A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life

In undertaking a spiritual life, we must make certain that our path is connected with our heart, according to author and Buddhist monk Jack Kornfield. Since 1974 (long before it gained popularity in the 1990s), Kornfield has been teaching westerners how to integrate Eastern teaching into their daily lives. Through generous storytelling and unmitigated warmth, Kornfield offers this excellent guidebook on living with attentiveness, meditation, and full-tilt compassion.

Part of what makes this book so accessible is Kornfield's use of everyday metaphors to describe the elusive lessons of spiritual transformation. For example, he opens with "the one seat" lesson taught to him by his esteemed teacher. Literally it means sitting in the center of a room and not being swayed or moved by all the people and dramas happening around you. On a spiritual level it means sticking "with one practice and teacher among all of the possibilities," writes Kornfield; "inwardly it means having the determination to stick with that practice through whatever difficulties and doubts arise until you have come to true clarity and understanding." The same could be said for this "one book." Among all the spiritual self-help books, this is a classic worth sticking with and returning to--a highly approachable teacher that can only lead to greater clarity and understanding. --Gail Hudson

• The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology
• After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path
• No Time Like the Present: Finding Freedom, Love, and Joy Right Where You Are
• Roots of Buddhist Psychology
• Bringing Home the Dharma: Awakening Right Where You Are
• Guided Meditation: Six Essential Practices to Cultivate Love, Awareness, and Wisdom
• Guided Meditations for Self-Healing: Essential Practices to Relieve Physical and Emotional Suffering and Enhance Recovery
• The Jewel of Liberation: Essential Teachings on the End of Suffering
• Real Love: The Art of Mindful Connection
• Vipassana Meditation: Mindfulness and Lovingkindness