A Lamp in the Darkness: Illuminating the Path Through Difficult Times

by Jack Kornfield

When the path ahead is dark, how can we keep from stumbling? How do we make our way with courage and dignity? "Inside each of us is an eternal light that I call 'the One Who Knows,' writes Jack Kornfield. "Awakening to this wisdom can help us fin dour way through pain and suffering with grace and tenderness." For anyone seeking answer during a trying time, he offers "A Lamp in the Darkness," a book-and-CD program filled with spiritual and psychological insights, hope-giving stories, and guided meditations for skillfully navigating life's inevitable storms.
The practices in this book are not positive thinking, quick fixes, or simplistic self-help strategies. They are powerful tools for doing "the work of the soul" to access our inner knowing and to embrace the fullness of our life experience. With regularly practice these teachings and meditations enable you to transform your difficulties into a guiding light for the journey ahead. Join Jack Kornfeld as your trusted guide as you
. Shared Compassion-a guided practice for planting the seeds of compassion and opening the heart to all that life brings


. The Earth Is My Witness-a meditation to establish firm footing in the midst of darkness, centered by a steady witnessing presence


. The Practice of Forgiveness-what Jack calls "the only medicine that can release us from the past and allow us to truly begin anew."


. The Temple of Healing-a guided visualization to meet our own inner healer


. Equanimity and Peace-a meditation for maintaining balance and acceptance regardless of the situation
Just as it is certain that each life will include suffering, explains Kornfield, it is also true that in every moment there is the possibility of transcending your difficulties to discover the heart's eternal freedom. With A Lamp in the Darkness, he offers you a beacon for yourself and others until joy returns again.
Table of Contents
Foreward by Jon Kabat-Zinn
An Invitation to Awaken
1. The Wisdom of Our Difficulties
2. The Earth is My Witness
3. Shared Compassion
4. Awakening the Buddha of Wisdom in Difficulties
5. The Practice of Forgiveness
6. The Temple of Healing
7. The Zen of an Aching Heart
8. Equanimity and Peace
9. Your Highest Intention
10. The Four Foundations of Mindfulness and the Healing Journey
The Return of Joy
Excerpt
If you're reading these words, you've probably hit hard times. Perhaps you've lost a loved one, or maybe you've lost your job, or received a difficult diagnosis, or someone close to you has. Maybe you're divorcing or you're in bankruptcy or you've been injured, or your life is falling apart in any number of ways. Maybe daily life itself has become too much for you.or not enough. But even in the best of times there's plenty to worry seemingly endless wars and violence, racism, our accelerating environmental destruction. In difficult times, personally or collectively, we often begin to wonder not only how we can get through this difficult patch; we begin to question existence itself.

Genres: Buddhism, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Self Help, Meditation, Religion, Philosophy

103 pages, Hardcover

First published September 28, 2010

About the author

Jack Kornfield trained as a Buddhist monk in the monasteries of Thailand, India and Burma. He has taught meditation internationally since 1974 and is one of the key teachers to introduce Buddhist mindfulness practice to the West. He began his training after graduating from Dartmouth College in Asian Studies in 1967. Then he joined the Peace Corps and was assigned to the Public Health Service in northeast Thailand, which is home to several of the world’s oldest Buddhist forest monasteries. He met and studied under the Buddhist master Ven. Ajahn Chah, as well as the Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw of Burma. After returning to the United States, Jack co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, with fellow meditation teachers Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein. He is also a founding teacher of the Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre, California, where he currently lives and teaches. Over the years, Jack has taught in centers and universities worldwide, led International Buddhist Teacher meetings with the Dalai Lama and worked with many of the great teachers of our time. He holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and is a husband, father and an activist.

His books have been translated into 20 languages and sold more than a million copies. They include, A Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology, A Path with Heart; After the Ecstasy, the Laundry; Teachings of the Buddha; Seeking the Heart of Wisdom; Living Dharma; A Still Forest Pool; Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart; Buddha’s Little Instruction Book; The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness and Peace, Bringing Home the Dharma: Awakening Right Where You Are, and his most recent book, No Time Like the Present: Finding Freedom, Love, and Joy Right Where You Are.

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think it's time for me to accept that my hyperactive squirrel brain is not capable of meditation. It always goes something like this: “Focus on my breathing, focus on my breathing, focus on my brea … crap, I forgot to put out the trash bins. Oh, well, I'll try to do it tomorrow morning. But what if I forget? I forgot last week too. Maybe I should just do it now? But it's 2:30 in the morning and I'm in my pajamas. I really should buy some new paja … $%&!! I'm supposed to be meditating.” And then repeat. Forever. Or at least until I start dozing off. And probably also at some point a cat parkours off my chest.

I still keep listening to these Jack Kornfield audiobooks, though, because he has a very soothing voice and also because my kid spends eighteen hours a day explaining YouTube videos to me and I could really use some f**king zen in my life right now, okay??

Ahem.

Anyway, this audiobook is fine although it's not my favorite bunch of Kornfield's guided meditations. It's probably better if you pick and choose instead of listening straight through, because there are some very specific meditations that won't apply to everyone (for recovering from a broken heart, forgiveness, etc.). He also spends a lot of time sharing “inspirational” vignettes that sound rather, you know … made up. But still, I would listen to Kornfield read the phone book because his voice really is fantastically soothing and also because it doesn't actually matter what he's saying because I suck at meditating anyway.

3.49 stars, rounded down.

[robin friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meditation In Adversity

There are many books offering a variety of religious perspectives on dealing with the inevitable tragedies and disappointments of life, such as death, illness, divorce, loss of a loved one, loss of a job or means of support and more. Jack Kornfield's upcoming book, "A Lamp in the Darkness: Illuminating the Path Through Difficult Times" (2011) offers a path through difficulties based upon Buddhist teachings and a program of directed meditation. Kornfield (b. 1945) is one of the leading United States teachers of meditation. Kornfield holds a PhD in clinical psychology and is the cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society and the Spirit Rock Meditation Center. He has written extensively about Buddhism and meditation.

I received this book while in the middle of reading a difficult and lengthy new study by Johnathan Israel of the history of Enlightenment in the 17th Century. The philosopher Benedictus de Spinoza is one of Israel's heroes and one of my own. "Democratic Enlightenment: Philosophy, Revolution, and Human Rights, 1750-1790". I had to consider the seeming contrast between the two books: Israel's in praise of the development of secularization and Kornfield's religious, Buddhist treatment of human suffering. One of the virtues of Kornfield's account is that, while unmistakably Buddhist in orientation, there is little in the book that cound not be read with benefit and without conflict by followers of a different religion or by secular individuals. Most of this book cuts across religious lines or across distinctions between secular and religious approaches to life. Even the French Encyclopediastes that Israel discusses may have approved!

Kornfield's short book consists of ten short chapters together with an accompanying CD of about 80 minutes that includes six guided meditations. A guided meditation is one in which the leader speaks and provides direction to the people meditating as opposed to the meditators simply sitting in silence. The meditations here are between 8 and 16 minutes in length, spoken by Kornfield himself, and offer clear, insightful direction. The meditations cover the first eight chapters of the book, with the topics titled, "The Earth is my Witness", "Shared Compassion", "Buddha in Difficulties", "The Practice of Forgiveness", "The Temple of Healing", and "Equanimity and Peace." The words of each meditation also are presented in the text of the book. In the early chapters, Kornfield offers introductory remarks, followed by the text of the meditation, and a conclusion.

Kornfield's approach, and I think the Buddhist approach, finds the way to responding to adversity in oneself. Through reflection and compassion, each individual may find that the "Lamp in the Darkness" is oneself, at one's best and truest. The introspective, personal focus, I think, allows meditation practice to coexist with religious or secular beliefs. Meditation, for Kornfield, offers a path for awakening the self, realizing the beauties and frailties of life, and developing compassion for oneself and for others. Each chapter and accompanying meditation offer its own way towards understanding and move from particular qualities to the more general underlying quality of peace and equanimity.

I approached the book by reading each chapter and then pausing to hear the related meditation on the CD. Then I read through the book without the CD and listened to the CD through without the book. These were appropriate ways to approach the book on a first reading and for purposes of a short review. Readers will likely want to work through the book slowly and to return to one or another of the guided meditations several times.

Kornfield writes simply and well, and the book includes many allusions to famous figures and writers together with stories that illminate the themes. The final two chapters in the book on "Your Highest Intention" and on "The Four Foundations of Mindfulness and the Healing Journey" are essay-length and underlie the guided meditations offered in earlier chapters. In the last chapter, Kornfield quotes extensively from a Yale surgeon's account of his experience with the Dalai Lama's personal Tibetan physician, Dr Yeshe Dhonden. The American surgeon's story illuminates an approach to healing that is often overlooked. Among many other things, Kornfield also ties his account of understanding adversity with the great English poet William Blake. Kornfield quotes the following passage from Blake's "Auguries of Innocence" on the understanding of the nature and interrelated character of the emotions:

"It is right it should be so
Man was made for joy and woe
And when this we rightly know
Through the world we safely go.
Joy and woe are woven fine
A clothing for the soul divine
And under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine."

Kornfield points out that for Blake, as for the teachings Kornfield offers, "joy and sorrow are woven together; you can't have one without the other. You can't have birth without death, or pleasure without pain, or hot without cold, nor light without dark. Our feelings and emotions of joy and sorrow are ever-changing, like a river." (p. 82)

I am a member of a long-standing Buddhist study group in which the participants take turns facilitating discussions of different aspects of Buddhist practice in everyday life. I was at a loss at what to present for my turn until I received and read this book. I plan on presenting Kornfield's guided meditation CD from the book to the group in the near future.

I am grateful that this book was made available to readers and reviewers through the Amazon Vine Program.

Robin Friedman

[Steven Lurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I highly recommend the audio book version of "Guided Meditations for Difficult Times: A Lamp in the Darkness" by Jack Kornfield.

Having read a good deal of his work, Kornfield has emerged as one of my favorite writers and speakers in the Buddhism/mindfulness genre. Based on my experience listening to Guided Meditations, I signed up for a five day JK retreat which I completed two weeks ago at “Kripalu” in Lenox, Ma.

The meditations that make up this short book are designed to help listeners face life’s unavoidable painful experiences – heartbreak, illness, death – using mindfulness and related practices. Like a wise mentor, his guidance and insights connect with the listener, and have a reassuring and soothing impact. Kornfield successfully translates his background and experience as a psychologist, ordained Buddhist monk, psychotherapist, teacher, and leader into highly accessible, user friendly and deeply nourishing written and spoken teachings. I should say that I listened to the book during “good” times. I was on vacation sitting on the porch overlooking a lake in Vermont. But just like “you don’t have to be Jewish to love Levi’s (rye bread)”, you don’t have to be suffering (or a Buddhist) to love Kornfield’s meditations.

Each of the meditations are twenty to twenty five minutes and preceded by interesting and useful comments about the meditation. Each of the guided meditations starts with instructions that anyone can follow. So no experience in mindfulness, Buddhism or meditation is required to enjoy the book. As in his other work, Kornfield’s meditations are enriched with stories, allegories, and teachings from the Buddha, Bible, ancient and contemporary poetry, and his psychotherapy and teaching experiences. The meditations come across as spiritual but secular – no asking you to believe in the supernatural.

Despite the ribbing self-help books get in our rugged individualist culture, the enormous and growing audience for this genre reflects the extent to which people are starving to death in our "all you can eat" world, for meaning, connection, and peace of mind. Books like the ones Jack Kornfield writes are only as good as the connection the reader or listener feels with the writer. There is a genuine equanimity in his voice, pacing and writing style which I find common to people who have had thousands of hours of contemplative meditation practice. This gives him a soothing and charismatic fatherly "presence" that cultivates a deep trust with the listener/reader and creates the effect of feeling "held" and safe. Jack’s meditations approach life's most painful and threatening challenges with the quiet strength, wisdom and reassuring voice of a horse whisperer approaching a dangerous stallion.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is exactly what I needed right now....

"The real tragedy is when we refuse to acknowledge and respect our own suffering and instead spread it unconsciously to others."

"If you judge yourself against some impossible ideal of how you think you "should" be feeling and acting as you struggle, you'll only add to your suffering"

"But how can we find this "one who knows" in the midst of our overwhelming difficulties? Go to the mirror. Look at your face. You will see someone who looks older than you looked several years ago, although inside you don't feel any older. This is because it is only your body that has aged. The timeless awareness through which you see your body is the one who knows. Your body is only a temporary vessel for this awareness. It is a physical container for the undying consciousness of the one who knows".

"As Albert Camus wrote: We all carry within us our places of exile, our crimes, our ravages, But our task is not to unleash them on the world, it is to fight them in ourselves and others."

"And remember that you do not simply carry the lamp; you yourself are the lamp. Carry it so that others see with clarity and compassion even in the deepest darkness".

"For it is in this deep attention that brings healing. As a human being , this what you're supposed to be doing. Your experience of being human in this way-opening to ten thousand sorrows and joys of yourself and others-becomes a kind of salvation".

"Who is your enemy?" asks Buddha. "Mind is your enemy. No one can harm you more than your own mind untamed. And who is your friend? Mind is your friend. No one can help you more than your own mind, wisely trained- not even your own mother and father".

[Artemisia Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the privilege of attending a meditation retreat led by Jack Kornfield a few years back and I've always been impressed with his wisdom, humility and kindness. And in this book, the depth of experience in his own spiritual study and longtime meditation practice are apparent in the authenticity and value of his teachings. In a time when so many profess to be spiritual teachers or gurus, this man is the real thing; though of course, he'd be the last to say that.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect choice for this troubling time. Beautiful insights and prayerful meditations that remind us to stay centered in ourselves. The world offers perennial renewal and that renewal is in all of us.

[Jenny Davidow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, which is classic Jack Kornfield, reduced to a very pithy series of topics and meditations to help you through life's challenges and the emotions that can get us stuck in misery.
Best of all, there's a CD of his meditations that comes with the book, which now is part of my morning meditation practice. Whether you're new to meditating or experienced, these meditations reach deep levels of emotion and guide you to a more spacious way to meet the challenges that inevitably come.

[Randy Lyback · Rating 3 out of 5]

No real meditation

I wish I realized the Meditation did not come with this version of the book. You can read the meditation but what’s the point of that? I can’t read and meditate simultaneously.

[Mariana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected more from Jack Kornfield. The CD at the end of the book is more valuable than the book.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely little book that focuses on alternative ways to look at difficult times in our lives, encouraging us to "connect to the lamp of wisdom you carry deep within." (p. 31) It includes eight focused, guided meditations to help us to become more grounded, aware, compassionate, guided through painful or difficult experiences, forgiving, healed, whole, restored, balanced, peaceful, reflective, intentional, mindful, and joyful.

My favorite meditation is found on p. 31, in which you visualize yourself in a known difficult situation. In the midst of this experience, a guest arrives, a marvelous, luminous wisdom figure, who warmly greets you with a smile and says, "Are you having a hard day?" This figure then says, "Let me help you. Let me show you how I would handle this," and you get to follow along and feel what their state of mind and heart are during this difficult circumstance. When they have completed all they can do for you in this particular situation, they excuse themselves. Before they leave, however, they leave you a gift, a symbol, and "they will touch you gently and whisper in your ear a few last words of advice." You thank them sincerely and let them go, and then you reflect on their approaches, what they taught you, what their words were, and "what you understand about the gifts they have given you."

My other favorite passages from this book include:

"Wisdom knows that although you may feel that your life or another's life is ending, new life is always growing in and around you. The universe continues to expand, the Earth continues to turn through the seasons, the soil continues to bring forth new growth. Even in the moment of your eventual death, mothers will be giving birth, bringing new hope, love, difficulty, and possibility into the world." (p. 7)

"In the Jewish mystical tradition, a great rabbi taught his disciples to memorize and contemplate the teachings and to place the prayers and holy words on their hearts. One day a student asked the rabbi why he always used the phrase "on your heart" and not "in your heart." The master replied, "Only time and grace can put the essence of these stories in your heart. Here we recite and learn them and put them on our hearts hoping that some day when our heart breaks they will fall in." (p. 49)

"No one can harm you, not even your worst enemy, as much as your own mind untrained. And no one can help you, not even your most loving mother and father, as much as your own mind well trained." --the Buddha (p.57)

"When we can find this same calm center within ourselves, it is as if we reach what is called in bullfighting our querencia. The querencia is the place in the ring where the bull feels safe. In order to successfully fight the bull, the matador must force the bull off its querencia, its place of wholeness. This querencia in a human being is our centeredness and balance where--fully aware of our difficulties--we can remain calm, peaceful, and wise. If we can prevent anyone or anything from forcing us out of our querencia, we can gather the strength necessary to accept our difficulties.

It's critical to remember that remaining in our querencia does not require an absence of change or difficulty, and that the state of peace and equanimity should not be confused with withdrawal or indifference." (p. 57-58)

"Every morning when the Dalai Lama wakes up, he begins his morning practices with a prayer from Shantideva: "May I be a guard for those who need protection; a guide for those on the path; a boat, a raft, a bridge for those to cross the flood; may I be a lamp in the darkness; a resting place for the weary, and a healing medicine for all who are sick. For as long as Earth and sky endure, may I assist until all living beings are awakened." (p. 63)

"Living our highest intentions can happen in great ways... or in what may seem small--yet critical--ways of refusing to be conquered by the difficulties that come to us in our lives. We can choose our spirit in spite of everything. Sometimes, all we'll be able to offer is a smile to the weary or forlorn on the streets. Sometimes it will be to plant a garden where there was none, or plant seeds of patience in a family or of reconciliation in community difficulty. No matter what situation we find ourselves in, we can always set our compass to our highest intentions in the present moment. Perhaps it is nothing more than being in a heated conversation with another person and stopping to take a breath and asking yourself, "What is my highest intention in this moment?" (p. 65)

"As Albert Camus wrote, "We all carry within us our places of exile, our crimes, our ravages. But our task is not to unleash them on the world; it is to fight them in ourselves and others." (p. 65)

"We all have the same longing to be respected and lIStened to and held. Whether the Afghanis or the Pakistanis, the Jews, the Muslims, or the Christians, the prisoners and their guards, your co-workers and managers, your children and your parents, and the laborers who harvest the food you eat. Who doesn't want to be listened to with respect? If you look at the people in your life, it will only take you a moment to realize who of the people you know really needs to be deeply listened to right now." (P. 73-74)

"As Lauren Slater explains, "In this time of managed care [in our medical practices], more emphasis seems to be placed upon medication and the quick amelioration of symptoms short-term work and privatized, profit-making clinics, than upon the lovely and mysterious alchemy that comprises the [healing] chords between people, the chords that can soothe some terrors and help us heal.

Voltaire once explained, "The art of medicine primarily consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease." (p. 75)

"[R]eflect on your body right this minute--in whatever condition it's in--with compassionate attention. What kind of attention does it want? What would best honor its strength and life force? What would boost its resilience and well-being? What healing truth is your body trying to teach you right now?

When you listen to your body in this way, you can also feel that it's the Earth's body. Its bones are made of Earth minerals, calcium and magnesium, and there is seawater in your blood. Your body is winter wheat and asparagus and French brie and everything you eat. It's not just your body but part of something bigger: you are the Earth come alive." (p. 78-79)

"When you go to a garden," asks Rumi, "do you look at thorns or flowers? Spend more time with roses and jasmine." (p. 96)

"No matter what you have faced, joy and renewal wait your return. When you remember this, you can open your eyes to the mystery of life around you." (p. 96)

I especially love the story on p. 21-22 of the young army lieutenant sent to mindfulness training because of his inability to control his temper. After about six weeks of training, he was put to the test when he was held up in a grocery store line. He was behind a woman holding a baby, who handed the baby to the cashier who cooed at him. The lieutenant practiced paying attention to his breath, becoming aware of his anger, until kindness flooded him and his pain and suffering diminished. "So when he got up to the checkout counter he'd calmed down enough to say graciously, "That was kind of a cute kid, wasn't it?" And the checkout clerk looked up at him and said, "Oh, do you think so? He's my boy. You see, my husband was in the army and he was killed in the Middle East last year. Now I have to work and my mom stays home to take care of my baby. She tries to bring him in once a day so I can see him."

[Cor T · Rating 3 out of 5]

This mindfulness teacher tries to connect us in times of grief with the knowing, wise presence of consciousness inside of us, "the one who knows." Each chapter contains a meditation, which naturally would be best listened to rather than read. Three stars because I didn't realize I was reading a book of guided meditations.
Example:
Once you have honored the demon of your pain and broken heart, ask yourself, is this who you really are? Is this pain your essence, your soul? Now open to feel the loneliness that surrounds this wounded heart, a loneliness you share with all living beings, in all times. Then let this loneliness open and expand until it becomes all there is. Feel it change from a personal sense of loneliness to a vast aloneness that is still and silent and permeates the entire world. Then, when you feel that it is complete, breathe gently in this aloneness. Find your peace there. It is your home. It is where you can come to rest. Breathe in this aloneness gently, and breathe out into the vast space that surrounds you.

And, as we all could guess, the lamp in the darkness IS the one who knows: Know that you cannot help but carry this lamp because its light is your source, and you are the lamp. It is the lamp of your highest intention.

[Kathleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

There should be a warning label on the audiobook: keep hankies and a counselor handy when operating these guided meditations.

I found some strong and helpful ideas in these meditations, but I won't be repeating them right away. Kornfield asks us to remember our most painful and traumatic moments, to go through them again towards healing. That's great, maybe -- he does it well -- but for some traumas, in some people, it shouldn't be undertaken with a mere virtual coach.

Maybe best to read the print version first, and go into the meditations having skimmed them over and knowing what's coming. Be prepared for sobbing, wrenching pain, heightened sensitivity, and increased vulnerability to panic attacks and nightmares.

Also, there's no bed of music or nature sounds to the meditations, so when he pauses you might be checking to see if it's over or what. There's sometimes a bell to signal beginning and end of meditation but sometimes not.

[Mark Yashar · Rating 4 out of 5]

"We were designed to journey through the full measure of beauty and sorrows in life and survive"
.....
“The warrior in your heart says stand your ground. Feel the survival of a thousand years of ancestors in your muscles and your blood. You have all the support you need in your bones.”
.....
"Loss and betrayal tear open the heart. Look through this gate for the wisdom that lies there. What matters now? What do the wise ones do now?"
.....
“As Albert Camus wrote, “We all carry within us our places of exile, our crimes, our ravages. But our task is not to unleash them on the world; it is to fight them in ourselves and others.”
......

"No one can harm you, not even your worst enemy, as much as your own mind untrained. And no one can help you, not even your mother and father, as much as your own mind well trained."

― Jack Kornfield, A Lamp in the Darkness: Illuminating the Path Through Difficult Times

[Diana Raab · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jack Kornfield, one of my favorite spiritual leaders, is a gem of a book for anyone enduring difficult times. This book is not only enlightening, but offers concrete techniques and meditations for those who have either gotten off their spiritual path or those who are enduring turbulent times and need to find the light. Buddhists like Kornfield know that the best way to navigate difficult times is to turn toward the pain and embrace it as a lesson leading to transformation. Kornfield reminds the reader that they're not alone and also the importance of holding their ground and honoring the warrior within. Healing also involves remembering who you really are. The best way to accomplish this is through mindfulness, compassion for the self, compassion for others and compassion for the universe.

[Jenny Webb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best experienced as an audiobook (as this is a collection of literal guided meditations, along with an introduction).

Kornfield is an excellent and caring guide; he crafts these meditations thoughtfully, so they address specific areas or “tones” of difficulties. The approach is mindfulness based loving kindness, so a focus on breath, release of tension, the rise of emotions, noting the active mind, etc. Kornfield adds in specific guided imagery, but in a way that is open to the listener’s own beliefs: meeting a wisdom figure from one’s own tradition, for example.

This set is accessible to beginners who are unfamiliar with meditation, and enriching to those who have practiced a long time. Recommended.

[Rubina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Wise Heart by Jack Kornfield is one of my all time favorite books. Kornfield did not disappoint with A Lamp in the Darkness. This little gem is filled with great wisdom about accepting and facing the many difficulties we encounter in life with compassion. Every life is filled with change and insecurity. Often it is our own state of mind that causes us the most difficulty. By learning to cultivate mindfulness, forgiveness, wisdom, healing, compassion, equanimity and peace we can face our difficulties and heal. I like that the teachings on each of these topics is followed by meditation practices. Definitely a book to read and re-read.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

Concise, and with a compassionate manner, this book is self-billed “super food for the soul,” written by a clinical psychologist who is also a Buddhist meditation counselor. This book has the model (short, direct and practical) for what I am sensing is needed; however his answers, though sounding good are ultimately deadly. My Pocket Guide will not get all rave reviews his does, for my book will have the courage to tell the truth as the One who claimed to be the truth tells it. Biblical answers told compassionately and clearly are my aim.

[Lanette Sweeney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sensible, compassionate advice for finding your way out of the darkness. I read the first eight chapters for an online course I was taking and loved them -- but then didn't feel compelled to finish the book, which is why I shaved off a star. (This is probably more about my reaction to non-fiction, though, than about the quality of the book.) I highly recommend Jack Kornfield as a meditation teacher and author and would gladly read more books by him in the future.

[Karen Trench · Rating 5 out of 5]

A small, simple, insightful gem of a book! When my heartlight went out after the death of my husband, Jack Kornfield's words of profound compassion, love, and wisdom helped turn it back on. He is a beautiful soul and teacher.

[Prophe Mangwa · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[Wassim · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's nothing particularly bad about this - it's still a worthwhile read for anyone looking to get into Kornfield's work - but I found a decent amount of it to be a retread of what he covered in The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace

[Herve Tunga · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the various templates for diverse kind of meditations

[Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it. A great balance between wisdom, stories and exercises in meditation.

[Harry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read a little at a time this book was quieting and inspiring. A lot of value packed into a few pages.

[Vange · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am grateful to Jack for creating this nervous system calming media.

[Helena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Library does not have audio. Needs audio component.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine. It was a work book and listened on audio. Can’t say it was life changing but helped me fall asleep.

[Hannibal · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quick enough read at just about 100 pages but really not at all worth the time. All aspects of the book are pretty uninspired, common, and repetitive. I didn't seek the book out and instead happened upon it on a book shelf so perhaps it's just not for me but this type of book seems like the type that at best can try to turn broken people into useless people.

[Kim Spier · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good friend gave me this book after my Father died following his battle with dementia. I was having a really hard time and grieving the loss of Dad and the way his last years progressed. This book was like a balm- it gave me things to think about and guidance that I didn't even realized I need. It is a book that I read slowly, as to process the meditations and think about the chapters. I highly recommend this book, it leaves you feeling really good and gives you a path toward balance.

[Fiona O'Neill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear and resonant. Link contained to six MP3 practices to cultivate kind awareness, forgiveness and equanimity in times of difficulty and discomfort.