Many people seeking inner peace and self-cultivation look to the East for inspiration and guidance. Author Jack Kornfield himself pursued rigorous training in traditional Buddhist monasteries in Southeast Asia. Here he shares the fruits of four decades of study and practice in the East and the West, highlighting one essential insight: true wisdom is found nowhere else than right here in this very moment, as we go about our daily lives. We need not travel to an ashram or a meditation retreat--our households, relationships, and work lives give us profound opportunities to awaken our buddha nature, our natural wisdom and loving-kindness. In this book, Kornfield shares this and other key lessons he has learned studying with some of the most revered Buddhist masters of the twentieth century. Topics include: realizing our full potential, conscious parenting, common obstacles to awakening, spirituality and sexuality, enlightened political action, and much more.