Turn Toward the Beautiful

Creativity as a Path of Liberation

By: Jack Kornfield PhD

Narrated by: Jack Kornfield Ph.D.

The play of sunlight through leaves … the songs of the wind … the arc of a brush stroke on paper. To be awake, reflects Jack Kornfield, is to discover the beauty hidden in all things—and to express that beauty ourselves.
With Turn Toward the Beautiful, this lyrical writer and teacher inspires us to reclaim our childlike wonder, attuning ourselves to the beauty that often passes us by unnoticed. Then, through insightful verses and stories from many traditions, he invites each of us to nourish the artistic impulse in ourselves—to choose to create as an essential expression of the spiritual life. In two compelling sessions, you will explore:
• Why beauty and awareness are inseparable, and how they enrich each other
• Rediscovering the world through our "child's eyes"
• Presence—an essential component for awakening the artist's gifts of receptivity and wonder
• How to use writing, drawing, music, dance, and more to bring insight to others
• Practices to spark our own creative expression

What if the light that reveals the truth of our lives were waiting right here before us? For seasoned artists or novices of all spiritual traditions, Turn Toward the Beautiful points to that illumination—the beauty of the world that beckons to be received and shared.

Session I: Turn Toward the Beautiful
• Track 1: Introduction
• Track 2: The retrieval of beauty
• Track 3: A life of wakefulness
• Track 4: The Lion's Roar
• Track 5: Becoming a child of spirit

Session II: Creativity as a Path of Liberation
• Track 1: Introduction
• Track 2: Poetry and Buddhism
• Track 3: Poems as expressions of liberation
• Track 4: Making the sacred visible
• Track 5: Practice: Two Questions
• Track 6: Creativity as an expression of dharma

Course objectives:
• Express story and poetry as offerings of art and beauty—awakening our hearts to move from a small sense of self to receive the world with compassion, understanding and presence.
• Utilize creativity as an expression of liberation—making the sacred visible.
• Recognize how creativity may become shut down, and how to open the gateway of creativity to become more free, present and alive.
• Practice and express your deep understanding of the Dharma through a myriad of creative possibilities.

What A pleasure to listen to

I never tire listening to Jack Kornfield speak. He infuses his talks with poetry and poignant references that make all of his presentations so engaging.

Suzanne Jewell

I’ve studied with Jack for two years and this narrated compilation underlines one reason I’m so appreciative of his teaching and sharing style. He’s a master storyteller that soothes my troubled heart, from his voice to his pacing, I also can tell how much he truly loves sharing the riches and gems that Kay inside these stories.

Misleading Title: a partial accompanying recording

I have no idea how this audio “book” got the high rating it has! This has no business being sold as a book. It is very short, and the first half of it is Kornfield reading poems by various spiritual authors. This seems to be some kind of background for a workshop in which people are creating things, but that part of the workshop is not shared with us. Even the second half, there is nothing inspiring here. And sometimes he is referring to directions for things the workshop participants are doing that we are not privy to. Complete waste of a credit.