Deep Transformation
Deep Transformation
Roger Walsh and John Dupuy
Setting the Compass of Your Heart: What Really Matters with Jack Kornfield
54 minutes Posted Jan 1, 2026 at 9:00 am.
Ep. 215 (Part 1 of 2) | The first of Deep Transformation’s What is Real Greatness Series, this conversation with world-renowned meditation teacher Jack Kornfield is filled with beautiful teachings touching into the sacred at the heart of our lives and the point of our whole spiritual journey: to remember and embody our innate capacity to awaken and experience the reality of our own innate dignity and nobility. Respecting ourselves at the deepest level is what transforms us and transforms society too, Jack explains. “Do you hold yourself with nobility and respect?” he asks. “Can you remember your own beauty and dignity? Can you see it in others?”The topic of greatness—real greatness—is woven throughout the dialogue, as Jack recounts the seed events of his own spiritual journey and ruminates on Roger’s question, what is the sacred question at the center of your life? This is a question Jack often asks his own students, and we are inspired to ponder it for ourselves, along with, if you were to write your own bodhisattva vow, what would it be? Jack is a master at inspiring us to live our ideals, to broaden the possibilities of our lives, and to remember the miracle of our existence. A warmly personal, deeply profound discussion. Recorded October 2, 2025.“The beautiful thing about the bodhisattva ideal is that it becomes your intention… it becomes the setting of the compass of your heart.”Topics & Time Stamps – Part 1Introducing the first of Deep Transformation’s What is Real Greatness? series
Introducing renowned meditation teacher, prolific author, and clinical psychologist Jack Kornfield
In discussing real greatness, Jack advises not to throw out money & power as being unworthy
The story of Emperor Ashoka, who shifted from seeking outer greatness to seeking inner greatness: peace of mind and heart
How the Buddha turned the Hindu caste system on its head, honoring young monks for their innate nobility
Can you remember your own beauty & dignity? Can you see it in others?
Each of us has a sacred question at the center of our lives, what’s been Jack’s?
Jack’s first draw to Buddhism: suffering and the relief from suffering
The seeds of our sacred journeys: the path doesn’t go from here to there but from there to here
It’s completely weird that we exist!
King Ashoka & other historical figures, good candidates for the What is Real Greatness Series
Do we ask ourselves, “How do I live?”
The beautiful thing about the bodhisattva ideal is that it becomes the setting of the compass of your heart
The prayer with which the Dalai Lama begins his day
Ideals illuminate the possibilities of how we might live
If you were to write your own bodhisattva vow… what would it be?
Sometimes it’s suffering and sometimes it’s an awakening experience that draws us to spirituality
Jane Goodall, interspecies bodhisattva, and the story of Joanna Macy’s wake
Introducing the first of Deep Transformation’s What is Real Greatness? series
Introducing renowned meditation teacher, prolific author, and clinical psychologist Jack Kornfield
In discussing real greatness, Jack advises not to throw out money & power as being unworthy
The story of Emperor Ashoka, who shifted from seeking outer greatness to seeking inner greatness: peace of mind and heart
How the Buddha turned the Hindu caste system on its head, honoring young monks for their innate nobility
Can you remember your own beauty & dignity? Can you see it in others?
Each of us has a sacred question at the center of our lives, what’s been Jack’s?
Jack’s first draw to Buddhism: suffering and the relief from suffering
The seeds of our sacred journeys: the path doesn’t go from here to there but from there to here
It’s completely weird that we exist!
King Ashoka & other historical figures, good candidates for the What is Real Greatness Series
Do we ask ourselves, “How do I live?”
The beautiful thing about the bodhisattva ideal is that it becomes the setting of the compass of your heart
The prayer with which the Dalai Lama begins his day
Ideals illuminate the possibilities of how we might live
If you were to write your own bodhisattva vow… what would it be?
Sometimes it’s suffering and sometimes it’s an awakening experience that draws us to spirituality
Jane Goodall, interspecies bodhisattva, and the story of Joanna Macy’s wake
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Ep. 215 (Part 1 of 2) | The first of Deep Transformation’s What is Real Greatness Series, this conversation with world-renowned meditation teacher Jack Kornfield is filled with beautiful teachings touching into the sacred at the heart of our lives and the point of our whole spiritual journey: to remember and embody our innate capacity to awaken and experience the reality of our own innate dignity and nobility. Respecting ourselves at the deepest level is what transforms us and transforms society too, Jack explains. “Do you hold yourself with nobility and respect?” he asks. “Can you remember your own beauty and dignity? Can you see it in others?”The topic of greatness—real greatness—is woven throughout the dialogue, as Jack recounts the seed events of his own spiritual journey and ruminates on Roger’s question, what is the sacred question at the center of your life? This is a question Jack often asks his own students, and we are inspired to ponder it for ourselves, along with, if you were to write your own bodhisattva vow, what would it be? Jack is a master at inspiring us to live our ideals, to broaden the possibilities of our lives, and to remember the miracle of our existence. A warmly personal, deeply profound discussion. Recorded October 2, 2025.“The beautiful thing about the bodhisattva ideal is that it becomes your intention… it becomes the setting of the compass of your heart.”Topics & Time Stamps – Part 1Introducing the first of Deep Transformation’s What is Real Greatness? series (00:38)Introducing renowned meditation teacher, prolific author, and clinical psychologist Jack Kornfield (03:09)In discussing real greatness, Jack advises not to throw out money & power as being unworthy (04:47)The story of Emperor Ashoka, who shifted from seeking outer greatness to seeking inner greatness: peace of mind and heart (07:49)How the Buddha turned the Hindu caste system on its head, honoring young monks for their innate nobility (13:17)Can you remember your own beauty & dignity? Can you see it in others? (16:19)Each of us has a sacred question at the center of our lives, what’s been Jack’s? (17:30)Jack’s first draw to Buddhism: suffering and the relief from suffering (21:08)The seeds of our sacred journeys: the path doesn’t go from here to there but from there to here (24:15)It’s completely weird that we exist! (25:40)King Ashoka & other historical figures, good candidates for the What is Real Greatness Series (27:13)Do we ask ourselves, “How do I live?” (28:28)The beautiful thing about the bodhisattva ideal is that it becomes the setting of the compass of your heart (31:32)The prayer with which the Dalai Lama begins his day (36:37)Ideals illuminate the possibilities of how we might live (38:39)If you were to write your own bodhisattva vow… what would it be? (40:47)Sometimes it’s suffering and sometimes it’s an awakening experience that draws us to spirituality (44:28)Jane Goodall, interspecies bodhisattva, and the story of Joanna Macy’s wake (47:37)Resources & References – Part 1Jack Kornfield, founding teacher of Spirit Rock Meditation Center and the Insight Meditation Society Mind & Life Institute, bringing science & contemplative wisdom together to better understand the mind and create positive change in the worldJack Kornfield, A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual LifeJack Kornfield, The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist PsychologyJack Kornfield, No Time Like the Present: Finding Freedom, Love, and Joy Right Where You AreEmperor Ashoka the Great is credited with an important role in spreading Buddhism across ancient AsiaDr. Wing-tsit Chan, Chinese scholar and professorT. S. Eliot, “…the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time, ” from Eliot’s 1942 poem “Little Gidding”Meditations of Marcus AureliusShantideva, 8th-century CE Indian philosopher, Buddhist monk, poet & scholarDiane Ackerman’s poem “School Prayer,” “In the name of daybreak… I offer myself humbly as a guardian of nature…”The Sufi tradition of SohbetTrudy Goodman, founding teacher of InsightLA and co-founder of the Institute for Meditation and PsychotherapyRemembering Jane GoodallJoanna Macy, beloved environmental activist, author & scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep...