The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology

I have read several Buddhist books, and listened to countless Dharma talks, and yet I have learned things in this book that I had never heard of. For example, Buddhist texts on Lucid dreaming, past life visions, Buddhist personality types, and thoughts on the unconscious. While not all of this is relevant to me at this point, it was interesting. The book has great wisdom throughout. Maybe a little too much on the stories, that's why I didn't give 5 stars.

The best buddhist book I read until now! Jack Kornfield writes very nicely, if you have heard him teach you see that is comes from a profound integrity. The book has some proposals for meditations, not even what you would expect, but sometimes more for making you understand what he's trying to tell you: When teaching you shouldn't cling to a "self", he tells you to write down every half hour how strong the feeling of self was related to how well/bad/neutral your feelings were. What accompanied these and so on.
Jack kornfield combines buddhism with Western psychology which adds in understanding these "old" traditions.
The book was so persuading that I decided to go to a meditation retreat lead by him. A retreat teaches you much more intensely than a book ever can for shure. If you reread the book after that it's as interesting as before, because many detail reveal more this time and deepen your understanding.

I first borrowed this book from the library, but now I have to have it! Not only have I personally benefited from the practices recommended, but I have brought them into my psychotherapy sessions to use with clients. As a result, my sessions have quickly gone to a new depth of healing. I am so grateful!

I just hope many have enough conditions to read and experience this book. It is the best present I have ever received.

I was disappointed and irked by The Wise Heart. My low rating comes from three sources: (1) Format (2) Content and (3) Peeves. My critical comments and poor rating come with hesitation because I have a a sincere appreciation of Jack Kornfield's work. I hope this book will be re-written.

(1) Format. I have been fortunate to attend many Monday nights of Jack's dharma talks at Spirit Rock, and his powers as a presenter are unmatched. Unfortunately, the formula in this book fails to deliver the sub- title's promise "A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology." The sections start with several quotes, next a vague notion ("So does mindfulness open us to that which is unseen in our experience" p. 97) followed by an intense story with a happy ending ("With mindfulness Peter found relief" p. 98) and ending up with a sweeping generality ("Since 1980 nearly a thousand scientific papers have documented the effectiveness of mindfulness, often studying Western trainings that are based on a Buddhist approach." p. 99). The therapy stories are too numerous, I come away from this book completely befuddled.

(2) Content. The notion of inner radiance or beauty as each human's intrinsic nature isn't an idea that is accepted by many followers of Theraveda or Zen Buddhism. I am finding that once you read the original texts not Western commentary, the Buddha is circumspect about settling any metaphysical debates, in Nikaya's translation of the Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha in the Aggivacchagotta Sutta on p. 590 for example, the Buddha refuses to settle a long sting of metaphysical debates in his discussion with the wanderer Vacchagotta. The 26 principles throughout the book are internally contradictory, and not universally accepted by Buddhists.

(3) Peeves. Authors that provide "early praise" for this book on the back cover have most of their books listed in the Related Documents section. Perhaps it isn't quid pro quo, but I find it really irritating to have the extraordinary claim that "Two thousand years before Freud and Jung's probed the unconscious, Buddhist psychology taught about the unconscious foundation of human behavior" on pg. 151 without providing the title and translating author of the book containing the Fifty Verses on the Nature of Unconscious in the in the Related Documents section. This book has hundreds of quotes, and there are no footnotes to check how the quotes mold the content. You can't check whether the quotes are taken out of context, or if the quote comes from a early inaccurate translation. Also, there are well intentioned but sloppy stereotypes, for example, the dubious stereotype "This is evident in the healthy, caring bond between parents and children in Buddhist countries." p. 187. Or, what I find most irritating of all, what I can only describe as sophistry via oxymoron baiting: this is the use of objective terms to modify subjective experiences to further the current self-help fad promoting Buddhism as a scientific not religious activity. So, we have the "technology of visualization" p. 277 "science of mind" p.xi, and "particle-like aspect of consciousness" p.39.