THE WISE HEART:
A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology
by
Jack Kornfield

review: Jim Abbott 4-22-09

Jack Kornfield was a 60's protester who left the US via the Peace Corp and then on to some long stays in Indian monasteries. He came back, got a PhD. In Clinical Psychology and now teaches meditation and writes books. All reviewers think this is his best. I've just seen a meditation video by Kornfield, which was very good, but I'll join the rest in calling The Wise Heart a great work.

Kornfield's strength is his combination of a long, in-depth Eastern Buddhist experience coupled with extensive Western psychological training. Buddhist thought is readily compared with the philosophies of Freud and Jung and other modern psychology practice

Buddhism has gained some popularity in the US and this book provides a good overview of the religion—if it can be called that. A definite feature of Buddhism is its readiness to explain all experience through the workings of the mind. On this level, Buddhism is Buddhist psychology. The knowing of various states of consciousness and being able to go to them voluntarily, is central to Buddhist practice.

And its this, the exploration and explanation of consciousness that intrigued me the most. Like many other old hippies of the 60s, I assumed alternative consciousness states were there to be discovered and experienced—first hand of course. Buddhism encourages this too—but exspressedly without artificial aid or stimulus. Drat. Things are not always easy. But I guess we've already learned that. The Buddhist overview by Kornfield is a good explanation of an alternative method.

Kornfield points out its history: “Two thousand years before Freud and Jung probed the unconscious—and they were the first in the West to do so-- Buddhist psychology taught about the unconscious foundation of human behavior. It described this as having 2 levels: first the individual unconsciousness, and second a universal consciousness called storehouse consciousness. These ordinarily unavailable levels are accessible through mindfulness training.”

Consciousness as a phenomenon has gotten very little study in the West. Too elusive. Too unsubstantial. Some, like Kornfield, are now beginning to see the need. Francis Crick, co-discoverer of the double helix is one. He claims the understanding of consciousness is as important to biological life as gravity is to physics. Western psychology has mostly studied the brain, which is effective for showing effects of stimulation or damage. It rarely addresses, however, the larger issue of awareness itself. Is it merely an evolved product of the neurons of our brain—or, as Kornfield suggests, is it more like a TV or DVD--a receiver and recorder but not the actual source of consciousness?

This is a huge thought and one I've encountered before by physicist Peter Russell in his “Primacy of Consciousness.” Kornfield: “Buddhist psychology posits that consciousness is the condition for life...and that the physical body interacts with consciousness—but is not its source.” Heady stuff.

Oh. And Kornfield also deals with compassion and joy for yourself and others. Check it out.