Description

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This engaging contemplation of maturity addresses the long neglected topic of what it means to grow up, and provides a hands–on guide for skilfully navigating the demands of our adult lives.

Growing up happens whether we like it or not, but maturity must be cultivated. Challenged to consider his own sense of maturity while mentoring a group of teenage boys, Fischer began to investigate our preconceptions about what it means to be "an adult" and shows how crucial true maturity is to leading an engaged, fulfilled life. Taking Our Places details the marks of a mature person and shows how these attributes can help alleviate our suffering and enrich our relationships. Discussing such qualities as awareness, responsibility, humour, acceptance, and humility, Fischer brings a fresh and at times surprising new perspective that can turn old ideas on their heads and reinvigorate our understanding of what it means to be mature.

About the Author

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Norman Fischer is a Zen priest, teacher, poet, former abbot of San Francisco Zen Center, and founder of The Everyday Zen Foundation, an organization created to broaden the reach of engaged Buddhist practice. Fischer leads retreats and workshops across the country and in Canada and Mexico. He is the author of Opening to You: Zen-Inspired Translations of the Psalms, and has published several books of poetry. In addition to giving Zen lectures and retreats, he leads Jewish meditation classes and is also actively involved in interfaith dialogue.

Praise For…

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“Taking Our Places is wise, compassionate, poetic, and deeply moving. Growing up (at any age) at its best.” — Joseph Goldstein, author of One Dharma

“A beautiful expression of deep spiritual maturity by a teacher whose wisdom shines brightly on every page.” — Sharon Salzberg, author of Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience

“Zen-like in its elegant simplicity, this wonderfully wise presentation of maturity is inspirational.” — Sylvia Boorstein, author of Pay Attention, For Goodness’ Sake

“Remarkably profound, moving, and far-ranging....Every word is an occasion to align yourself in the most practical of ways with what it might mean for you to be your best self and follow a path of wise action, compassion, and integrity.” — Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Wherever You Go, There You Are and Full Catastrophe Living

“Warm and endlessly wise... offers indispensable answers to the only question worth asking; What do we do with this life?” — Rabbi Alan Lew, author of One God Clapping

“Thoughtful, wise, considered, beautiful. Helps you ask the questions of the heart.” — Jack Kornfield, author of A Path With Heart

“This book beautifully illustrates that true maturity is more than a physical endeavor, it is a lifetime process.” — Noah Levine, author of Dharma Punx

“A refreshing book! For anyone who has struggled with their practice amid the complexities, frustrations, and ambiguities of real life.” — Charlotte Joko Beck, author of Everyday Zen

“Fischer offers us a lifetime of experience in making sense of Zen.” — Mark Epstein, M.D., author of Thoughts Without A Thinker

“Remarkable for its clarity in expressing complex concepts... this work focuses Fischer’s intellectual power into visceral, emotional reading.” — Jewish Bulletin