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clivemeister's review against another edition
3.0
I picked this book up at random in a bookshop, based the cover, the title, and my patented method of opening at a random page about 1/3rd of the way through, reading the page, and seeing if I wanted to continue. I did, and, with some mild caveats, I'd recommend it to you, too.
Brad Warner is a teacher of Zen Buddhism. I practice (and to some small extent, teach) a secular version of Tibetan Buddhism, which is rather frowned upon by some of the Zen Buddhists as being a corruption of the original teachings. But Brad (I'm sure he won't mind me calling him Brad) ain't that guy. As well as being a Zen teacher, he is a punk rocker from the 1980s (one of the chapters describes him hanging out backstage at Ozzfest - a giant heavy metal festival), still plays with his band, lived in Japan for 11 years, worked for a movie company, has a bit of a crappy relationship with his wife, and so on. He's a real person, living his real life, just like the rest of us.
This book is a brave attempt to show a true view of a couple of fairly crappy years in Brad's particular life, and how he coped with them. The subtitle says it all: "A Trip Through Death, Sex, Divorce, and Spiritual Celebrity". He does this not by "being all Zen" about it, but by being a real, genuine, fully-engaged, human being.
Ultimately, that's the message of this book: we're all genuine, complex, brilliant, screwed-up, happy, sad, flawed, self-contradictory, human beings. He's no different from the rest of us. He's just perhaps a little bit more aware of it than some - thanks to his 25 years of practice. In the end, this is what Buddhism tries to show you, I think.
I did enjoy this book, and it's definitely entertaining enough to be worth your time to read. I was hoping, perhaps, for a little more on the Zen stuff, and a little less of the autobiography, so I'd give it three and a half stars, rounded down to three for lack of core content. Still, I'll look out for others of his - they sound like a blast!
Brad Warner is a teacher of Zen Buddhism. I practice (and to some small extent, teach) a secular version of Tibetan Buddhism, which is rather frowned upon by some of the Zen Buddhists as being a corruption of the original teachings. But Brad (I'm sure he won't mind me calling him Brad) ain't that guy. As well as being a Zen teacher, he is a punk rocker from the 1980s (one of the chapters describes him hanging out backstage at Ozzfest - a giant heavy metal festival), still plays with his band, lived in Japan for 11 years, worked for a movie company, has a bit of a crappy relationship with his wife, and so on. He's a real person, living his real life, just like the rest of us.
This book is a brave attempt to show a true view of a couple of fairly crappy years in Brad's particular life, and how he coped with them. The subtitle says it all: "A Trip Through Death, Sex, Divorce, and Spiritual Celebrity". He does this not by "being all Zen" about it, but by being a real, genuine, fully-engaged, human being.
Ultimately, that's the message of this book: we're all genuine, complex, brilliant, screwed-up, happy, sad, flawed, self-contradictory, human beings. He's no different from the rest of us. He's just perhaps a little bit more aware of it than some - thanks to his 25 years of practice. In the end, this is what Buddhism tries to show you, I think.
I did enjoy this book, and it's definitely entertaining enough to be worth your time to read. I was hoping, perhaps, for a little more on the Zen stuff, and a little less of the autobiography, so I'd give it three and a half stars, rounded down to three for lack of core content. Still, I'll look out for others of his - they sound like a blast!
gemmadee's review against another edition
3.0
A fun read about applying zen principles to real life messes.
jasminenoack's review against another edition
4.0
So I deleted my review for this book by mistake... if anyone has a copy in an old email let me know.
All I remember about it was that I said it was the best of brad warner's books so far.
All I remember about it was that I said it was the best of brad warner's books so far.
mjanemartin's review against another edition
1.0
I read Warner's first two books and gave them each 5 stars. I stand by that. I have every intention of rereading both. I liked the way he said to question everything...find your own path...reality is now. This is not a book about Zen. This is an autobiography about a really bad year Warner had. I empathize. But this book isn't about how he worked through it. It's an angry, mean-spirited diatribe. It's a rant against his ex-wife whom he describes as cold and emasculating. It's a rant against fellow Zen Buddhists who he thought were his friends but disappointed him. All they did was call him out on his behaviour (writing a column for a porn site). It's a rant against his employer. I saw little compassion for the dying in this book. There is no respect for anyone or thing. His humor wasn't funny, it went too far and was in poor taste. He spends the whole book defending his behaviour as being "real". There's an early rant in which he says "Americans, stop making excuses!" And then he makes excuses for all his own bad behaviour. The underlying message in this book is great, that Zen Masters (or members of any spiritual organization) are just people...with the same urges and making the same mistakes as everyone else. So here, we see that he has made some poor choices (I'm not sure he would agree, however). Ok. He's human. I get it. I never thought he wasn't. Yet he doesn't really tie it up with how he's grown from it, how he made it meaningful to himself. One of his last chapters is titled "In Which I Vow To Be An Asshole Forever." He's succeeded so far. This book is a manifestation of that. He says over and over how he's "real". Yes, he is. And he's proven even real Zen Masters can benefit from a little therapy.
will_sargent's review
5.0
I freaking love Brad Warner. Not because he's a totally serene Zen Master, but because he isn't. The whole point of this book is that despite teaching Zen, being involved with Zen for close to twenty years, Brad Warner's just a guy.
And, as a guy, he screws up, occasionally sits around doing nothing, makes bad decisions, and gets nervous talking to people. He's clear about this. He hides nothing. He's writing his own expose about his life.
And yet; Brad is sane. He's clear about how he feels. He does his best every day to be humble and avoid hurting people, and when he feels pain himself, he tries to deal with it in a healthy way. Even when he's dealing with his mother dying of Huntington's, he's compassionate. The only thing he has a problem with is people who aren't compassionate, who are thoughtless and cruel. In short, Brad hates assholes.
And yet, at the same time, Brad has to deal with being an asshole himself. And decide that at times, an asshole is exactly the right thing to be.
So. You should read this book. Maybe you won't like it. You may not. But if you do like it, the odds are high that you will freaking love it.
And, as a guy, he screws up, occasionally sits around doing nothing, makes bad decisions, and gets nervous talking to people. He's clear about this. He hides nothing. He's writing his own expose about his life.
And yet; Brad is sane. He's clear about how he feels. He does his best every day to be humble and avoid hurting people, and when he feels pain himself, he tries to deal with it in a healthy way. Even when he's dealing with his mother dying of Huntington's, he's compassionate. The only thing he has a problem with is people who aren't compassionate, who are thoughtless and cruel. In short, Brad hates assholes.
And yet, at the same time, Brad has to deal with being an asshole himself. And decide that at times, an asshole is exactly the right thing to be.
So. You should read this book. Maybe you won't like it. You may not. But if you do like it, the odds are high that you will freaking love it.