A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life by Jack Kornfield

A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life Reviews

• 
  Craig Shoemake

  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, this may be on account of personality or timing. Anyway, having read the book and announced this caveat, I’ll plunge in to my review.
  
  First let’s nail down what the book is about, because it’s not immediately clear by looking at the table of contents. The title comes from an oft-quoted passage from Carlos Castaneda’s first book, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge:
  
  "For me there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart. There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length. And there I travel looking, looking, breathlessly…"
  
  The spiritual life is not just a path, but a forest, with infinite numbers of highways and byways and small trails, and if you’re not careful, or don’t have a good guide, it is easy to end up at a dead-end or some bad place you never intended. This book is meant as a guide or map to this terrain.
  
  Its range is necessarily vast, covering everything from the important questions of one’s life (“Did I love well?”) to making peace with oneself (“dealing with our stuff” as Daniel Ingram would say), and initial attempts to train the wayward mind (the “puppy” as Kornfield puts it). Salient topics such as the stages of insight and the perennial debate of True Self versus No-Self are considered from Kornfield’s typically ecumenical and gracious standpoint. The particular issues of Westerners dealing with abuse, codependence, and self-loathing are tackled, and the positive role psychotherapy can play in unwinding these issues is also discussed. Karma is defined and the necessary role of compassionate, helpful work as “meditation-in-action” advocated.
  
  Kornfield is one of the godfathers of the American meditation scene, and his vast experience, sensitive expression and insight are abundantly on display. It is not surprising then that while I would heartily recommend it as an introduction or preliminary text to one’s sadhana, it also bears reviewing at later stages of development. In other words, this is neither a book for beginners, intermediates, or advanced students of the Way; it’s for everyone, since everyone at all times is running into at least one or two issues discussed in the book.
  
  Quality-wise Kornfield’s insights, suggestions and clarifications are impeccable. He is a very human and down-to-earth guide, one who sees beyond the starry-eyed ideals of perfection many traditions advocate (cf. Ingram’s Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha for more on this), and while the Theravada is his “home base” so to speak, his vision is all-embracing as regards the varieties of approaches one can take to the contemplative path. I would recommend this book even to dyed-in-the-wool Christians—maybe an evangelical or two… (but maybe not)—without hesitation. I don’t see how it could fail to inform or advise someone, regardless of where they are. In the end, sincerity and a desire to learn are what count.
  
  Despite all these good points, I found myself constantly irritated by Kornfield’s writing. It is, to say the least, a little on the saccharine side; nay, sometimes it went down like seven packs of Splenda in my coffee. There’s a little too much “wisdom and compassion,” “heart,” and “joy,” “being” and Buddha-nature here, and in Kornfield’s world everyone is a “master”: a Zen Master (with both words capitalized no less, like it’s a job title or something), a meditation master, a spiritual master, or just plain master. I’m sorry, but not everyone can be a master. If you’ve been on retreat for ten or more years or you’re a natural-born genius, you might qualify, but these sorts are rare; the word is overused. (Besides, I don’t want a master; I want a teacher or guide or good friend, but I digress…) To make a long story short: Kornfield is heavy on the “fufu jargon,” and for a spiritual curmudgeon like me it just doesn’t fly.
  
  This kind of writing is unabashedly “popular,” politically correct, and “nice.” The above is symptomatic of this, but his willingness to water down passages quoted from other (especially traditional) sources, to massage them into accordance with his way of presentation, also points to this tendency. (Not to mention irritates the hell out of me!) I groaned at one point (page 74) where, when quoting don Juan (from Castaneda) Kornfield felt it necessary to stick the word “spiritual” in front of the word “warrior,” as if without we might all think he was advocating something he clearly wasn’t. Two pages later an even worse example of this sort of heavy-handed editorializing reared its ugly head. In Kornfield’s words, the Buddha said:
  
  "Just as the great oceans have but one taste, the taste of salt, so too there is but one taste fundamental to all true teachings of the Way, and this is the taste of freedom" (76).
  
  The source is Udana 5:6, where in the original Pali it says “Just as the great ocean has one taste, the taste of salt, so too this Dhamma and Discipline have one taste: the taste of freedom.” Clearly, the Buddha was describing his teaching, not anyone else’s, but Kornfield, liking the passage, “adjusted” it to fit his message. I think you can see why this sort of thing, indulged in on a regular basis, would rub some people the wrong way.
  
  So, the brilliant and witty, the philosophically profound and the airy-fairy—it’s all here and much more. I will leave you with some sage advice on this book from Daniel Ingram, who called A Path With Heart a “masterwork”:
  
  "Only major problem is that is it so nicely written and gentle you might not realize how hard hitting it is. Assume it is very hard hitting and technical despite its friendly tone and you will get more out of it."
  
  
• 
  Helynne

  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 will lead a person at the end of his/her life to be able to answer positively to the question "Did I love well?" I also have enjoyed some of Korfield's audio CDs such as his six-CD set called Buddhist Meditation for Beginners, a collection of his lectures that emphasize the main tenets of Buddism--the four noble truths, (suffering, the cause of suffering, letting go of suffering, an end to suffering)and the eight-fold path to peace, etc., A Path with Heart contains chapter after chapter of Kornfield's calm, loving wisdom, and each has a detailed guided meditation such as lovingkindness, "stopping the war within," "a meditative visit to the healing temple," "transforming sorrow into compassion," forgiveness meditation, and many more. It took me a long time to finish this book because I was highlighting so much and taking so many notes. Despite the notes I already have, I believe that among all of the books I have read, this is one that deserves most to be reread and savored. So much calm, sane, and life-affirming advice to be gleaned here!
• 
  Lisa

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

  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. I have more mixed feelings about his book.
  
  There were some pretty notable pros and cons with this book. First the pros: Kornfield does a good job of addressing some of the pitfalls that one can fall into during spiritual practice. I thought the chapter on near enemies, "No boundaries to the sacred," was something everyone ought to read. I've known a number of people who, while benefitted from spiritual practice, tend to use it to justify unhealthy ways of being. He also discusses some of the perils of working with a spiritual community and spiritual "master" that I think help dispel some of the mythologizing of these individuals.
  
  There were a couple of things that irritated me throughout the book that I had a hard time getting past. First of all, Kornfield is very focused on the importance of working with a spiritual teacher. While I see how this can be helpful, I've also always believed that we each have our own access to mindfulness/enlightenment, and that a spiritual teacher is largly extraneous except for helping get us to practice more consistently. Secondly, Kornfield uses the word faith throughout the book. I have an inherent problem with this word, and a particular problem with it when it is used in the context of Buddhism. in general I think that faith condones human stupidity and when it comes to Buddhism it should be particularly avoided since Buddhism is not a religion in the typical sense of having beliefs about divine beings. At least the kind of Buddhism I practice doesn't.
  
  So, overall, a worthwhile read, but a few things that irritated me that I had to overlook in finding what was helpful about this book.
• 
  Sidney Luckett

  
  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 on meditation practice, in the Buddhist tradition, throughout much of the modernist Western World. There are a number of significant teachers in this tradition; amongst them are John Kabat-Zin, Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzburg, Larry Rosenberg (at whose feet I learnt much during a spell in Cambridge) and Jack Kornfield. (Is it a coincidence that all of these have a Jewish background?)
  
  Kornfield's book is one of my favorites partly because he backs up his 'lessons' with numerous examples from his numerous teachers from across the different Eastern forms of Buddhism, his own life and practice as well as from those whom he has lead in meditation sessions. Typically in this IM tradition, the religious forms of Buddhism that have accreted around the practice of meditation are de-emphasized (Rosenberg is fond of telling beginners in his classes that he is not a Buddhist!) making is very accessible to a Westerner. He doesn't avoid the difficult-to-remember sanskrit and pali concepts on which much of Buddhism is based and therefore it's not be the kind of book that I would recommend to a newcomer to meditation practice. Larry Rosenberg and John Kabat-Zin are more accessible for beginners, as is the profound, yet very ordinary, Pema Chodron.
  
  The best way that I can think of to introduce this book and give a prospective reader of it's flavor is to quote from one of the many insightful passages. Here's one.
  
  "There is no way to avoid the transitions of life. The chief means of entering them gracefully is to be [mindfully aware] of them over and over again. It is like learning to ride a horse: over and over again walking, trotting, cantering, over smooth and rough terssin, mounting and dismounting, starting and stopping, until is becomes possible for us to move through life in a graceful conscious way. In moving through the difficult stages of our lives, we can learn to trust our heart to these cycles and their unfolding as surely as we can trust roots to go down and shoots to push up through the earth ... We can trust that each petal of a flower will open in the right order from outside to inside. We can trust that whatever calls our attention in [meditation] practice - our body, our personal history, the community, around us - in or out of retreat, it will bring us what we need to live fully and genuinely in the timeless here and now.
  In a sense we are not going anywhere ...We are not trying to get somewhere better next year or in twenty years time, or even the next lifetime. We are learning to open to the timeless unfolding of our lives, being in greater and greater harmony with what is, with greater inclusiveness of our hearts to all seasons of our life
  
  What is there to loose? What is there to gain?
  If we gain something it was there from
  the beginning
  If we lose anything it was is hidden nearby (Ryokan) "
  
• 
  Ben Batchelder

  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 years of retreats, self-abnegation, and other practices which shouldn’t be done without adult supervision. And there’s the rub: it feels a bit like the prolonged initiation rights to the in-crowd at high school, dunces and normal folk unwelcome. As one chapter heading warns: “As Achuan Chan put it, ‘If you haven’t cried a number of times, your meditation hasn’t really begun.’” While it may be true, who knew that bawling is the key to the universe? But I read and benefitted from the book, and as the Buddha says, “One need not carry the raft on one’s head after crossing the stream.” Amen.
• 
  Steve Woods

  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 has become very personal for me.
• 
  Sian Lile-Pastore

  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.
• 
  Nick

  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 parts which I felt could have been trimmed from the book, like the part about gurus, or much of the last half of the book. But I guess its a general primer so its going to have a bit of "fat" on it. I'd say, if you need a reminder of how to apply Buddhist meditative practices to generating mental health for yourself, pick this up or download the audiobook. Especially if you are more neurotic, depressed, self critical, anxious, or have problems surrounding emotion. But if you already do these meditative practices on a daily basis, and feel like you are out of the Buddhism 101 stage, then its probably not for you. Its also fairly "cheesy" but hey, stop taking yourself so seriously and get a little cheesy.
• 
  Jim

  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.
• 
  Ron Wroblewski

  What I discovered from this book is that I don't want to be a Buddhist, or practice Buddhist meditation. It is much too complicated. I don't want to go from teacher to teacher, wandering about to see what suits me best.
  So the fist parts of the book are on meditation - the whys, hows, wheres etc. I struggled to get through this. Try all sorts of things, he says. What is the effect of this teaching and practice on myself and others? You might need Psychotherapy besides Meditation. The later parts of the book are much better - application to real life.
  
  "Recite inwardly: May I be filled with loving-kindness; may I be well; may I be peaceful and at ease; may I be happy".
  "The basic principle of spiritual life is that our problems become the very place to discover wisdom and love."
  "You don't like what you have and want what you don't have. Simply reverse this. Want what you have and don't want what you don't have. Here you will find true fulfillment."
  
  The 5 precepts:
  Refrain from killing and harming living beings
  Refrain from stealing and taking that which is not mine
  Refrain from causing harm through sexual misconduct
  Refrain from false speech, harmful speech, gossip and slander
  Refrain from misuse of intoxicants or substances such as alcohol or drugs
• 
  A

  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 sweet, simple, compelling.
• 
  Elizabeth Pangia

  If my library were to burn down, this would be the book i’d save first!
• 
  Nguyễn Thái Khâm

  Một quyển sách hay, sâu sắc về quá trình rèn luyện tâm linh để trái tim rộng mở, mở lòng hơn với cuộc sống, với mọi người mọi vật. Bằng những câu chuyện, phân tích nhẹ nhàng, tác giả chia sẻ trải nghiệm của mình trong quá trình luyện tập tâm linh cũng như đời sống và lưu ý mọi người rằng không có cái gì tách biệt.
  
  Tâm linh hay đời sống thường nhật đều là những bài học, những cơ hội, những huấn luyện dành riêng cho mỗi người, vấn đề là thái độ học hỏi và tỉnh thức của mỗi người đối với hoàn cảnh riêng của mình,
• 
  Tuấn Mát

  Đầy trí tuệ và từ bi! Đây là một cuốn sách nhất định sẽ mang đến hạnh phúc và bình an cho những ai được đọc và thực hành theo những gợi dẫn của tác giả. Thực sự biết ơn thầy Jack Kornfield vì những điều mà bản thân nhận được từ cuốn sách uyên áo, sâu sắc và thiết thực của thầy!
• 
  Jessica

  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 :)
• 
  Nuey Thepyasuwan

  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 of self and also understanding of self as it relates to the greater whole and universe at large. A wonderful book.
• 
  Carolyn Burhart

  Gorgeous book
• 
  Morgann

  At the end of my life I want to ask, “Did I love well, live fully, and let go?”
• 
  Regan

  A guy in gym shorts and flip flops on a bench facing the Hudson
• 
  Katie Allen

  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."
• 
  Michael S.

  I finished this book and immediately started reading it again. I suspect I will read it many more times over the course of my life.
  
  There are a lot of books--many of them quite good--on Buddhism and mindfulness, but this book stands out because Jack Kornfield's compassion and kindness is so ubiquitous and overwhelming that it finds a way to leap of the page and seep into your brain.
  
  A Path with Heart is also extremely pragmatic and helps one embrace doubt, frustration, disappointment, hubris, and other pitfalls as not only part of the process, but also as a sign of progress.
  
  This is a great read for anyone struggling with what 'progress' looks like in spiritual practice or who wants to enhance their sense of loving-kindness.
• 
  Jon Bash

  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 cloyingly "heart-warming," and then uses that tenuous connection to go back to his original topic. It drives me nuts.
• 
  Sara Zia

  
  
  I love Kornfield's writing style--it's clear, concise, engaging. His interpretations of Buddhism for Western audiences strikes a balance that resonates with me: not too heady, not too airy, not exoticising, and grounded in realistic understand as a person committed to social justice work and being in a community. I agree with other reviews that this is more of an "intermediate" book, not the best book if you are looking for an intro to interpretations of Buddhist philosophies in a Western context.
• 
  Liz

  "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 stops
  but the sound keeps coming out of the flowers".
• 
  Jerry Rocteur

  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 ?
• 
  carrie

  This book put into words much of what I've been experiencing in the past year or so through my yoga practice. It's a must.
• 
  Leigh

  This is one of my all time favorite metaphysical/spiritual books. Well written and full of heart.