Ep. 333 – You Can Trust Love Itself: Ram Dass and Loving Awareness
Summary
In this episode, Jack Kornfield explores the transformative power of loving awareness, using Ram Dass’s life as a prime example of becoming love itself. He discusses how love can be actively cultivated through practices like metta, sharing stories from Sharon Salzberg and the Dalai Lama to illustrate its growth. Kornfield guides listeners through a meditation on wrapping the body, heart, and mind in kindness, emphasizing that trust lies not in permanence but in the innate nature of loving consciousness.
Topics discussed
Introduction: Trusting love and the episode theme
Host intro: Context of the course and live stream
Opening blessings and transition to Jack Kornfield
Memories of Ram Dass: The Maui retreat and blessings
Ram Dass's transformation into loving awareness
The nature of love: Gravity and cultivation
Sharon Salzberg's story: The power of metta practice
Practical application: Loving-kindness on an airplane
Expanding love: From friends to difficult people
Dimensions of the heart: Compassion, joy, and equanimity
Impermanence and the Cosmo magazine request
Trusting love: Overcoming self-judgment in mindfulness
Defining identity as loving awareness
Guided meditation: Settling in and body awareness
Guided meditation: Holding the heart with kindness
Guided meditation: Wrapping the mind in love
Guided meditation: Resting in innate loving awareness
Closing thoughts: Love grows when shared
Outro: Course details and sign-off
Listen ad-free on Castria