The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace

by Jack Kornfield

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Jack Kornfield. The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace. NY: Bantam Books  2002.   224pp  $20.00     

This is a wonderful book of quotable quotes, vignettes and meditations that invite thoughtful pondering and contemplation. A few excerpts speak for themselves.     

Consider the dialogue between two former prisoners of war:
“Have you forgiven your captors yet?”
“No, never!”
“Well, then, they still have you in prison, don’t they?”
We begin the work of forgiveness primarily for ourselves. (p. 22)

We may still be suffering terribly from the past while those who betrayed us are on vacation.
It is painful to hate. Without forgiveness we continue to perpetuate the illusion that hate can heal our pain and the pain of others.
In forgiveness we let go and find relief in our heart. (p. 23)

Even those in the worst situations, the conflicts and tragedies of Bosnia, Cambodia, Rwanda, Northern Ireland, or South Africa, have had to find a path to reconciliation. This is true in America as well. It is the only way to heal.
Sometimes this means finding the courage to forgive the unforgivable, to consciously release the heart from the clutches of another’s terrible acts.
We must discover a way to move on from the past, no matter what traumas it held.
(p. 24)

The past is over:
Forgiveness means giving up all hope of a better past. (p. 25)

Consider the dialogue between two former prisoners of war:
“Have you forgiven your captors yet?”
“No, never!”
“Well, then, they still have you in prison, don’t they?”
We begin the work of forgiveness primarily for ourselves.
Kornfield, Jack. The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace. New York, NY: Bantam Books  2002, p. 22.

We may still be suffering terribly from the past while those who betrayed us are on vacation.
It is painful to hate. Without forgiveness we continue to perpetuate the illusion that hate can heal our pain and the pain of others.
In forgiveness we let go and find relief in our heart.
Kornfield, Jack. The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace. New York, NY: Bantam Books  2002, p. 23.

Even those in the worst situations, the conflicts and tragedies of Bosnia, Cambodia, Rwanda, Northern Ireland, or South Africa, have had to find a path to reconciliation. This is true in America as well. It is the only way to heal.
Sometimes this means finding the courage to forgive the unforgivable, to consciously release the heart from the clutches of another’s terrible acts.
We must discover a way to move on from the past, no matter what traumas it held.
Kornfield, Jack. The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace. New York, NY: Bantam Books  2002, p. 24.

The past is over:
Forgiveness means giving up all hope of a better past.
Kornfield, Jack. The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace. New York, NY: Bantam Books  2002, p. 25.

If only we could help each other build temples of forgiveness instead of prisons:
We can.
In our own hearts. (p. 41.)

Our society has forgotten to teach love.
In the words of John Gatto, New York City Teacher of the Year:
Think of the things that are killing us as a nation: drugs, brainless competition, recreational sex, the pornography of violence, gambling, alcohol, and the worst pornography of all – lives devoted to buying things, accumulation as a religion. (p. 77)

This is Jack Kornfield at his best!

Review by Daniel J. Benor, MD, IJHC Editor in Chief

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