All in This Together: Stories and Teachings for Loving Each Other and Our World

by Jack Kornfield

Beloved teacher Jack Kornfield shares stories on navigating our human experience with wisdom and care—for ourselves and our world.

At a time of collective anxiety, injustice, and suffering, this book helps us listen with compassion to the pulse of the world and to one another. Beloved meditation teacher Jack Kornfield guides us toward our basic goodness. He encourages us to remember our loving awareness, free ourselves and others from hatred and fear, and pave a path with heart where we all belong.

Through stories, poems, and fables, Kornfield shows us that the way to build a wise society within ourselves and for our world is through remembering our interconnectedness. He reminds us to respect the world and ourselves even in the face of the incomprehensible. He invites us to envision a generous world and therefore change it. He guides us to heal our bodies and bring healing to the earth. He teaches us that being of service is an endless source of happiness, and to remember that death also brings rebirth.

Accessible, timely, and heartfelt, the book offers a variety of perspectives, from Kornfield’s personal stories and the teachings of the Buddha to poetry from Mary Oliver and timeless legends. Throughout, Kornfield reminds us that the inescapable pain and beauty of our human experience is what can ultimately connect us. “Let yourself be tender with the world,” writes Kornfield, “The world is your lover in a way that almost nothing else is. It's always here. You can go out right now and kiss the earth.”

Genres: Spirituality, Buddhism, Self Help

288 pages, Hardcover

Published November 11, 2025

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

[Debbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack Kornfield is a phenomenal storyteller as well as a curator of wonderful stories. I have heard or read some of the stories offered in this book, but in a different context they shine in a new light. The Tolstoy story of the Empress and her three questions is a favorite of mine. In addition to stories there are quotes and guided meditations which I appreciated. In the first half of the book I was overwhelmed with the number of stories told. It was too much of a good thing. As a well regarded teacher I would have liked more personal sharing of his own insights. This is the perfect book to read before the start or at the end of a day. I found it most enjoyable reading a couple of passages at a time.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

[Marcia McLaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book - would be great for having discussions on each section. Kornfield has brought together stories from all over the world that are so meaningful. I read an advance copy - it's not in the bookstores until November so it would make a great Christmas present for someone! Or share a story from it around the Thanksgiving dinner table. One quote that really stood out for me was from Maya Angelou. "If we lose love and respect for one another, this is how we will finally die." We need to remember this in all our interactions.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

a mix of anecdotes, parables, wisdom teachings, and epigrams. I found many of my favorites from Kornfield's audio recordings in here, as well as new to me bits, all told in his very particular and very warm and approachable style. I will be holding on to this book and adding it to the group of spiritual books I open at random when I want something to reflect on. also I appreciated the citations in the back! some of these stories I had heard shared by several different meditation teachers in contexts where it is not usual to cite sources, and I liked finally learning who they got them from (even as I realize the people cited probably got them somewhere else before that).

[Kayleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

All In This Together was a series of stories, poems, and fables aimed essentially at loving each other home. Some of the stories and quotes I've definitely heard before but I don't think that took anything away from the book.
I did feel as though there were times when there wasn't a lot of flow between stories and it just felt like a bit of a jump. Some of that could have been formatting that will be fixed in the final version. I wish we heard a bit more from Kornfield instead of just copy and pasting some of the stories.

All In This Together was published Nov 11, 2025 and I received an advanced ebook from Netgalley in exchange for my review.