This Side of Nirvana

A personal account of one woman's spiritual journey, this memoir examines what happens when a talented female teacher takes the masculine assumptions of Zen practice and turns them inside out. Setting out as a young woman to learn from Asian teachers, the author met with formidable masters and struggled diligently to learn meditation. Only after meeting Cheri Huber did she begin to understand and internalize the tenets of Zen Buddhism. Discussion of belief and practice blends with an unflinching frankness about personal difficulties, the honest search for growth, and revealing interactions between student and teacher.