Trying to Be Human: Zen Talks

by Sara Jenkins and Cheri Huber

Book Overview

This funny, engaging guide to the basics of Buddhist meditation presents the idea that people are not human beings trying to be spiritual, but spiritual beings trying to be human. That is, instead of striving toward an ideal image of ourselves, people might aim simply to see more clearly what being human is all about, including what impels striving.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0963078410
• ISBN13: 9780963078414
• Release Date: September 1995
• Publisher: Keep It Simple Books
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Straight talk about practice for the non-specialist

It might seem easy, putting together a collection of short pieces (many from extemporaneous talks) on dharma practice in terms applicable to modern non-Buddhists who don't know "satori" from Toyota. But it isn't easy at all. Cheri Huber has a talent for concise, clear demonstrations of practicing in ordinary life and how to make room for daily meditation practice. Instead of ancient Buddhist teachings, she is more likely to reach to common sense and a warm, keen feeling for psychology. Her style as a Zen teacher is refreshingly ordinary, modest, and worldly. She is loath to offer prescriptions, and has a sharp eye for how spiritual practice may be co-opted by egotistical concerns. Editor Sara Jenkins has bravely allowed these talks to stand without explanation or qualification, respecting the power of a short paragraph over a lengthy discourse. The book is organized into categories that almost seem irrelevant as one is tempted to simply dip into the book!, opening at random and letting one talk at a time be enough for the day.