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

An excellent guide to the basic tenets of buddhism applied to everyday life. Kornfield shares some of his personal journey as an inspiration to all to follow their own path. I especially like the way he drew wisdom from all traditions to illustrate key points, with quotes from Martin Luther King Jr to Shakespeare. Practical aspects of the methods and challenges of meditation are also included. This book had a profound impact on my life, and is one of those that I get off the shelf every so often and read again. Highly recommended!

I arrived at this 1993 book after reading Jack Kornfield's more recent book, AFTER THE ECSTASY, THE LAUNDRY (2000). I enthusiastically recommend both books.

We must be a lamp unto ourselves, the Buddha said. We must find our own true way. This is really the point of Kornfield's book. As a former Buddhist monk, a psychologist, and a seasoned meditation teacher, Kornfield has the qualifications to help us on our journey through life. "What matters is simple," he writes. "We must make certain that our path is connected with our heart" (p. 11). To live a genuine spiritual life in this confusing world, and a society all too often "addicted to alcohol, drugs, gambling, food, sexuality, unhealthy relationships, or the speed and busyness of work" (p.23), we must bring our full attention to life. "To open deeply, as a genuine spiritual life requires," Kornfield says, "we need tremendous courage and strength, a kind of warrior spirit . . . We need a warrior's heart that lets us face our lives directly, our pains and limitations, our joys and possibilities" (p. 8).

Although written from a Buddhist perspective, this book will appeal to anyone interested in living an authentic life. It is filled with insightful passages. In Chapter Two, Kornfield encourages his reader to stop the war with oneself and make peace. He teaches his reader in Chapter Seven to name one's demons, e.g., greed, fear, doubt, judgment, confusion, anger, boredom, sleepiness, and restlessness, in order to gain power over them. "A genuine spiritual path does not avoid difficulties or mistakes," Kornfield observes in Chapter Six, entitled "Turning Straw into Gold," "but leads us to the art of making mistakes wakefully" (p. 72). (Facing the difficulties of one's spiritual life becomes the theme of Kornfield's current book, AFTER THE ECSTASY, THE LAUNDRY.) Learn to be a lamp unto yourself, he writes in Chapter Eleven, "our liberation and happiness arise from our own deep knowing" (p. 159). In Chapter Twenty--one of my favorite passages in this book--Kornfield writes: "Everything we do in life is a chance to awaken" (p. 291). He asks: "Can we bring the Buddha into the voting booth where we live; can we act as the Buddha, writing letters to our congressmen and congresswomen; can we share in feeding the hungry; can we walk like the Buddha to demonstrate for peace or justice or care for our environment? The greatest gift we can bring to the challenges of these areas is our wisdom and greatness of heart" (p. 293).

If you liked AFTER THE ECSTASY, you will like this book. Read it. It will become a well-travelled "Path" on your bookshelf.

G. Merritt

I read this book when it was first published and recognized immediately that Jack Kornfield's path was also 'my path'. It inspired a deepening of my spiritual practice and a truly happier and more peaceful life. I re-read it whenever I need a boost. This book is very personal, and also universal. Jack uses stories from his own experience to illuminate the path of a more general spiritual journey, and to entertain us.
It's a must for anyone seeking guidance for a spiritual journey or inspiration to begin one. A Path With Heart speaks to the heart, the mind, the body and the soul. It is accessible, it is not religious, it is not heavy duty philosophy. Read it.

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.

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.)