Most of us have spent our lives caught up in plans, expectations, ambitions for the future; in regrets, guilt or shame about the past. To come into the present is to stop the war.
Jack KornfieldRead
It is hard to imagine a world without forgiveness. Without forgiveness life would be unbearable. Without forgiveness our lives are chained, forced to carry the sufferings of the past and repeat them with no release.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Forgiveness is essential for a bearable life, allowing us to let go of past sufferings.
In this quote, Jack Kornfield emphasizes the critical importance of forgiveness in living a fulfilling life. He suggests that without forgiveness, we remain burdened by past grievances, which can lead to an unbearable existence filled with suffering, as we would be unable to release the heavy chains of our hurt and resentment.
Themes
ForgivenessSufferingReleasePastLife
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about personal growth and the importance of letting go of grudges.
More from Jack Kornfield
All quotes →We need courage and strength, a kind of warrior spirit. But the place for this warrior strength is in the heart. We need energy, commitment, and courage not to run from our life nor to cover it over with any philosophy-mate rial or spiritual. We need a warrior’s heart that lets us face our lives directly, our pains and limitations, our joys and possibilities.
Jack KornfieldRead
The questions asked at the end of lie are very simple ones: Did I love well? Did I love the people around me, my community, the earth, in a deep way? And perhaps, Did I live fully? Did I offer myself to life?
Jack KornfieldRead
We can bring our spiritual practice into the streets, into our communities, when we see each realm as a temple, as a place to discover that which is sacred.
Jack KornfieldRead
According to Buddhist scriptures, compassion is the "quivering of the pure heart" when we have allowed ourselves to be touched by the pain of life.
Jack KornfieldRead
Much of spiritual life is self-acceptance, maybe all of it.
Jack KornfieldRead
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As man advances in civilization, and small tribes are united into larger communities, the simplest reason would tell each individual that he ought to extend his social instincts and sympathies to all members of the same nation, though personally unknown to him. This point being once reached, there is only an artificial barrier to prevent his sympathies extending to the men of all nations and races.
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She no longer believed in talk. It never rescued anything.
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