Jack Kornfield - No Time Like the Present: Finding Freedom, Love, and Joy Right Where You Are

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Also by Jack Kornfield:

Meditation for Beginners

A Path with Heart

The Wise Heart

The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace

A Lamp in the Darkness: Illuminating the Path Through Difficult Times

After the Ecstasy, the Laundry

Bringing Home the Dharma

Teachings of the Buddha

The Buddha Is Still Teaching: Contemporary Buddhist Wisdom

A Still Forest Pool

Seeking the Heart of Wisdom

Soul Food

Living Dharma

Buddhas Little Instruction Book

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Copyright 2017 by Jack Kornfield, PhD

Note to Readers: Names and characteristics of certain individuals have been changed. In some instances, those portrayed are composites.

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First Atria Books hardcover edition May 2017

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Interior design by Dana Sloan

Jacket design by Janet Perr

Jacket photograph by Grant Faint/Getty Images

Author photograph by Stacy Evett-Miller

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Kornfield, Jack, 1945- author.

Title: No time like the present : finding freedom, love, and joy right where you are / By Jack Kornfield.

Description: New York, NY : Atria Books, [2017] | Includes index. | Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016052941 (print) | LCCN 2017012274 (ebook) | ISBN 9781451693713 (eBook) | ISBN 9781451693690 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781451693706 (pbk.)

Subjects: LCSH: Spiritual life.

Classification: LCC BL624 (ebook) | LCC BL624 .K674 2017 (print) | DDC 204/.4dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016052941

ISBN 978-1-4516-9369-0

ISBN 978-1-4516-9371-3 (ebook)

To my twin brother, Irv

An adventurer, a lover of life, an unbridled spirit

A bird doesnt sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.

JOAN WALSH ANGLUND

D ear friends, after more than forty years teaching mindfulness and compassion to thousands on the spiritual path, the most important message I can offer is this: You dont have to wait to be free. You dont need to postpone being happy.

All too often the beautiful spiritual practices of mindfulness and compassion become entwined with a vision of self-discipline and duty. We see them as taking us through a long road of obstacles that leads eventually to distant benefits. Yes, there is hard work of the heart, and there are demanding cycles in our lives. Yet wherever you are on your journey, there is another wonderful truth called Living the Fruit or Starting with the Result. The fruits of well-being and the experience of joy, freedom, and love are available now, whatever your circumstance!

When Nelson Mandela walked out of Robben Island prison after twenty-seven years of incarceration, he did so with such dignity, magnanimity, and forgiveness that his spirit transformed South Africa and inspired the world. Like Mandela, you can be free and dignified wherever you find yourself. However difficult your circumstances, however uncertain the times, remember, freedom is not reserved for exceptional people. No one can imprison your spirit.

When your boss calls and you feel fear or anxiety, when someone in your family is in conflict or duress, when you feel overwhelmed by the growing problems of the world, you have choices. You can be bound and constricted, or you can use this difficulty to open and discover how to respond wisely in this unfolding journey. Sometimes life gives us ease, sometimes it is challenging, and sometimes profoundly painful. Sometimes the whole society around you is in upheaval. Whatever your circumstances, you can take a breath, soften your gaze, and remember that courage and freedom are within, waiting for you to awaken, and to offer to others. Even under the direst conditions, freedom of spirit is available. Freedom of spirit is mysterious, magnificent, and simple. We are free and able to love in this lifeno matter what.

Deep down we know this is true. We know it whenever we feel a part of something greaterlistening to music, making love, walking in the mountains or swimming in the sea, sitting with the mystery of a dying loved one as her spirit leaves her body silently as a falling star, or witnessing the miraculous birth of a child. At times like these, a joyful openness swells through our body, and our heart is surrounded by peace.

Freedom starts where we are. Sara, a single mom with two kids, found out that her eight-year-old daughter, Alicia, had leukemia. Sara was terrified, anxious, grieving the loss of her childs health, scared that she would lose her. For the first year, Alicia went through long rounds of chemotherapy, hospital stays, and doctors. A fearful sadness filled the house, and anxiety colored Saras days. Then, one afternoon when they were out on a walk, Alicia said, Mama, I dont know how long Im going to live, but I want them to be happy days.

Her words were a splash of cold water on her mothers face. Sara realized that she had to step out of the fearful melodrama to meet her daughters freedom of mind with her own, to return to a trusting spirit. Sara grabbed her daughter and did a little waltz, holding her tight. Her fear dissipated. And in time, Alicia healed. She is now twenty-two and just graduated from college.

But even if she hadnt healed, what kind of days would you have had her choose? You cant do much with your life if youre miserable. You might as well be happy.

When I was eight years old, on an especially bitter, windy winter day, my brothers and I dressed in jackets, scarves, and gloves and went out to play in the snow. I was skinny as a rail and shivering with cold. My twin brother, Irv, stronger, wilder, and more robust, looked at me, contracted and fearful, and laughed. Then he began to remove layers of clothing, first the gloves, his coat, then a sweater, his shirt, undershirt, all the while laughing. He danced and paraded around half-naked in the snow, the icy wind whipping around us. We were all wide-eyed, laughing hysterically.