Jack Kornfield
Religious Leader
Buddhist monk and leader of American Theravada Buddhism's mindfulness-based Vipassana movement. He was also a founder of Massachusetts' Insight Meditation Society and California's Spirit Rock Meditation Center.
After attending Dartmouth College in the 1960s and subsequently becoming a member of the Peace Corps, he earned a doctorate in psychology from the Saybrook Institute.
His Buddhist-themed publications include The Path of Insight Meditation and After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path.
Born in the United States, he later lived in India, Thailand, and Burma.
Like fellow American religious figure John Daido Loori, he became a prominent Buddhist leader in the United States.