Arriving at Your Own Door: 108 Lessons in Mindfulness
Read Arriving at Your Own Door: 108 Lessons in Mindfulness Online
Authors: Jon Kabat-Zinn
Arriving At Your Own Door
108 Lessons in Mindfulness
JON KABAT-ZINN
Excerpts from
Coming to Our Senses
Compiled by Hor Tuck Loon and Jon Kabat-Zinn
COMING TO OUR SENSES:
Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness
THE MINDFUL WAY THROUGH DEPRESSION:
Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness
(with Mark Williams, John Teasdale, and Zindel Segal)
EVERYDAY BLESSINGS:
The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting
(with Myla Kabat-Zinn)
WHEREVER YOU GO, THERE YOU ARE:
Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
FULL CATASTROPHE LIVING:
Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind
to Face Stress, Pain and Illness
PREFACE
I often catch myself feeling that language has intrinsic limitations that frustrate my impulse to fully express my feelings, my passing thoughts and insights, in a word, my experience. Words cannot, and probably will never, replace the richness of life—no matter how articulately or artfully they are conveyed. In the past, it has been said that meditation teachers sometimes transmitted their knowledge to their students through mental telepathy to avoid misinterpretations. Exceptionally few have managed to capture the essence of their message through writing.
Jon Kabat-Zinn’s
Coming to Our Senses
bears such testimony. Jon seems to be able to drop words right into our hearts, where they can resonate and reinforce our very being and well-being. Every subject that he touches upon suggests an in-depth meaning and perspective on our personal journey that we may not have felt or expressed as clearly or convincingly, even to ourselves. As one example, the use of the word “
Heartfulness,”
as synonymous with mindfulness in Jon’s language, can offer up new and expanded ways of understanding and experiencing peace in one’s own life and in the world.
Jon’s work is to be savored slowly, as in the art of tea drinking ceremony. It is to be relished in every aspect: in the here and now—as mindfulness teaches us. In moments of unhurriedness and non-judgment, freed if only briefly from the ruts of habitual thinking, the truth in his language and what it is pointing to can touch our hearts. In moments of stillness and silent introspection, the wisdom inside and underneath his words gives purpose and hope to the world.
If not for Jon’s editorial oversight and discipline, this little book would have ended up with 300 longer quotes, which I religiously culled while reading
Coming to Our Senses
. I would have maintained them as they were because I felt them to be of great benefit to many. However, I am certain that when this strong distillation of the entire book arrives in your hands, your legs and your heart will invariably and uncannily, yet mindfully and eagerly, lead you to explore in depth the complete version of
Coming to Our Senses
. My utmost respect and gratitude to Jon and also Zareen Jaffery of Hyperion for their passionate work.
—
Hor Tuck Loon
The time will come
when, with elation
,