Jack Kornfield's first major book — his synthesis of Theravada Vipassana practice (he trained for years in Thailand under Ajahn Chah and Ajahn Mahasi) with Western clinical psychology. The book's distinguishing move is its attention to spiritual bypass, addiction within sanghas, and the transference dynamics between students and teachers, written from inside the lineage rather than as outside critique.
Contents
Did I Love Well?
Stopping the War
Taking the One Seat
Necessary Healing
Training the Puppy: Mindfulness of Breathing
Turning Straw into Gold
Naming the Demons
Difficult Problems and Insistent Visitors
The Spiritual Roller Coaster: Kundalini and Other Side Effects
Expanding and Dissolving the Self: Dark Night and Rebirth
Searching for the Buddha: A Lamp Unto Ourselves
Accepting the Cycles of Spiritual Life
No Boundaries to the Sacred
No Self or True Self?
Generosity, Codependence and Fearless Compassion
You Can't Do It Alone: Finding and Working with a Teacher
Psychotherapy and Meditation
The Emperor's New Clothes: Problems with Teachers
Karma: The Heart Is Our Garden
Expanding Our Circle: An Undivided Heart
Spiritual Maturity
The Great Song
Reception
Considered a foundational text of the American Insight Meditation movement alongside Joseph Goldstein's earlier work. Particularly notable for its early-1990s acknowledgement of teacher-student abuse patterns — material that several Asian-tradition teachers initially considered out of place in a dharma book and that the next two decades vindicated. The book's blend of practice instruction and pastoral psychology made it the recommended starting point for readers entering Buddhism via therapy or recovery. Sustained sales since 1993; Kornfield's Spirit Rock community is the institutional home.
Frequently asked
What is A Path with Heart about?
Jack Kornfield's first major book is a synthesis of Theravada Vipassana practice and Western clinical psychology, drawn from his years training in Thailand under Ajahn Chah and Ajahn Mahasi. The book gives practice instruction alongside pastoral psychology for the difficulties of a meditation life.
Why is the book historically important?
It was an early, written-from-inside acknowledgement of teacher-student abuse patterns, spiritual bypass, and addiction within Buddhist sanghas — material that several Asian-tradition teachers initially considered out of place in a dharma book and that the next two decades vindicated.
Who was Kornfield's main teacher?
Kornfield trained for years in Thailand and Burma, principally under Ajahn Chah of the Thai Forest Tradition and Mahasi Sayadaw of the Burmese Vipassana lineage. He later co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts and Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California.