Ep. 216 (Part 2 of 2) | In Part 2 of Deep Transformation’s first episode in the What is Real Greatness Series, longtime spiritual teacher Jack Kornfield declares that in his experience real greatness is a greatness of heart. In Buddhism, greatness of heart is embodied in the ideal of the bodhisattva—one whose life is dedicated to the well-being of all. Embodying compassion is not a grim proposition, Jack explains, but a joy! The whole point of it being human happiness and inner freedom. Because of his deep understanding of compassion, Jack was invited to the Oslo Freedom Forum to counsel global activists on how to prevent burnout, and when talking to them about their outrage, he told them, “You do this because you care—that is not a loss of power, it’s actually the deep power. Tune into the care.” Greatness of heart is the great power.

Jack relates that the experience of awakening can be felt in different ways: it might feel like everything is love, perfection, emptiness, or freedom. For me, the channel is love and my practice is to love everyone, he explains. We have to love both the lion and the gazelle, he continues, and shares a poignant story of how very loving Ram Dass became towards the end of his life, loving everything, even his pain. When the conversation turns towards the potential demise of humanity, Jack wonders, will we be able to do something beneficial with our consciousness now that we’re aware that we are all connected? What is the spirit you want to lead with? he asks. What is the dance you want to do? A thoroughly thought provoking, nourishing, inspiring conversation. Recorded October 2, 2025.

“You think you’re separate – you think you exist. But you’re not who you think you are. You are consciousness in drag.”

1. You think you’re separate, but you’re not who you think you are (00:27)
2. The bodhisattva vow as aspiration, never off-duty (04:23)
3. What real greatness is changes with each turning of Buddhism (08:26)
4. The experience of awakening can be felt in different ways: love, perfection, emptiness, or freedom (12:19)
5. Jack’s channel & inspiration is love; and a story of how very loving Ram Dass became (19:00)
6. Teaching activists to remember to hold themselves in their own circle of compassion at the Oslo Freedom Forum (23:52)
7. Jack’s upcoming workshop: Inner Technology for Outer Technologists (29:18)
8. How do you embody the bodhisattva? Spiritual practice isn’t a grim duty—it’s actually joyful (31:08)
9. As Andre Gidé said, joy is our moral obligation (32:49)
10. What stands out to Jack about all the amazing people he’s encountered? (34:09)
11. When there’s a greatness of heart…that is the great power (35:04)
12. The hospice now is for humanity, not for Earth, which

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.”

1. Introducing the first of Deep Transformation’s What is Real Greatness? series (00:38)
2. Introducing renowned meditation teacher, prolific author, and clinical psychologist Jack Kornfield (03:09)
3. In discussing real greatness, Jack advises not to throw out money & power as being unworthy (04:47)
4. The story of Emperor Ashoka, who shifted from seeking outer greatness to seeking inner greatness: peace of mind and heart (07:49)
5. How the Buddha turned the Hindu caste system on its head, honoring young monks for their innate nobility (13:17)
6. Can you remember your own beauty & dignity? Can you see it in others? (16:19)
7. Each of us has a sacred question at the center of our lives, what’s been Jack’s? (17:30)
8. Jack’s first draw to Buddhism: suffering and the relief from suffering (21:08)
9. The seeds of our sacred journeys: the path doesn’t go from here to there but from there to here (24:15)
10. It’s completely weird that we exist! (25:40)
11. King Ashoka & other historical figures, good candidates for the What is Real Greatness Series (27:13)
12. Do we ask ourselves, “How do I live?” (28:28)
13. The beautiful thing about the bodhisattva ideal is that it becomes the setting of...

Ep. 214 (Part 2 of 2) | Part 2 of the 16th dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series takes us on a sweet journey farther into our exploration of the nature of the absolute. Hameed Ali discusses the paradox of the absolute, being both source and cessation of all things, the nonduality of emptiness and beingness, these being two sides of the same coin, and explains why many nondual teachings do not touch upon the absolute. He makes sense of the difficult-to-fathom concept of pure emptiness, explaining that the absolute’s nature is absence—in contrast with presence—and relates that Mystery is the essence of the absolute, the fundamental essence of the nature of reality. “We are never going to know where it’s at, what’s happening, what life is about,” he laughs. Our knowledge is but “small islands in the vast ocean of mystery we live in;” mystery cannot be eliminated.

In the absolute, the soul finds its final resting place, Hameed tells us. The absolute is our true home—the essence of the meaning of home. All humans are searching for their true home, Hameed says, and they search in many places. But here the search is over. Reflections of the absolute bring us closer to love, like when we are in love, Hameed continues. Being in love with an outer beloved brings us closer to the inner beloved and we see deeper. “The absolute is total intimacy, Hameed finishes. “In the absolute we are intimate with everything.” How do we express this in the world, in our ordinary lives? “It becomes very simple,” Hameed says. “The absolute is the essence of simplicity—so simple, even though there is a profundity…” Recorded October 9, 2025.

“You don’t have to experience the absolute to know nonduality.”

1. Emptiness is nondual with consciousness, two sides of the same thing (01:03)
2. Many nondual teachings don’t talk about the absolute (02:50)
3. You don’t have to experience the absolute to know nonduality (03:32)
4. There’s no sense of individual self, but some teachings take the absolute as the ultimate Self (04:52)
5. Making sense of pure emptiness: the absolute’s nature is absence—in contrast with presence (09:47)
6. The absolute is the essence of mystery (12:59)
7. Experiencing all phenomena as projections of the absolute (13:57)
8. The absolute reveals that true nature itself is unmanifest (17:58)
9. Mystery is the nature of the absolute; the absolute IS mystery (19:08)
10. The absolute is the extreme limit of purity; the heart empty of everything except the love of God (23:13)
11. We live in an ocean of mystery; what we know are little islands (25:07)
12. The search ends in the absolute; the soul is home (27:32)
13. Reflections