Monday Night Meditation and Talk [Online]

Monday Night Meditation and Talk is an online Insight Meditation sitting group with a Dharma talk, offered by Spirit Rock and led by the meditation teacher Jack Kornfield. It is for anyone who wants to practice mindfulness and compassion in community from home, drawing on contemporary teachings inspired by the Buddhist tradition.

The evening is part of the regular Spirit Rock Monday Night sitting group, here held as a livestream so that people can stay connected to one another and support their practice wherever they are.

What to Expect

The evening runs two hours, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm Pacific time. It brings together meditation and a Dharma talk, with the aim of cultivating the mindfulness and compassion that are the heart of Insight Meditation. Jack describes the teachings as being about "finding a path with heart, about undertaking a path that transforms and touches us in the center of our being."

The gathering is framed as a community sitting: a chance to hear the teachings together and to practice alongside others, even through a screen.

About Jack Kornfield

Jack Kornfield was born in 1945 in the United States and grew up in a Jewish family. After graduating from Dartmouth College, he traveled to Asia in the 1960s and studied Buddhism in Thailand, India, and Burma. During those years he became a monk in the Theravada tradition, immersing himself in meditation practice and the teachings of revered masters. That time shaped his understanding of mindfulness and compassion, which he later brought back to the West.

Back in the United States, he co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in 1975 with Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein, an organization that played a pivotal role in introducing Buddhist meditation practices to a Western audience. He later established the Spirit Rock Meditation Center.

Before You Go

This is an online event, so you join by livestream after registering. Registration closes at 11:59 pm Pacific time on the day of the event. A recording is available for 90 days, but only to those who have registered, so it is worth signing up even if you cannot attend live.