Renowned meditation expert Jack Kornfield, PhD., a clinical psychologist, trained Buddhist monk, and author, will be a featured speaker as part of Santa Monica-based InsightLA’s 10th birthday celebrations this Saturday, Oct. 13.
He will be joined by actress Sandra Oh who is hosting the evening celebration at a private home from 6 p.m. onwards.
Founded in 2002 by Trudy Goodman, InsightLA is at the forefront of providing meditation and mindfulness courses to individuals and groups and has provided training to more than 9,000 individuals.
“The practice of mindfulness can give us inner resources to be creative in meeting whatever life brings and it can really open people to what’s deepest and best within themselves and bring that to life,” Goodman said. “These tools that we teach are in the form of formal mediation practice as well as tools to use everyday in our daily life. To me, these tools are so effective that we felt it was a birthright to be able to learn how to use our own brain, access our own wisdom, train our attention, and grow our capacity to love.”
InsightLA’s courses, workshops, and retreats are based on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MSBR), which provides individuals with ways to cope with stress, depression and other personal and professional challenges.
Jack Kornfield, PhD, is a clinical psychologist who trained as a Buddhist monk in the monasteries of Thailand, India, and Burma.
He has taught meditation internationally since 1974 and is one of the first teachers to introduce Buddhist mindfulness practice to the West.
He began his training after graduating from Dartmouth College in Asian Studies in 1967.
Then he joined the Peace Corps and was assigned to the Public Health Service in northeast Thailand, which is home to several of the world’s oldest Buddhist forest monasteries.
He met and studied under the Buddhist master Ven. Ajahn Chah, as well as the Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw of Burma.
After returning to the United States, he co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, with fellow meditation teachers Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein. He is also a founding teacher of the Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre, California, where he currently lives and teaches.
Over the years, he has taught in centers and universities worldwide, led International Buddhist Teacher meetings with the Dalai Lama and worked with many of the great teachers of our time.
For more information about InsightLA, its training and programs, and the upcoming October 13 event, visit www.insightla.org.
