or twelve years, Present Perfect Books published titles on Buddhist meditation practice. In 2000, Sweet Zen won first prize in the spirituality category of ForeWord magazine’s Book of the Year contest.

Present Perfect Books no longer accepts manuscripts for publication, but the five titles on the teaching of Cheri Huber are now available through Keep It Simple, which supports the work of Living Compassion and the Zen Monastery Peace Center.

The first five titles below, on the teaching of Cheri Huber, are available through Keep It Simple and are distributed to the book trade through Independent Publishers’ Group, 800-888-4741.

weet Zen:
Dharma Talks from Cheri Huber

Sweet Zen offers an unusual approach to meditation practice: emphasizing simple kindness to oneself as the means of developing compassion for others. The talks, which address ordinary concerns in contemporary life, are short and clearly focused. The meditation practice described is a technique rather than a belief system and can be usefully applied within any religious tradition. Sweet Zen was awarded first place in the spirituality category of ForeWord magazine’s Book of the Year contest for 2000. ForeWord magazine, which publishes news and reviews for independent and university presses, founded the contest in 1998 to recognize excellence in independent publishing. Publishers were invited to submit exceptional titles in more than thirty categories. Award winners were selected f rom more than 800 books by a team of bookseller and librarian judges.

“. . . an articulate and inspiring rebuttal to the notion that deprivation is good for the soul . . . a truly enlightened and enlightening invitation to participate fully and joyfully in life.”
–Midwest Book Review
ISBN 0-9630784-4-5 200 pp., $12.00

uddha Facing the Wall:
Interviews with American Zen Monks*

Seventeen Zen monks respond to the questions, “What brought you here, and what is it like?” Their teacher, Cheri Huber, answers, too, in an interview about her own spiritual path and monastic training.

“I like Cheri Huber's approach – down to earth, commonsensical, useful, and illuminating.”
–Robert Thurman, author of Inner Revolution: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Real Happiness
ISBN 0-9630784-3-7 208 pp., illus. $14.00

ood Life:
A Zen Precepts Retreat with Cheri Huber*

Engaging discussions of how to transform real-life difficulties into freedom. The precepts help us see what keeps us from the natural joy of being wholeheartedly who we are.

“I love this book. It is a clear teaching tool
which will be of great help to many.”
–Joan Halifax
ISBN 0-9630784-2-9 136 pp., $12.00

rying To Be Human:
Zen Teaching from Cheri Huber

This book addresses three phases of spiritual life: finding a path, practicing it, and the awareness that results. Cheri's approach brings a light, often humorous touch to this gentle path to personal transformation.

“Cheri Huber tells it like it is.”
–Zen priest Dai-En Bennage
ISBN 0-9630784-1-0 128 pp., $9.95

urning Toward Happiness:
Conversations with a Zen Teacher and Her Students

Edited by Sara Jenkins

Down-to-earth descriptions of meditation practice in the words of long-term Zen students, five people living as Zen monks, and the teacher herself.

Tricycle recommended reading list
ISBN 0-9630784-0-2 168 pp., $8.95

t the Eleventh Hour:
Caring for My Dying Mother

by Susan Carol Stone

A memoir of love, written by a woman who interrupted an unusual life – in a Buddhist monastery – to return home and become a full-time caregiver. Dedicated to all those who are and will be caregivers, this book offers a compelling perspective on living a spiritual practice in the ordinary and extraordinary circumstances of a parent's dying.

“An exquisite exploration of the heart . . .
Susan allows us to accompany her on the path that leads
through death to birth – for death in the family can move us
toward the birth of our own deepest being.”
–Ondrea and Stephen Levine
ISBN 0-9630784-5-3 196 pp., $14.00

nee Deep in Grace:
The Extraordinary Life and Teachings of Dipa Ma

by Amy Schmidt

One of the few women of her generation to devote herself entirely to the pursuit of meditation, Dipa Ma attained profound levels of insight in an astonishingly short time. As the teacher of Sharon Salzberg, Joseph Goldstein, and Jack Kornfield, Dipa Ma profoundly influenced the development of insight meditation practice in the West. Dipa Ma taught that anyone can walk the path of awakening, and that meditation cannot be separated from daily life.

“An inspiring and beautiful book
about one of our beloved elders,
a modern Buddhist saint.”
–Jack Kornfield, After the Ecstasy, the Laundry and other titles
ISBN 0-9630784-6-1 174 pp., $12.00
OUT OF PRINT (reissued by BlueBridge, janguerth@aol.com)

*Titles available for donation to prison and other programs.