Download or read book Hardcore Zen written by Brad Warner and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-12 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Zen, plain and simple, with no BS. This is not your typical Zen book. Brad Warner, a young punk who grew up to be a Zen master, spares no one. This bold new approach to the "Why?" of Zen Buddhism is as strongly grounded in the tradition of Zen as it is utterly revolutionary. Warner's voice is hilarious, and he calls on the wisdom of everyone from punk and pop culture icons to the Buddha himself to make sure his points come through loud and clear. As it prods readers to question everything, Hardcore Zen is both an approach and a departure, leaving behind the soft and lyrical for the gritty and stark perspective of a new generation. This new edition will feature an afterword from the author.
Download or read book Letters to a Dead Friend about Zen written by Brad Warner and published by New World Library. This book was released on 2019-10-08 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The night Brad Warner learns that his childhood friend Marky has died, Warner is about to speak to a group of Zen students in Hamburg, Germany. It's the last thing he feels like doing. What he wants to do instead is tell his friend everything he never said, to explain Zen and what he does for a living and why he spends his time "Sitting. Sitting. Sitting. Meditating my life away as it all passes by. Lighting candles and incense. Bowing to nothing." So, as he continues his teaching tour through Europe, he writes to his friend all the things he wishes he had said. Simply and humorously, he reflects on why Zen provided him a lifeline in a difficult world. He explores grief, attachment, and the afterlife. He writes to Marky, "I'm not all that interested in Buddhism. I'm much more interested in what is true," and then proceeds to poke and prod at that truth. The result for readers is a singular and winning meditation on Zen — and a unique tribute to both a life lost and the one Warner has found.
Download or read book Sit Down and Shut Up written by Brad Warner and published by New World Library. This book was released on 2010-10-05 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2003, Brad Warner blew the top off the Buddhist book world with his irreverent autobiography/manifesto, Hardcore Zen: Punk Rock, Monster Movies, and the Truth about Reality. Now in his second book, Sit Down and Shut Up, Brad tackles one of the great works of Zen literature, the Shobogenzo, by thirteenth-century Zen master Dogen. Illuminating Dogen’s enigmatic teachings in plain language, Brad intertwines musings on sex, meditation, death, God, sin, and happiness with an exploration of the punk rock ethos. In chapters such as “Evil Is Stupid,” “Kill Your Anger,” and “Enlightenment Is for Sissies,” Brad melds the antiauthoritarianism of punk with that of Zen, mixing in a travelogue of his triumphant return to Ohio to play in a reunion concert of Akron punk bands. For those drawn to Buddhist teachings but scared off by their stiff austerity, Brad writes with a sharp smack of truth, in teachings and stories that cut to the heart of reality.
Download or read book Sex Sin and Zen written by Brad Warner and published by New World Library. This book was released on 2010 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With his one-of-a kind blend of autobiography, pop culture, and plainspoken Buddhism, Brad Warner explores an A-to-Z of sexual topics — from masturbation to dating, gender identity to pornography. In addition to approaching sexuality from a Buddhist perspective, he looks at Buddhism — emptiness, compassion, karma — from a sexual vantage. Throughout, he stares down the tough questions: Can prostitution be a right livelihood? Can a good spiritual master also be really, really bad? And ultimately, what's love got to do with any of it? While no puritan when it comes to non-vanilla sexuality, Warner offers a conscious approach to sexual ethics and intimacy — real-world wisdom for our times.
Download or read book Hardcore Zen Strikes Again written by Brad Warner and published by . This book was released on 2012-05 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Author Brad Warner (Hardcore Zen, Sit Down and Shut Up, Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate, and Sex, Sin, and Zen) revisits seventeen of his earlier essays on topics ranging from vegetarianism to punk rock, working for Japanese monster movie makers, and the art of Zen writing, complete with all-new analyses, introduction and afterword.
Download or read book Don t Be a Jerk written by Brad Warner and published by New World Library. This book was released on 2016-02-15 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Shōbōgenzō (The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye) is a revered eight-hundred-year-old Zen Buddhism classic written by the Japanese monk Eihei Dōgen. Despite the timeless wisdom of his teachings, many consider the book difficult to understand and daunting to read. In Don’t Be a Jerk, Zen priest and bestselling author Brad Warner, through accessible paraphrasing and incisive commentary, applies Dōgen’s teachings to modern times. While entertaining and sometimes irreverent, Warner is also an astute scholar who sees in Dōgen very modern psychological concepts, as well as insights on such topics as feminism and reincarnation. Warner even shows that Dōgen offered a “Middle Way” in the currently raging debate between science and religion. For curious readers worried that Dōgen’s teachings are too philosophically opaque, Don’t Be a Jerk is hilarious, understandable, and wise.
Download or read book Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate written by Brad Warner and published by New World Library. This book was released on 2010-06-23 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How does a real-life Zen master — not the preternaturally calm, cartoonish Zen masters depicted by mainstream culture — help others through hard times when he’s dealing with pain of his own? How does he meditate when the world is crumbling around him? Is meditation a valid response or just another form of escapism? These are the questions Brad Warner ponders in Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate. During a year that Warner spent giving talks and leading retreats across North America, his mother and grandmother died, he lost his dream job, and his marriage fell apart. In writing about how he applied the Buddha’s teachings to his own real-life suffering, Warner shatters expectations, revealing that Buddhism isn’t some esoteric pie-in-the-sky ultimate solution but an exceptionally practical way to deal with whatever life dishes out.
Download or read book Hidden Zen written by Meido Moore and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2020-10-13 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover hidden practices, secretly transmitted in authentic Zen lineages, of using body, speech, and mind to remove obstructions to awakening. Though Zen is best known for the practices of koan introspection and "just sitting" or shikantaza, there are in fact many other practices transmitted in Zen lineages. In modern practice settings, students will find that Bodhidharma's words "direct pointing at the human mind" are little mentioned, or else taken to be simply a general descriptor of Zen rather than a crucial activity within Zen practice. Reversing this trend toward homogeneous and superficial understandings of Zen technique, Hidden Zen presents a diverse collection of practice instructions that are transmitted orally from teacher to student, unlocking a comprehensive path of awakening. This book reveals and details, for the first time, a treasury of "direct pointing" and internal energy cultivation practices preserved in the Rinzai Zen tradition. The twenty-eight practices of direct pointing offered here illuminate one's innate clarity and, ultimately, the nature of mind itself. Over a dozen practices of internal energetic cultivation galvanize dramatic effects on the depth of one's meditative attainment. Hidden Zen affords a small taste of the richness of authentic Zen, helping readers grow beyond the bounds of introspection and sitting to find awakening itself.
Download or read book It Came from Beyond Zen written by Brad Warner and published by New World Library. This book was released on 2017-09-01 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Vol. 2 of Brad Warner’s Radical but Reverent Paraphrasing of Dogen’s Treasury of the True Dharma Eye In Japan in 1253, one of the great thinkers of his time died — and the world barely noticed. That man was the Zen monk Eihei Dogen. For centuries his main work, Shobogenzo, languished in obscurity, locked away in remote monasteries until scholars rediscovered it in the twentieth century. What took so long? In Brad Warner’s view, Dogen was too ahead of his time to find an appreciative audience. To bring Dogen’s work to a bigger readership, Warner began paraphrasing Shobogenzo, recasting it in simple, everyday language. The first part of this project resulted in Don’t Be a Jerk, and now Warner presents this second volume, It Came from Beyond Zen! Once again, Warner uses wry humor and incisive commentary to bridge the gap between past and present, making Dogen’s words clearer and more relevant than ever before.
Download or read book Silent Illumination written by Guo Gu and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2021-03-09 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our natural awakening—or buddha-nature—is inherent within all of us and waiting to be realized. Buddha-nature has the qualities of both silence and illumination, and by working with silent illumination meditation you can find your own awakening. Distinguished Chan Buddhist teacher Guo Gu introduces you to the significance and methods of this practice through in-depth explanations and guided instructions. To help establish a foundation for realizing silent illumination, he has translated twenty-five teachings from the influential master Hongzhi Zhengjue into English, accompanied by his personal commentary. This book will be an indispensable resource for meditators interested in beginning or deepening their silent illumination practice.
Download or read book Master Dogen s Shinji Shobogenzo written by Gudo Wafu Nishijima and published by . This book was released on 2009-08-01 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Shinji Shobogenzo is a marvelous collection of 301 Zen koan stories in three volumes that the Japanese Buddhist master Dogen collected during his four-year stay in China. The stories were written in Chinese, and are records of conversations between Buddhist masters and their students. Dogen used many of these stories as the basis for his formal lectures in his major work, the Shobogenzo. The Shinji Shobogenzo is an essential collection that encompasses many of the well-known koan stories, with many interesting and less familiar ones, together with the comments of a contemporary Buddhist master renowned for his clear and no-nonsense approach. Gudo Nishijima Roshi has published a complete translation and commentary on the stories in Japanese, and he first dictated an English translation to three of his students in the early 1980s, together with a commentary on each story, which was produced in three volumes. Only the first of the three volumes was published, but it is now long out of print. This new and completely revised version comprises all three volumes in one edition, together with Nishijimas refreshingly down-to-earth explanations of the stories.
Download or read book Zig Zag Zen written by Allan Hunt Badiner and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2002-04 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Buddhism and psychedelic experimentation share a common concern: the liberation of the mind. Zig Zag Zen launches the first serious inquiry into the moral, ethical, doctrinal, and transcendental considerations created by the intersection of Buddhism and psychedelics. With a foreword by renowned Buddhist scholar Stephen Batchelor and a preface by historian of religion Huston Smith, along with numerous essays and interviews, Zig Zag Zen is a provocative and thoughtful exploration of altered states of consciousness and the potential for transformation. Accompanying each essay is a work of visionary art selected by artist Alex Grey, such as a vividly graphic work by Robert Venosa, a contemporary thangka painting by Robert Beer, and an exercise in emptiness in the form of an enso by a 17th-century Zen abbot. Packed with enlightening entries and art that lie outside the scope of mainstream anthologies, Zig Zag Zen offers eye-opening insights into alternate methods of inner exploration.
Download or read book Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha written by Daniel Ingram and published by Aeon Books. This book was released on 2020-01-20 with total page 715 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The very idea that the teachings can be mastered will arouse controversy within Buddhist circles. Even so, Ingram insists that enlightenment is an attainable goal, once our fanciful notions of it are stripped away, and we have learned to use meditation as a method for examining reality rather than an opportunity to wallow in self-absorbed mind-noise. Ingram sets out concisely the difference between concentration-based and insight (vipassana) meditation; he provides example practices; and most importantly he presents detailed maps of the states of mind we are likely to encounter, and the stages we must negotiate as we move through clearly-defined cycles of insight. Its easy to feel overawed, at first, by Ingram's assurance and ease in the higher levels of consciousness, but consistently he writes as a down-to-earth and compassionate guide, and to the practitioner willing to commit themselves this is a glittering gift of a book.In this new edition of the bestselling book, the author rearranges, revises and expands upon the original material, as well as adding new sections that bring further clarity to his ideas.
Download or read book The Complete Illustrated Guide to Zen written by Seigaku Amato and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-05-11 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An introduction to Zen unlike any you’ve seen before—inspired by manga and graphic novels. The Complete Illustrated Guide to Zen offers a comprehensive overview of Soto Zen Buddhism in a delightfully captivating way. Complete with dynamic, detailed illustrations, Soto Zen Priest Seigaku Amato uses a semi-narrative style to take you on a visual tour of Buddhism and, using specifics to illuminate universals, dives deep into the practices and forms of Soto Zen. Whether you are just taking your first step or have been practicing Zen for years, this creative and profound book will be a constant companion and guide on your journey as it explores topics such as • a brief history of Buddhism, • an iconographic overview of various buddhas and bodhisattvas, • an introduction to the various practices of Zen including meditation (zazen), work practice (samu), and meditative eating (oryoki), • a what’s what of holidays, ceremonies, temple instruments, and religious vestments, and • a how-to guide for setting up a home altar.
Download or read book Momma Zen written by Karen Maezen Miller and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2007-11-13 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Combining humor, honesty, and plainspoken advice, Momma Zen distills the doubts and frustrations of parenting into vignettes of Zen wisdom. Drawing on her experience as a first-time mother, and on her years of Zen meditation and study, Miller explores how the daily challenges of parenthood can become the most profound spiritual journey of our lives. This compelling and wise memoir follows the timeline of early motherhood from pregnancy through toddlerhood. Momma Zen takes readers on a transformative journey, charting a mother’s growth beyond naive expectations and disorientation to finding fulfillment in ordinary tasks, developing greater self-awareness and acceptance—to the gradual discovery of "maternal bliss," a state of abiding happiness and ease that is available to us all. In her gentle and reassuring voice, Karen Miller convinces us that ancient and authentic spiritual lessons can be as familiar as a lullaby, as ordinary as pureed peas, and as frequent as a sleepless night. She offers encouragement for the hard days, consolation for the long haul, and the lightheartedness every new mom needs to face the crooked path of motherhood straight on.
Download or read book The Dude and the Zen Master written by Jeff Bridges and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2013-01-08 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The perfect gift for fans of The Big Lebowski, Jeff Bridges's "The Dude", and anyone who could use more Zen in their lives. Zen Master Bernie Glassman compares Jeff Bridges’s iconic role in The Big Lebowski to a Lamed-Vavnik: one of the men in Jewish mysticism who are “simple and unassuming,” and “so good that on account of them God lets the world go on.” Jeff puts it another way. “The wonderful thing about the Dude is that he’d always rather hug it out than slug it out.” For more than a decade, Academy Award-winning actor Jeff Bridges and his Buddhist teacher, renowned Roshi Bernie Glassman, have been close friends. Inspiring and often hilarious, The Dude and the Zen Master captures their freewheeling dialogue and remarkable humanism in a book that reminds us of the importance of doing good in a difficult world.
Download or read book Zen Track Rambling written by Jim Schroeder and published by Createspace Independent Pub. This book was released on 2012-08-01 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Zen Track Rambling came about quite by chance: First, as a joyful account to capture the feelings I experienced during my long runs; and secondly, as a means to relieve the pain, depression, and general helplessness I felt during a long-term injury. My running journey has led me to extreme highs, but has also plunged me bipolar-like into the depths of depression. The journey began in Starved Rock State Park, outside of LaSalle, Illinois, in August 1999, when I was an expatriate in Australia working in the States for a spell. At sunrise, I'd run the trails before work, then share in a communal breakfast with my workshop colleagues; yet during the work day, I would drift and daydream. I was fifty-something, and felt disconnected, not knowing who I was or where I was headed. But I put my time to good use during those humdrum workshops: I'd scribble the memories from the day's run on scraps of paper! The result of my ennui was an accumulation of paper scraps marked with ruminations of my daily runs. On my flight back to Australia, I gathered those scraps and magically scribed the poem “zen track rambling”. The title of the poem, however, is unrelated to my morning runs on the Starved Rock trails even though they were the poem's inspiration; rather, zen track is a name my Australian running mates and I coined to describe a scorching hot, blustery bike path which runs along a railway line—and, which once hosted the infamous Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin—where we often hallucinated as we ran in 100 plus-degree temperatures. As I was living and working in Australia for quite some time, I made a few friends in the South Australian Writer's Workshop, notably Kim, who encouraged me to read “zen track rambling” in one of the Poetry Under The Pier reading sessions in Henley Beach. I remember my first poetry reading like it was yesterday. Somewhat unsure of myself, I drew a deep breath and bared my soul to the gathered throng of poetry lovers. The ensuing positive reception I received convinced me to continue to write down what I felt, envisioned, and/or hallucinated on my long runs. As the years went by, I ran hundreds of miles, maybe even thousands, and the word count accumulated along with those miles. Australia was where I also got into competitive racing. On the weekends, I ran 20 plus-mile endurance runs on the sands of Henley Beach. I ran the annual 30Km South Australian Road Runners Club race many times, but it became less and less of a challenge. I could no longer ignore thoughts of running a marathon! I knew I had the distance in the bag since I was already running 20-plus mile runs each weekend on the beach. Completing that first marathon was just the beginning of my long-distance running career.Then, in June 2000, an injury crippled my running life. I had been training for the Corporate Cup, running with guys 20 years my junior and at their pace! My 5K time was a sub-20 minutes! Not bad for a fifty-year-old! But every runner knows that speedwork takes a toll on the body, and running hardcore like that resulted in very painful sciatica. I felt discouraged and depressed, and those feelings became apparent in my writing. When I think back to that time, I realize that writing had become my therapy, my way to understand my own fears and to express a hope I did not yet feel. Many of my poems, particularly, “footsteps in the sand" not only reveal my physical pain but also the mental anguish I felt. When the pain from my injury subsided—it took six long months—I felt the adrenaline urge again, but this time I replaced competitive racing with slow, long-distance running. Similarly, my writing style also changed: I started to write how I felt during those long runs in the form of race reports—instead of poetry—to memorialize my ultra-marathon experiences. My running life had finally pushed me forward into positive places on the trails and my spirit of running was renewed.
