I found out about this lovely book by Jack Kornfield in the list of resources that was provided to us after my retreat. I got a library copy, then ended up getting a copy to keep because the book was so good. I gave it to the Chaplain to read and kept reading my library copy, which meant I couldn’t mark up the pages like I wanted to. This is another book I want to read more than once, so I will mark up our copy on the second read.

What made this book so good?

After The Ecstasy, The Laundry is a collection of thoughts, anecdotes, and spiritual wisdom and guidance takes you from the moment you have a spiritual high into the rest of your life. It offers a plan for spiritual maturity, following life’s cycle from its beginning (not birth, but your spiritual awakening) to its end.

I found myself reading this one slowly. The chapters are broken into sections, and each section is so rich with content that it would have been hard to breeze through.

The book was unique for several reasons. First, it offered wisdom gleaned from all the major religions. I felt this was valuable because Kornfield, looking from the outside in, was able to pick up on broad themes and meaning, as well as commonalities. He took wisdom perhaps forgotten by certain traditions, and served it alongside familiar material one might recognize from their own studies within their religious tradition.

It tackled a question that has dogged me for much of my life – what do you DO after you have a religious experience? After you’ve made a huge mental shift, how do you prevent going back to your regular life and getting sucked into the normalcy of it? How do you keep your commitment to live differently? How do you do that when you’re back, surrounded by all the people (including your family) who press your buttons? By all the demands and responsibilities of modern life?

Kornfield offers a book full of insight. He doesn’t pretend life after a spiritual awakening is easy or that our religious leaders will always lead us well. Every day I would read something that struck me. A quote or idea would jump out and act as a reflection for the day.

The book was full of interviews with people who have given their lives to religious service, interspersed with wisdom from great thinkers. Ideas were packaged in a way that flowed naturally and ended gently, with a benediction. Reading it felt like a series of small gifts, one presented each time I opened its pages.

After the Ecstasy, the Laundry is a great resource, and one of the most practical books I’ve read lately. It may lead you to read more from the thinkers quoted in its pages. Perhaps more likely, the book itself will be enough for you to chew on for a long while.