A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life [Paperback]

Jack Kornfield (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 1, 1993

Beloved Western Buddhist master Kornfield makes known his personal, practical wisdom, garnered from 25 years of practicing and teaching the path of awakening, as he guides self-searchers to a simplicity of perception that brings alive spiritual practice, peace, and truth in their daily lives.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In undertaking a spiritual life, we must make certain that our path is connected with our heart, according to author and Buddhist monk Jack Kornfield. Since 1974 (long before it gained popularity in the 1990s), Kornfield has been teaching westerners how to integrate Eastern teaching into their daily lives. Through generous storytelling and unmitigated warmth, Kornfield offers this excellent guidebook on living with attentiveness, meditation, and full-tilt compassion.

Part of what makes this book so accessible is Kornfield's use of everyday metaphors to describe the elusive lessons of spiritual transformation. For example, he opens with "the one seat" lesson taught to him by his esteemed teacher. Literally it means sitting in the center of a room and not being swayed or moved by all the people and dramas happening around you. On a spiritual level it means sticking "with one practice and teacher among all of the possibilities," writes Kornfield; "inwardly it means having the determination to stick with that practice through whatever difficulties and doubts arise until you have come to true clarity and understanding." The same could be said for this "one book." Among all the spiritual self-help books, this is a classic worth sticking with and returning to--a highly approachable teacher that can only lead to greater clarity and understanding. --Gail Hudson

Review

"A warm, inspiring and, above all, practical book" Pride Magazine 20021125 "It's encouraging to find Westerners who've sufficiently assimilated the traditions of the East to be able to share them with others as Jack is doing. May such efforts further the peace of all beings." -- His Holiness The Dalai Lama "This important guidebook shows in detail and with great humour and insight the way to practise the Buddha's universal teachings here in the West. Jack Kornfield is a wonderful storyteller and a great teacher." -- Thich Nhat Hanh "Jack Kornfield is a remarkable and thoughtful teacher." -- Sogyal Rinpoche --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; 1 edition (June 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553372114
• ISBN-13: 978-0553372113
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,548 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #14 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Spirituality > Meditations
  • #80 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Eastern > Buddhism

More About the Author

Jack Kornfield, Ph.D. co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, in 1975 and later, the Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre, California. He holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. His books include After the Ecstasy, the Laundry and the national bestseller A Path with Heart (over 100,000 copies in print).

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

101 of 102 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "Be Here Now" for the 90s January 31, 1999

By [e-mail]

Format:Paperback

Twenty years ago, when I was a college student, I got turned on to spirituality largely by reading Ram Dass' "Be Here Now." Kornfield's book could do the same thing for thousands of people today (to the consternation of apologists for other religions!).

A Path with Heart is pretty much my favorite book on spirituality. It contains both useful practical advice on living a spiritual life and amazing esoteric descriptions of super-normal states. Numerous pages contain "gems" that speak directly to my personal struggles and experiences. And Kornfield has a great sense of humor with deep compassion.

One of the things that attracts me to Buddhism is its relative lack of superstition and dogmatism. The essential teaching is practical, down-to-earth, and perfectly acceptable to a scientifically minded person. Still, many Buddhists believe in reincarnation, and Kornfield describes some pretty far out experiences involving, for example, reincarnation, angelic beings, and psychic powers.

Kornfield is a wonderful writer, and I hear that he is such a good teacher that one has to enter a lottery to get the chance to go to one of his retreats. He seems to be a charismatic, highly advanced being (though, who am I to judge?). But he would be the first to warn against starry-eyed adulation of him. An oft-repeated theme throughout the book -- and the topic of one whole chapter -- was the need to beware of unhealthy, exploitative relationships with teachers. Every spiritual seeker has one or more fallings-out with a teacher, he says. These fallings-out can be painful and damaging, but we must learn to learn from such events.

Many people get the impression that Buddhism is an austere, impersonal, ascetic religion, with little of the bhakti (devotion) found in many Christian and Hindu faiths. This book challenges that perception. Indeed, it's amazing how loving Buddhists can be, considering that they tend not to believe in God! One thing that impresses me is his apparently complete lack of cynicism and pessimism. Kornfield has only good things to say about every major religion.

In fact, another theme of the book is that Buddhism too should not be treated as a dogmatic teaching that we should grasp on to. Rather, it is a tool to be used to get where we want to go. Teachings and paths should be left behind when no longer needed, like a boat used to cross a river. (I'm reminded of Kornfield's story about a retreat in which two of his students, a married couple, were struggling hard to relax into meditation. Kornfield advised them to stop being so serious and to make love. They started to show up in the meditation hall smiling.)

I'm still not completely convinced that a spiritual seeker can get by without faith and trust in some sort of divine being or essence. But this books goes a long way to showing how an atheist can have faith and hope.

If you're on a spiritual path, or even if you're just curious and open-minded, read this book. (I feel like I'm writing an ad.)

68 of 69 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the very best books available on spiritual practice. June 13, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

About two-thirds of the way through this extraordinary book, I can only add to the 5-star accolades accumulating here. I've read several other wonderfully erudite and inspiring authors on Buddhism, meditation and spirituality lately, but Kornfield's gentle pragmatism (particularly his advice on meditation and mindfulness in daily life) makes this one of the most endlessly useful books I've ever read, as well as one of the most affecting. If you're vacillating over the abundance of titles in this field, don't hesitate for a second over A Path With Heart.

50 of 51 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional guide to meditation that covers everything November 18, 1999

By Carolyn Elkins

Format:Audio Cassette

I've read many books on meditation and while each of them answers some of my questions, Jack Kornfield's book, A Path with Heart, answers every one save those that must be experienced first-hand in one's own time. His voice and advice is articulate, intelligent, humorous, open, patient and wise. He starts out by telling you a little about his own experience, goes on to cover the basics of vipassana meditation and then leads you bit by bit deep into the issues every meditator and spiritual seeker must face. What I love most about his teaching style is that he gives gentle, practical advice on the day-to-day, minute by minute stuff to do to explore, commit to, love being on the path. If my house were on fire and I had to grab only one book on my way out the door, it would be A Path with Heart.