Kokoro cover art

Kokoro

Japanese Wisdom for a Life Well Lived

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Kokoro

By: Beth Kempton
Narrated by: Beth Kempton
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

 kokoro [n.] intelligent heart, feeling mind

One year. Two devastating losses. Three sacred Japanese mountains. A major life transition, a heart full of grief and a revelation that changes everything.

Join Japanologist Beth Kempton on a pilgrimage through rural Japan in search of answers to some of life's biggest questions: How do we find calm in the chaos and beauty in the darkness? How do we let go of the past and stop worrying about the future? What can an awareness of impermanence teach us about living well?

Together you will journey to the deep north of Japan, hike ancient forests, watch the moon rise over mountains of myth and encounter a host of wise teachers along the way - Noh actors, chefs, taxi drivers, coffee shop owners, poets, philosophers and the spirits that inhabit the land. You will contemplate the true nature of time at one of the world's strictest Zen temples and nothing will be quite the same again.

This book is an invitation to cultivate stillness and contentment in an ever-changing, uncertain world. It all begins with the kokoro, a profound Japanese term which represents the intelligent heart, the feeling mind and the embodied spirit of every human being.

To explore the kokoro is to explore the very essence of what it means to be human in this tough yet devastatingly beautiful world. When you learn to live guided by the light in your kokoro, everything changes, and anything is possible.©2024 Beth Kempton (P)2024 Hachette Audio UK Consciousness & Thought Grief & Loss Personal Development Personal Success Philosophy Self-Esteem Spirituality Meditation

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Freedom Seeker cover art
The High 5 Habit cover art
The Gifts of Winter cover art
Hold Nothing cover art
The Year of Less cover art
Weathering cover art
3 in 1: The Zen Master Collection cover art
Living Planet: The Web of Life on Earth cover art
Gentle cover art
The Calm and Happy Home cover art
We Are in This Together cover art
A Better Second Half cover art
All stars
Most relevant
I have known of Beth ever since taking one of her earliest courses. Have read all of her books and been consistently inspired by the life she has carved out for herself and her teachings.

Hence, when she told us her new book was on the horizon I pre-ordered and excitedly waited for publication day.

What I could never have anticipated was what a stunning and moving book this would be.

I knew a little of the grief that she had recently experienced and expected that she would have handled it with love, empathy and personal strength. But I am utterly bowled over.

I have never heard such an open hearted, honest and moving description of the emotions we experience following deep loss. Nor, an understanding of how often such a loss can cause us to dig deep, examine the life we are living and make fundamental changes.

Beth brought me to tears, many times in this profound book and having listened to it twice already, I recognise that maybe the lessons of bereavement never end.

I loved the focus of Kokoro and have spent the last two days considering this aspect of my own life. So much to think about.

Thank you Beth, for sharing your last 16 months, for the deeply honest descriptions of the emotional turmoil you experienced during that time, for letting us glimpse the loving way in which you supported your Mother during the final weeks of her life and how you are now living through the transition that follows.



Stunning !!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Beautifully written and delivered, Komodo is one of those rare and priceless insights to life which I can’t wait to finish so I can start listening to it all over again! I thought Wani Sabi was superb, this is a whole new level. Thank you Beth, for reminding me that life is indeed what we make it and with Kokoro now present in mine, I will truly try to live its width, not just its length.

Thank you

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Beth has a beautiful way of writing in a way that soothes you. This book takes you on a deep, emotional journey of reflection and gratitude for life and those you love. A beautifully written and inspiring book, which nutures your soul and holds your hand as you navigate through those more turbulent times of sorrow, loss and grief. I'd recommend Kokoro to everyone, it's a life lesson.

An emotional and thought provoking read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You’ve transported me back to Japan and made me even more grateful for a wonderful visit to a mesmerising country with remarkable people. Thank you.

Utterly compelling

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I loved how it has made me think differently about grief. My favourite sentence, we get to have this day.

Beth’s calming voice

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews