It might happen suddenly, like a flash of lightning. Or gradually, like raindrops filling a jar. Our universal and awakened nature, the Buddha taught, can emerge in calm or in crisis. And then, as our path deepens, we must learn to embody our vision as we navigate the unexpected turns of the mystery.

When we asked Jack Kornfield for the most helpful advanced teachings from his audio archives, he chose these eight essential sessions. With Awakening Is Real, here are just a few of the dimensions of the spiritual journey that you will explore in depth:

• The archetypal stages of awakening common to all transformative paths, and how to overcome its greatest challenges and obstacles
• How the universal virtues of the warrior—such as courage, sacrifice, strength, and impeccability—are as valuable for freeing ourselves as kindness and compassion
• Profound insights hidden within well-known teaching stories including The Mahaparanirvana (the Buddha’s last sermon) and The Journey of Nachiketa
• “The Elephant’s Footprint”—Why the Buddha considered mindfulness of our own mortality and death to be the core practice that accelerates and deepens all others

Into the Quiet Forest of Presence, Compassion, and Interconnectedness

These sessions, while taught and recorded among advanced students, are anything but academic. Instead, you’ll find here the playful, candid, and direct sharing of wisdom usually heard only by those fully committed to their life’s evolution—an opportunity to discover within yourself what Jack Kornfield’s own teacher Ajahn Chah called “the still, clear forest pool that sees the nature of all things.”

SESSIONS INCLUDE:

• The Sacred Journey
• The Way of the Warrior
• Initiation
• The Journey of Nachiketa
• How Shall We Live?
• Difficulties as Part of the Path
• Living with a Mindfulness of Death
• Letting Go: Buddha’s Last Sermon