Trying to Be Human Zen Talks

by Huber, Cheri

• ISBN13: 9780963078414
• ISBN10: 0963078410
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1995-09-01
• Publisher: Keep It Simple Books

Summary

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.

Author Biography

Cheri Huber is the author of 19 books, including There Is Nothing Wrong with You, When You're Falling, Dive,and Time-Out for Parents. She founded the Mountain View Zen Center in Mountain View, California, and the Zen Monastery Practice Center in Murphys, California, and teaches in both communities. She travels widely and often, leading workshops and retreats around the United States and abroad, most recently in Costa Rica and Italy. She founded Living Compassion in 2003, a nonprofit group comprised of There Is Nothing Wrong With You Retreats (based on the book); Global Community for Peace: The Assisi Peace Project; The Africa Vulnerable Children Project; and Open Air Talk Radio, her weekly call-in radio show originating from Stanford University. She lives in Murphys, California.

Table of Contents

Preface
Encountering the Path
Choosing a Spiritual Path	p. 14
Ending Suffering	p. 16
The Conditioned Sense of Self	p. 19
The Prison We Think of as Home	p. 21
The First Psychologist	p. 23
Nothing To Do	p. 25
Having It All	p. 27
The Perfect Person	p. 28
A Project for Saving the World	p. 30
From God to Garbage and Back	p. 33
Urgency	p. 35
Change	p. 36
Reading and Sitting	p. 38
Don't Wait	p. 39
Willingness
Sitting Meditation	p. 42
Fear	p. 44
Disidentification Versus Dissociation	p. 46
Egocentricity	p. 49
Separateness	p. 50
Cutting Through Ego Maintenance Systems	p. 51
The Worthy Opponent	p. 53
Projection	p. 55
Resistance	p. 57
No Control	p. 59
One Good Reason To Move	p. 61
The Spiritual Patchwork Quilt	p. 63
Pain	p. 64
The Myth of an Alternative Reality	p. 66
The Ideal Relationship	p. 68
Spiritual Correctness	p. 70
Correctness and Compassion	p. 72
Ah. Hm.	p. 73
A Secret of the Universe	p. 75
Happiness	p. 77
"It's God's Will" Versus "Thy Will Be Done"	p. 80
Work Out Your Own Salvation Diligently	p. 84
Being Stuck and Sticking It Out	p. 86
Already Enlightened
Inherent Goodness	p. 90
The Centered Place	p. 91
Getting Impersonal	p. 93
Being Helpful	p. 95
Innocence	p. 97
Loving the Ego Out of Existence	p. 99
Commitment	p. 101
The Special Experience	p. 103
Grace Is When We Say Yes	p. 106
Service	p. 107
Simplicity	p. 110
At the End of the Rainbow	p. 111
Free Fall	p. 113
Only Good Begets Good	p. 114
Trying To Be Human	p. 116
Lightening Up	p. 118
No Hurry	p. 119
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