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Most accounts of spiritual enlightenment end at the moment of illumination. But what happens after that? What is life like after the ecstasy? How do we live our understanding with a full heart? In this unique mix of practical and spiritual wisdom Jack Kornfield, author of the bestselling A PATH WITH HEART and one of the most respected Buddhist meditation teachers in the West, sets out to answer these crucial questions. Drawing on discussions with abbots, lamas and Western meditation masters, Kornfield describes with refreshing honesty their different experiences of the moment of enlightenment and what life lessons they – and we – can learn from these – as each of us seeks to fulfil the true path of compassion on earth.Editorial ReviewsAmazon.com ReviewJack 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 BruyaFrom Publishers WeeklyWhat to do after one has achieved enlightenmentAor a flash of it? How do the problems of everyday life look different? Which, if any, go away? And what is it like to have lived for decades under a spiritual discipline? Kornfield (A Path with Heart, Teachings of the Buddha, etc.) devotes his latest volume of advice and meditation to such questions. Kornfield has been a teacher in the Theravada Buddhist tradition since the mid-1970s; he also holds a degree in clinical psychology. His methods and counsels here reflect Buddhist teachings, but he also tries hard to be ecumenical: Kornfield interviewed lamas, Buddhist elders and Zen teachers, but also Sufi masters, rabbis and Catholic nuns and monks. Anecdotes and quotations draw on Hindu mythology, medieval Christian theologians, Native American visionary traditions and even decidedly secular modern writers (e.g., Albert Camus and Sharon Olds). Bits of interviews alternate with Kornfield’s own interpretations and with anecdotes and lessons drawn from sacred scripture, anthropology and current events. A chapter about circumstantial hardships jumps from postwar Japan to America’s overcrowded prisons; a noteworthy chapter on self-esteem and self-abasement vaults from William Blake to The Tassajara Bread Book. Kornfield wants to help readers attain “a welcoming spirit, to greet all that life presents to us with a wise, respectful and kindly heart.” Some may find Kornfield’s words vague, or self-evident: “Spiritual life involves a maturing of understanding, a continual unfolding, wherever we are.” Even unsympathetic browsers, though, might enjoy the compressed life stories of the many interviewees. And the audience Kornfield envisions may well want and use his admittedly general counsel that “no matter how isolated or embattled our lives, we need one another as family, we need each other’s hearts and songs to help one another find the way.” That’s hardly news, but isn’t it the truth? (June) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.File Size: 453 KBPrint Length: 338 pagesPublisher: Ebury Digital (December 26, 2008)http://www.amazon.com/After-Ecstasy-Laundry-Jack-Kornfield-e…K7 – MP3 Here: (Without Fonts)