with fellow meditation teachers Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein), and the Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre, California. He holds a PhD in clinical psychology and is a father, husband, and activist. Jack’s books have been translated into 20 languages and have sold more than a million copies, including The Wise Heart; A Lamp in the Darkness; A Path with Heart; After the Ecstasy, the Laundry (one of my favorite book titles of all time); and his most recent, No Time Like the Present: Finding Freedom, Love, and Joy Right Where You Are. He offers a brilliant online training program for those who want to learn to teach meditation at JackKornfield.com. This episode is more of a personal therapy session for yours truly in some respects. You will notice that I sound anxious and unsure in this interview, and that is very much by design. I think it is unhelpful when people in the public eye hide the fact that they also struggle, and it puts them on this illusory pedestal that I think is ultimately self-defeating. Instead, I want to share with you that no matter how much Stoic philosophy I read, no matter how often I meditate, there are times when I struggle, and this week is one of them. I also hope that you’ll listen to portions of this conversation multiple times. There are a number of exercises that Jack shares that I will certainly be listening to in the upcoming weeks. Please enjoy. SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/1dSzTkW About Tim Ferriss: Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 400 million downloads and been selected for “Best of iTunes” three years running. Connect with Tim Ferriss: Sign up for "5-Bullet Friday" (Tim's email newsletter): https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-1/ Visit the Tim Ferriss PODCAST: https://tim.blog/podcast/ Visit the Tim Ferriss BLOG: https://tim.blog/ Follow Tim Ferriss on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/tferriss/ Follow Tim Ferriss on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timferriss/ Like Tim Ferriss on FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/TimFerriss/ [00:00] Start COVID-19 fears and an exercise to cope [08:10] Western-Eastern solutions to the current problem [16:06] Finding our center in the midst of misery [21:08] Lessons from WWII [25:41] Learning from adversity and psychological difficulty [28:15] How does Jack relate to his own mortality? [31:43] Meditating on the four dimensions of freedom [38:52] Working through the fear of dying [49:19] Altars, linking consciousness, and letting go [57:44] The significance of Guan Yin. And what is spirituality really about? [1:01:22] Psychedelics and meditation [1:07:21] Ways to interact with the mysteries around us—from poetry to sleep [1:20:33] Psychedelics: preparations and precautions [1:23:05] Stan Grof and what an urge toward suicide is trying to tell us [1:26:31] Jack’s favorite Stan Grof book [1:27:42] Ram Dass passes the torch of psychedelic research to Roland Griffiths [1:28:27] Controlled vs. casual psychedelic use [1:31:11] Thinking about trauma [1:32:16] Ram Dass becomes “a lighthouse of love” [1:44:03] What is Jack focused on these days? [1:48:52] My personal endorsement of Jack and Tara Brach [1:51:03] Parting thoughts [1:53:21]