Book Excerpts

Recommended Courses

Buddhist Psychology: Essential Skills For Transforming the Heart & Mind

Join Jack Kornfield in this rich exploration of the mind and heart through the lens of Buddhist psychology. Blending modern therapeutic insight with ancient wisdom,

The Awakened Heart: Discovering Great Joy and Love

In this transformative 3-week course, renowned meditation teacher Jack Kornfield guides you through powerful practices to awaken the qualities of the heart that bring deep

Transform Your Life Through Jack Kornfield’s Most Powerful Stories: A 10 Hour Journey

Enter the heart of wisdom through Jack Kornfield’s most beloved and life-changing stories. In this soulful course, each story becomes a doorway to compassion, healing,

Confusing Charisma with Wisdom

Another source of spiritual misunderstanding is our confusion of charisma with true wisdom. Certain spiritual leaders possess the ability to evoke extraordinary states. Amplified by

Freeing Ourselves

Unhealthy thoughts can chain us to the past. They arise as vipaka, the result of past karma that we cannot change. We can, however, change…

The Near Enemies of Awakening

Compassion vs. Pity and Despair The near enemy of compassion is pity. Instead of feeling the openness of compassion, pity says, “Oh, that poor person.…

No Enlightened Retirement

“If there be anywhere on earth a lover of God who is always kept safe, I know nothing of it, for it was not shown…

The Four Radiant Abodes

The most treasured description of optimal mental health is the Four Radiant Abodes. These four radiant abodes are: loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity or peace.…

Examining Thoughts

    Buddhist psychology helps us with two important tasks in working with thoughts. First it teaches us how to acknowledge the content of our…

The Compassionate Replacement of Painful Thoughts

If you are a person who has regular, repeated destructive thoughts, thoughts of self-judgment, criticism, shame, or unworthiness, work with this training for a week…

Non-Identification

In non-identification we stop taking the experience as me or mine. We see how our identification creates dependence, anxiety, and inauthenticity. In practicing non-identification, we…

Awakening the Buddha of Wisdom in Difficulties

“Who is your enemy? Mind is your enemy. Who is your friend? Mind is your friend.” ~Buddha I have on my refrigerator a picture of…

Misconceptions About Selflessness

Misconceptions about selflessness and emptiness abound, and such confusions undermine genuine spiritual development. Some people believe that they can come to selflessness by struggling to…

The Bird in the Trap

A certain man caught a bird in a trap. The bird says, “Sire, you have eaten many cows and sheep in your life, and you’re…

Healing Through Emptiness

The last aspect of mindful healing is awareness of the universal laws that govern life. Central to it is an understanding of emptiness. This is

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