The Earth House

by Jeanne DuPrau

They hadn't pictured themselves as the sort of people to take up Eastern spiritual practice. But on their first visit to a Zen center, two women discover something that speaks to them on a level deeper than their everyday experience, and they begin to make a new plan for their lives. What if they were to give up their suburban comforts and build a house beside a monastery in the mountains?

As the walls of the house go up, the two women make and re-make plans, wrestle with a chainsaw, learn to make windows, and set up a computer powered by the sun. Their spiritual practice transforms their vision of the house, and the building of it transforms them both. But their endeavor leads to an ending, not a beginning -- at least not the kind of beginning they'd had in mind . . .

"A moving meditation on life, death, love, and Zen Buddhism." Feminist Bookstore News

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Jeanne DuPrau is an American writer, best known for The Books of Ember, a series of science fiction novels for young people. She lives in Menlo Park, California.

Reviews

[Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is nothing better than a great Zen book that shows you your thoughts without preaching them. The way it is intended.

[Honeypie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, I don’t know how to a make a decent review for this book. As I have yet to hear from the author of her thoughts for writing this book (I love sending “fan mail” hahaha!), I would just like to say that I love The Earth House. I love new learnings, and analogies to life, and this book gave me a lot.

I bought this book from Amazon, and it was definitely worth the shipping cost! And Jeanne DuPrau is still one of my favorite authors.

I have too many favorite lines from the book, and I really, really want to share them, so here goes:


Here are some circumstances I would call unpleasant, in which I, in my current state of spiritual development, would be likely to feel unhappy: dangling from a peg stuck into the sheer side of a mountain over a thousand-foot drop; spending all day peering into hot car engines; writing books on political theory; walking a tightrope strung between skyscrapers. But people exist who do these things of their own free choice. They are happy doing these things, one assumes, or they would not do them. So misery is not built into these activities, only attached to them from the outside.

The point of saving all sentient beings is not to ensure the personal health and happiness of every bug, bird, fish, and animal on the planet. It is simple to foster the attitude that leads away from suffering. We can’t change the world so that no one gets sick, no one is hurt, no one dies. The best we can do is to take care of suffering where we find it. We save all being because in the process of doing so we expand the boundaries of our identity; we push out the fences that limit what we can love.

The problem unravels. I rise above it.

Why is nature like this? Why would any craftsman be so zealously attentive to every tiny detail?

This was one of those times when what appears to be a disaster turns you in an interesting direction that you would never otherwise have known about. The universe throws something at you that seems like a problem and then waits to see if you’re clever enough to find the blessing in it.

You can’t walk away from pain in the hope of escaping it; you have to turn around and walk toward it. You have to suffer, as the Guide says, to end suffering.

Pain became my familiar – not my friend, but someone whose face I knew. By writing I opened the door to it, I said, “Come in. Run through me.” I would write and cry, write and shake, and when I was finished I felt battered but somehow saved.

[Guy Newland · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is under-appreciated because, I think, it falls between genres. A memoir dealing with Buddhist meditation, grief, a same-sex relationship, and the construction of a house with earthen walls. Where to pigeon hole THAT? But damn good nonetheless.

[Dayna Deck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books. I think about what I learned from it often. I’ve bought it to share with many.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eh, I'd I could give it 3.5.stars I would. I had really high expectations based on all the great reviews, but I thought it was just ok.

[Erika Nerdypants · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book that I read quite a while ago, but that has stuck with me.

[Jack Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frankly, one of my favorite books ever. A memoir about her buddhist meditation practice, losing her partner, and building a house.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Appreciated reading about how they conceived of and planned for their house, interspersed with their Zen thoughts and experiences. I need more "Zen" in my life!

[Debra Ramage · Rating 4 out of 5]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12764427