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Taking Our Places: The Buddhist Path to Truly Growing Up

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This is a wonderful book for anyone trying to make sense of their life with a little more awareness and clarity. It's a welcoming read that blends wisdom with warmth and humour. Norman Fischer's study of what it means to really grow up may have begun with his mentoring of teenage boys, but the scope of his study quickly broadened and deepened into a discovery of what it means for any of us to truly be adults in this world. Fischer's seasoned Zen practice (some thirty-plus years) is grounded in its applicability to real world situations, and offers practical tools, not just abstract meditations on the matter. There is a wealth of thought-provoking material, for Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike, for those just entering the years when they wonder what on earth being an adult might mean, and for those of us long ago arrived in adulthood and still wondering what on earth it might mean. Heck, also for those who think they know and could use a refresher course! The infectious enthusiasm of every endorsement on the Taking Our Places jacket reflects the great heart of this former San Francisco Zen Center abbot, in abundant evidence throughout the pages of this book. Why wait till things fall apart? Buy the book now!

In this book Norman Fischer and four young boys undertake a joint journey of discovery what it means to mature, to take our places. They discuss qualities of grown-ups they like "responsible without being boring, experienced without being closed-minded, self-accepting without being shut off to change and improvement, loving without being corny, and strong without being brittle." It is a wonderful incentive to look at our grown-upness :-)

Responsibility. Experience. Self-acceptance. Love. Strength. They are some of the pavers on this path of truly growing up. I very much like the image of growing up as a path. This book shows that Zen is not an esoteric art. It shows that Zen is about our lives, yours and mine, that your live is yours and mine is mine. Yours and mine but interdependent like two waves rising out of the same ocean. It is about love and compassion, about lowering that carefully constructed wall, being open to the experience of the moment. Being alive in this very moment.

Good things abound in this book. These are principles that anyone can put into practice--Buddhist or not.