The Depression Book: Depression as an Opportunity for Spiritual Growth [Paperback]

Cheri Huber (Author), June Shiver (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2004

This Zen guide to utilizing depression as an opportunity for spiritual growth and personal acceptance includes personal accounts, written excercises, and meditation instructions.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Keep It Simple Books; Revised edition edition (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 096362556X
• ISBN-13: 978-0963625564
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #285,709 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Facing depression., July 10, 2001

By 

G. Merritt (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Depression Book: Depression as an Opportunity for Spiritual Growth (Paperback)

Depression is emptiness, exhaustion, and meaninglessness (p. 129). Zen teacher, Cheri Huber's 150-page book is not "an explanation of nor a cure for depression;" it is about facing depression with compassion. "The perspective of this book is that there is nothing more important than compassion," Huber writes, "everything else springs from that" (p. 143).

Depression offers us an opportunity for spiritual growth. "Like everything else in life," Huber writes, "depression is an ally, a gift. It has something to teach us" (p. 98). "Depression brings me back to myself in a way much of life does not," she writes. "It gets my attention. It says, 'Stop! Pay attention!'"(p. 69). Depression allows us to see the cause of our suffering, to see who we are, to embrace ourself in compassion, and to let go and end the suffering (p. 1). Instead of "numbing ourselves to depression with food, drugs, alcohol, sex, talking" (p. 63), Huber recommends that we get to know our emotions; rest, eat well, and exercise regularly; and take up an awareness practice that enables us to let go of false beliefs and assumptions about how we and the world should be (p. 146).

I arrived at this book through a friend who encouraged me to read Cheri Huber. Since this is the second Huber book I've read this week, I guess I'm hooked on Huber. Her book is equal parts Zen, inspiration, and self-help, and printed in a handwritten format, "to slow the reader down so that awareness can touch the heart as well as the head." It is engaging and insightful. Huber teaches us that, depressed or not, "your life reflects your attitude of mind; your attitude of mind does not reflect your life" (p. 96). I recommend this book to anyone interested in knowing themself better, or following their heart. I also recommend Pema Chodron's book, WHEN THINGS FALL APART (1997) for those readers interested in this genre.

G. Merritt

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars On depression & spiritual practice, October 23, 2000

By 

Kim Boykin (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Depression Book: Depression as an Opportunity for Spiritual Growth (Paperback)

This is a book on using depression as fodder for your spiritual practice. It is handwritten, with cute illustrations, and the style is conversational and down-to-earth. It is not mainly about how to get less depressed but, rather, about how to suffer less and have more compassion for yourself in the midst of depression, and in the midst of all states of being. While you're very depressed, this book may just scare you and/or piss you off (that was my reaction when I first flipped through it in a bookstore), but I highly recommend it for when you're on the upswing.

Cheri Huber is a Zen teacher, and her approach may especially appeal to folks who practice Zen or a similar form of meditation, but I don't think the words "Zen" or "Buddhism" appear anywhere in the text. The last few pages give instructions in a simple form of meditation involving attention to the breathing.

I also recommend John & Andrea Nelson's "Sacred Sorrows," a collection of essays on a wide variety of approaches to depression, including ways of healing depression and also ways of embracing depression and finding meaning in it. And if you're interested in Zen, you might want to take a look at Philip Martin's "The Zen Path through Depression," which mixes together insights about using Zen to alleviate depression and using Zen to suffer less in the midst of depression.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "New" Way to Deal With Depression, November 13, 2005

By 

Katie "book worm" (PA , USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Depression Book: Depression as an Opportunity for Spiritual Growth (Paperback)

This is one of those books that, after you read it, you're glad you ordered it - and glad you read it (instead of putting in that "I'll get to it later" pile)...


"The Depression Book" offers a "new" way for those who suffer from depression to deal with it - I placed the word "new" in quotes because, apparently, the approach offered is one that has been practiced in certain spiritual groups (namely Zen Buddhism) for a very long time.

This approach may seem a bit radical at first, but it makes a lot of sense. The idea is that the depression we feel is based on something else - something underneath the feelings of depression. It's also based on the idea that we tend to beat ourselves up for being depressed - we are not nearly as compassionate to ourselves as we would be to our loved ones... And this "beating up" process leads us to stay in a place of depression far longer than we have to.

One of the ideas that I found especially helpful is that it's okay to be depressed. We have been told, and have come to believe, that depression is somehow "wrong", and we judge ourselves harshly for allowing ourselves to have that experience - yet many times we learn the most about ourselves during times of pain - and depression can be one of those times.

As in Cheri's other books, it all boils down to compassion - the best thing we can do for ourselves is to love ourselves as we love other's - to be just as compassionate to ourselves, as we would be to a friend or family member that was depressed.

There are many great ideas on how we can look at depression differently, as well as what we can do when we are in the midst of it.

Overall, this is an excellent book for anyone who suffers from depression (whether it's frequent or not), as well as those who have loved ones who tend to have this experience. It's easy to read, and filled with a wealth of wisdom - and you can't beat the price!