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Summary: i stumbled upon this at a party.....
Review: ...in a rather seedy part of town. It was a house party full of angry punk kids that i didn't know, and all of them were jaded . I spent the rest of the evening reading about enlightenment and the way i was living. Now, i'm not so jaded...but i can't speak for the rest of the kids that were there that night.
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Summary: The Real Deal from a Punk Monk
Review: Brad Warner accomplishes exactly what he sets out to do: provide a no-nonsense, stripped-down, "keepin'-it-real" discourse on Zen Buddhism. Comparing the nihilistic punk movement (which encouraged people to reject the put-upon structure of society) to the Zen Buddhist school (which encouraged people to reject the artificial confines of ego and illusion)is sheer brilliance. And it's a very clever way to deliver the Zen approach and philosophy to the modern MTV Generation. The writing is honest, raw and often funny and thought-provoking. If fact, only two things prevented me from giving the book five stars. The first is the tone of the book. In an effort to stay true to his punk roots, it seems like the author tries too hard to be "in your face". It gets irritating after awhile. Towards the middle of the book, some of the edginess starts to seem forced and contrived. Happily, that doesn't continue throughout. Or maybe I just got used to it. The second thing is, as another reviewer pointed out, the constant name-dropping of bands from Punk Rock Past. Now, I'm the same age as the author and even though I've heard most of the bands he references (including HIS band, Zero Defex), I felt he over did it. At one point I wasn't sure if the book was about Zen or the Ohio music scene in the 70's. Aside from these minors issues, this is the best book ob 21st Century Zen I've ever read. But that's just my opinion. The only way to truly know is to check it out for yourself.
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Summary: Hardcore Fun
Review: Brad Warner's Hardcore Zen is part autobiography, part theology, and 100% fun. With an unlikely mix of irreverence and compassion, Warner explains his interpretation of Zen Buddhism and how it relates to his experiences of creating punk rock and Japanese monster movies.
If you can imagine a drug-addict-free Hunter S. Thompson writing about the nature of reality, well, then you have Warner's writing style:
"Lemme give you my take on these truths. The first noble truth, suffering, represents idealism. When you look at things from an idealistic viewpoint everything sucks, as The Descendants said in the song called 'Everything Sucks' (from the album Everything Sucks). Nothing can possibly live up to the ideals and fantasies you've created. So we suffer because things are not the way we think they ought to be. Rather than face what really is, we prefer to retreat and compare what we're living through with the way we think it oughta be. Suffering comes from the comparison between the two."
But unlike most books about a religion, Warner never claims to have any answers. Instead, he states that the precepts of Buddhism can lead you to something more complex-yourself:
"Buddhism won't give you the answer. Buddhism might help you find your own right question, but you've gotta supply your own answers. Sorry. No one else's answer will ever satisfy you-nor should it. But the real magic is that once you have your own true answer, you'll find that you're not alone. As unique as your own true answer is-the one you find after questioning and questioning and questioning-it will be absolutely in tune with the answer Gautama Buddha found and those centuries ago..."
Hardcore Zen offers a unique voice to the volumes of books on Buddhism. Unlike most authors who focus on religion, Warner makes the subject matter fascinating through humor and reiterating the fact that he knows nothing-you already know everything.
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Summary: I'm sitting...for now
Review: I did not pick this book after reading the reviews. I'm not sure why I picked it. Perhaps because it had Zen in the title and a picture of a toilet on the cover. I'm not sure why I love this book but I do. There's something very honest about it. I am an on-again off-again kind of meditator (vipaasna). Loosely interpreted, that means I meditate when things are going badly in my life and stop when things go right again. This book inspired me to SIT and I am still sitting 6 months later...through a good phase in my life !!! What more can I say ?
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Summary: Great book!
Review: I found this book to be fresh and refreshing. Brad is open about his opinions and thoughts about the world Zen scene (I especially appreciate his comments on Ken Wilber...). I would recommend it for anyone interested in Zen. Some folks didn't like it - maybe ya gotta be from Ohio to appreciate it! ;-)
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Summary: This Is Where It's At!
Review: I love Zen books. For the most part, good books on Zen click with me. The thing is, though... the void surrounding that "for the most part" is glaring at times. The authors often come from a landscape so esoteric or removed from the average Joe-&-Jane's real life situation. Two contemporary writers of Zen I enjoy most are Charlotte Joko Beck and the late Alan Watts, yet when I read them, I can't help but picturing myself next to Alen Ginsburg on a houseboat in Sausalito, or eating macrobiotic rice at The Yogic-Yogurt Cafe in some land like Santa Cruz or La Jolla. It's not that I dislike these notions, but they are so far removed from my reality. I got much a lot out of these books, but a little something was missing. I browsed through Hardcore Zen by Brad Warner. I was initially drawn to the funky cover and thought "Oh cute... another book on 'Zen For the Western Mind." Nope. This book is much more than a cute punk-themed book cover. Flipping through the pages, I was amazed to find that this Zen practitioner made references to several major pop-culture icons that I could really relate to. I thought I was the only American from my generation who remembered the episode of Ultraman where a funeral service is held for the scores of space monsters that Ultraman had to kill. Nor did I expect to see a reference to that cringe-inducing 1982 CHIPS episode where evil punk rockers terrorized the Battle of the Bands with their ode "I Dig Pain!" These references to modern media moguls, from Henry Rollins to Ed Wood to Godzilla, are not just trivial inserts serving as a gimmick for a "Zen Book O' the Week" favorite. Brad Warner applies these references to everyday life as many middle class Americans know it. You can toss your MTV memorabilia and Cristina Aguilera posters away and eat all the tofu you please, but let's not pretend we were never reared on TV, rock music and Sugar Pops, because most of us ---even the ones going to Veganville--- love our pop culture. If you are searching for a book on Zen that will take your soul flying into the astral plane or seeing rainbow-colored deities, well... this book is not for you. Warner is a Zen priest, coming from the mindset that Zen is reality, Zen is what's here & now. The "here & now" is one of the things that has drawn me to books on Zen, and Warner illustrates this very well. There has been so much written on "embracing the mundane," but this one will make sense to anyone who has grown up in American cities and suburbs. Warner shows reality as both exciting and drab, and expresses the notion of "embracing the mundane" in ways that really hits home. Warner also addresses the dangers of searching for divine intervention, or states of higher consciousness. Namely, he shows how there are plenty of people out there who pass themselves off as enlightened gurus or prophets of God, and how easily they can exploit and harm insecure people searching for spiritual comfort. Charismatic folks are experts at looking "realized & actualized," often promising you the answers to fulfillment. Religious manipulation is a personal pet peeve of mine, and I was pleased to see it discussed in depth. While I won't thumb my nose at anyone's personal religious faith, I am very leery of organized religion, be it a small church or a city-sized temple, especially when a handful of folks claim to give you all the answers. I was equally refreshed to find no sly mention in the backpages of a "Brad Warner Fulfillment Community" or similar money machine. Warner tells it as he sees it, and moves on. What else can I say? Well, lots... there are enough kudos to cover five or six more pages, but I will stop here. This book is totally boss! I will likely read it several times over, but right now I'm going to embrace the moment my way, doing my Hindu Squats while watching tapes of All-Japan Womens' Wrestling and Lucha Libre on TV, then winding things up with a protein drink and Conan O'Brien on the tube. Read this book, it is a surprising treat.
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Summary: The Life and Times of an American Buddhist.
Review: I read this book a few months ago, and after letting it "digest" in my mind for a bit, I am ready to write a review. This book is well-written and straight-forward. No punches are pulled and none thrown without there being a meaning behind it. I enjoyed Mr. Warner's forthright attitude and way of presenting the core values of Buddhism without getting into a lot of window dressing about it. The writing is easy to read and the concepts easy to absorb. Some folks may not like the lack of mystical ponderings or flowery prose, but ya can't please all the folks all the time. I found a lot of value in this book. It is a worthwhile purchase for someone exploring Buddhism, or a practiced Buddhist looking for an amusing, yet serious perspective. I felt that this book was an honest portrayal of Mr. Warner's journey and I appreciate that he felt the need to write it. I do highly recommend this book for anyone curious about Buddhism. Peace!
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Summary: An Anybody's Review
Review: I really liked this book because an "anybody" like me can sit and practice zazen. An "anybody" like me does not have to reach some higher level of consciousness to sit. It is up to me to sit, to question, to come up with (or not) answers to my questions. It is my reality to accept not the "experts" I might lazily appoint to do the work for me. Besides I'm a "somebody" who grew up loving Godzilla and punk rock and can still sit zazen besides. This book helped me strip away the authority I was trying to appoint for myself and the author does not appoint himself as an authority figure.
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Summary: Tears down the walls of Hollywood Buddhism
Review: I'd say this book is great if you're tired of Hollywood Buddhism. It also tears down a lot of the New Age crap such as Ram Das and Ken Wilbur.
Brad Warner delivers the teachings of how to live Zen without any fantasies and how to practice for the true reality of being. The true essentials for a Buddhist transformation.
It also has a witty approach and Brad Warner will have you laughing and thinking clearly by the end of the book. I highly suggest this book for anyone who practices Zen or anyone in the punk world that wishes to practice Zen. This is the book that is a wake up call for Buddhists everywhere.
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Summary: Great read, great info for the zen beginner
Review: I've read a lot of zen books and this is one of the best. It's a quick read that mixes the personal bio of the author with the greater concepts of zen he discovers and experiences.
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