I really really really wanted to like this, but couldn't get through it. At times I was interested, but it didn't work for me right now. I may give it a shot another time!

I can sincerely say this is an excellent book but that it is not the correct book for me at this time. Books tend to be time sensitive documents, meaning if you read one at the “right” time, it can light fireworks under your butt, while if you had read the same book at an earlier or later time of your life, you might toss it aside and pick up instead the latest copy of Time (pun intended). My experience with what is probably Kornfield’s most widely read book is somewhere in between, but again, t...

Have read it 3 times. Takes me to a beautiful place everytime.

Page after page I keep looking at sentences where I have no idea what they meant or were trying to say..What I have learned for sure is that my experience in the womb could have been a bad one and that I will have great healing to do to reclaim my natural well-being.I could not get past page 173, I gave up, perhaps to read later when I'm truly enlightened. But then will I need this book ?

One of my spiritual advisors recommended this book, which makes me wonder if she wanted me to feel even more the spiritual midget than I am. While it is full of entertaining quotes (e.g. “People with opinions just go around bothering one another” says Buddha) and genuine, if therapeutic, insights, I couldn’t help feel Buddhism (the author’s specialty) is horribly complicated. The chapter titled Expanding and Dissolving the Self details myriad levels of meditative nirvana which entail months and

This took me a long time to read as its so big and so dense. I really loved it tho - wise, kind and full of love, there was so much in here to write down, re-read and revisit. It's a book about spiritual practice, but it's also about how you take that practice into the world and how you relate to others. Definitely reading more by Kornfield.

It is a fairly basic book if you already have some detailed knowledge of (particularly western) Buddhism. However it goes over the basic forms of meditation, with a focus on heart/compassion centric meditation. The walkthrough it gives on how to actually do that meditation is better than any ive found online, so that is probably the most valuable part of the book. It also has a lot of the more preliminary aspects of Buddhist philosophy which underlie or justify these practices. There were some p...

I really like books about meditation, and I think the amazingly prolific Jack Kornfield, an American psychologist (Ph.D. in clinical psych), former Buddhist monk in Thailand, Burma and India, and now a husband, father, teacher, and popular lecturer, is a great place to start and to continue. The title of this book emphasizes Kornfield's favorite theme that love is what life is ultimately all about and whatever path one follows in life, one must be sure that it is a "path with heart," one that w

Buddhism has many strands. As the original teachings of Buddha through North India, South India, Tibet, Sri Lanka, Burma, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan it took on flavors of the local contexts and thus different forms of Buddhism emerged. It's arrival in North America took on a form known as Insight Meditation. (I'm not a scholar of Buddhism and I don't doubt that there there are others) . Insight Meditation, with a number of centers in the Cambridge/Boston area has had significant influence

Living as I do in a fairly isolated environment, my being solitary most of the time without access to either a community or a teacher Jack Kornfield has in some ways fulfilled the role of both for me.His gentle insight into the ways we need to translate our practice into our daily lives has been a rudder as I wend my way along the path. His writings have provided guidance and inspiration as well as an anchor point for one who has a tendency to wander, I am grateful to have found his writing it h...

I've been reading this book for a long time. I read a chapter, put it down. Pick it up months later. Not because it is bad or poorly written--it's not. It's just something I do with some books. I have learned from it...and I'm sure I will learn more in the future.

This is a Kornfield's attempt at a general guide book to Buddhist spiritual inquiry. It makes an attempt to draw parallels between Buddhism and other spiritual traditions, but in general it's intended audience is practicing Buddhists with some familiarity with the tradition. I bought this book after seeing Kornfield speak at the Evolution of Psychotherapy conference. He got a room of about a thousand mental health practitioners to chant and do meditation in concert. It was a powerful experience....

good ol' kornfield. i'm unsure how well this book would read if you didn't have a meditation practice already, but i'm finding it to be a fantastic support for my current practice. he lays out the key obstacles that people find as they build their spiritual practice, as well as how to support yourself when you come up against these roadblocks. gentle, wise, funny, sometimes weird, i'm finding that this book is very much reflecting the challenges i'm currently in the midst of. i'd be interested t...

like kornfield, my early practice focused too much on ideas of the mind, not including or focusing on the heart. this book helped me be kind to myself and others through tough times. I see myself returning to it frequently. It takes a very long, broad view towards spiritual practice and has lots of practical, compassionate advice for the many stages at which one may find oneself. I'd also recommend it to anyone new to this type of stuff, it's easy and lovely to read, the practices are short and

Unfortunately I didn't even finish this book. It was hard to get through. I love spiritual books but this one was boring. Life is too short to finish bad books :)

A wonderful book that covers both esoteric and practical aspects of meditation and spiritual growth. This book could fruitfully be read by both beginners and advanced practitioners but I think someone intermediate with several years meditation experience would get the most out of it.As a long time meditator, I could relate to many of the different states of consciousness the author describes. I believe life - this life, now - is a journey in increasing consciousness, and increasing understanding...

Top 3 most important books I've read in my life. I usually go through a book in a few days, not usually more than a week or so, but this book took me over a year because I would read only a few pages at a time because I'd be so moved and affected by what I'd read, so I decided to let it sink in rather than rush through it. I'm so grateful I did, and I'm looking forward to moving on to another book of Jack's, "After The Ecstasy, The Laundry."

It's taken me way too long to realize that I just don't relate to Jack Kornfield and his whole style. It's basically the epitome of woo-woo baby boomer, through the lens of Western Buddhism. If that's your thing, cool. It is most definitely not my thing. I couldn't finish it. And honestly, I think his style might be impeding some folks' meditative progress.Also he does this thing where he'll tell a feel-good story that's only tangentially related to his topic at hand, but happens to be really cl...

This is not a book, in a way it is many books. It contains the basics of loving compassion for those who still might be doubtful. It contains heart's advice for those who might have had a dawn of awakening as well as warnings for those who might have stopped seeking and are just trying to escape the world in meditation. It also addresses the tender issue of some spiritual teachers taking advantage of their students. Ethics are covered in detail.If you are new to Buddhism and initially deeply inv...

"Compassion is the heart's response to sorrow. We share in the beauty of life and ocean of tears, Sorrow in life is part of each of our hearts and what connects us to one another. It brings tenderness, mercy, and all embracing kindness that has the ability to touch every being"."Our compassioned heart can untangle our sorrow"."The temple bell stopsbut the sound keeps coming out of the flowers".