Trying to Be Human: Zen Talks

by Cheri Huber

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.

Genres: Zen, Buddhism, Nonfiction, Spirituality

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1995

About the author

Cheri Huber, author of 20 books, has been a student and teacher of Zen for over 35 years. In 1983, Cheri founded the Mountain View Zen Center, and in 1987 she founded the Zen Monastery Peace Center near Murphys, California. She and the monks at the Monastery conduct workshops and retreats at these centers, other places around the U.S., and internationally.

In 1997, Cheri founded Living Compassion, a nonprofit organization dedicated to peace and service. Living Compassion’s primary work is the Africa Vulnerable Children Project, based in Zambia, where for over a decade they have been working with the people of Kantolomba, beginning the process of turning a slum of 11,000 people into a self-sustaining community.

Cheri also has a weekly Internet based radio show.

Reviews

[Kevin Gross]

Some good short dharma talks, especially early in the book. A bit repetitive in later chapters, does not do much to address nettlesome topics like identity / lack thereof, suffering versus pain, glib and superficial when writing about them.

[Bronson]

A good read on the basics of zen buddhism from the mindful west perspective (i assume so at least, neither me or the author are proper buddhist experts). However it doesn’t have a lot of sticking substance. I appreciate the way it distills concepts into an easy to understand format though.

[J]

An excerpt I like from page 30-31:

"A Project for Saving the World
. . .

Let's imagine we are a group of people who decide they are going to 'save the world' -- not because we should, not even because we believe there is anything wrong with the world, but simply because we want to. We might decide that what we want to accomplish is helping orphans in Ethiopia: we will feed and clothe them and provide them with medical care and education.

Now, in taking this on as our project, there are a couple of rules we will adopt: one, we cannot blame anybody else, and two, we cannot involve anybody else. In other words, we have to take complete responsibility. "

[Melissa]

Perfect primer on Zen Buddhism awareness practice. You could honestly finish this in one sitting.