After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path - Hardcover

Kornfield, Jack

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0553102907 ISBN 13: 9780553102901

Publisher: Bantam, 2000

Synopsis

The rich harvest of an entire generation's spiritual work in the West, After the Ecstasy, the Laundry is one of the most authentic and convincing accounts ever written of the lifelong path of inner transformation. Written by a Buddhist teacher and meditation master of international renown, this moving and fascinating book also draws on the firsthand experiences of dedicated leaders and practitioners within the Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and Sufi traditions. The result is a uniquely intimate and honest understanding of how the modern spiritual journey unfolds-and of how we can prepare our own hearts for awakening.

"Enlightenment does exist," Jack Kornfield assures us. "Unbounded freedom and joy, oneness with the divine...these experiences are more common than you know, and not far away."  But even after achieving such realization, we are faced with the day-to-day task of translating that freedom into our imperfect lives. We are faced with the laundry.

The author's personal stories, vivid traditional tales, and the voices of many others who have traveled this path become our companions on the way. We learn to recognize the first stirrings of sacred longing, the gates that lead to spiritual opening, the immediacy of satori or grace.  We also learn how the enlightened heart navigates the real world of difficult family or community relationships, emotional pain, struggles with earning a living, sickness, betrayal by those we have trusted-even death.

Filled with "the laughter of the wise," alive with compassion, After the Ecstasy, the Laundry is a gift to anyone who is seeking peace, wholeness, and inner happiness. It is sure to take its place next to A Path with Heart as a spiritual classic for our time.

About this title

Review:

Jack Kornfield, one of America's most beloved teachers of meditation, assures us that enlightenment does occur on the spiritual path but warns that it is not the end of the road. Bringing his thoughts to a personal level, Kornfield looks up many of the notable spiritual teachers of our times (Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Sufi, etc.) and presents extended quotations of their trials and epiphanies. These anecdotes are woven together with fables and ruminations from Kornfield's own decades-long experience as a practitioner and teacher, creating an image of the spiritual life as challenging, multidimensional, rewarding, and, yes, mundane. In the old days in China, Zen monks were encouraged to travel for instruction under a variety of masters. Here, Kornfield introduces us to today's masters, but off their podiums, as equals. Genuine experiences of awakening, despair, fault, serious transgression, and simple childlike joy all appear as bridges on the way to the divine. After the Ecstasy, the Laundry is not just another inspirational bestseller, it is a lasting record of concrete insights forged from the fires of dedicated practice. --Brian Bruya

Book Description:

When does enlightenment come? At the end of the spiritual journey? Or the beginning?

On After the Ecstasy, the Laundry, Jack Kornfield -- author of the modern classic on American Buddhism, A Path with Heart -- brings into focus the truth about satori, the awakened state of consciousness, and enlightenment practices today. Perfect enlightenment appears in many texts, Kornfield begins. But how is it viewed among Western teachers and practitioners? To find out, Kornfield talked to more than one hundred Zen masters, rabbis, nuns, lamas, monks, and senior meditation students from all walks of life. The result is this extraordinary look at the hard work we all must do -- the laundry -- on matter how often we experience ecstatic states of consciousness through meditation and other disciplines.

Sweeping in its scope, and warmly told by one of American Buddhism's most trusted voices, After the Ecstasy, the Laundry is both a work of deep inspiration and daily instruction that cuts through the confusionabout what,enlightenment really is, who it comes to, and how it continues to inform and guide our spiritual lives. An original audio adaptation of Jack Kornfield's newest book, After the Ecstasy, the Laundry.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bantam
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0553102907
• ISBN 13: 9780553102901
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336