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

Jack Kornfield

Mar 2014 · Sounds True

About this ebook

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 Kornfeld. “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 program filled with spiritual and psychological insights, hope-giving stories, and advice for skillfully navigating life’s inevitable storms.
 
NOTE: The ebook does not contain the audio component included in the original printed edition.

Table of Contents
Foreward by Jon Kabat-Zinn
Introduction:  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

Afterword:  The Return of Joy
 
Excerpt
Every life is filled with change and insecurity, and every life includes loss and suffering and difficulties that arise regularly.  We are all nomads in this ever-changing world, and we need ways to ground ourselves and remain centered no matter what happens. 
When we encounter difficult times in our lives, it is not just the outer changes, but often our own state of mind that causes us the most difficulty.  Grief and anxiety, fear and loss, and other turbulent emotions that we carry with us—and the stories

About the author

Jack Kornfield

Jack Kornfield, PhD, trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, Burma, and India and has been teaching meditation internationally since 1974. He is one of the key teachers to introduce mindfulness practices to the West. He co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts and founded the Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre California. He holds a PhD in clinical psychology and has taught in centers and universities worldwide. Jack has led International Buddhist Teacher meetings with the Dalai Lama, worked with many of the great teachers of our time, and is a father and activist. He is co-creator of the Awareness Training Institute and has written more than a dozen books, including Meditation for Beginners; A Path With Heart; After the Ecstasy, the Laundry; and more.

Jon Kabat-Zinn

Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, is professor of medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the founder and director of its renowned Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Clinic. His clinic was featured in 1993 in the public television series Healing and the Mind with Bill Moyers. Jon Kabat-Zinn is the author of 15 books, in print in over 45 languages. These include Full Catastrophe Living; Wherever You Go, There You Are; Coming to Our Senses; and Mindfulness for Beginners.