Reddit reviews Hardcore Zen: Punk Rock, Monster Movies and the Truth About Reality

nope. http://www.amazon.com/Hardcore-Zen-Monster-Movies-Reality/dp/086171380X

It's been done.

This gem that mixes punk rock music, Godzilla, and Buddhism

I am currently reading Hardcore Zen: Punk Rock, Monster Movies, & the Truth about Reality. I get the impression that in one view (Soto) people are born enlightened and only need to realize it (like Plato's dialog of Meno). The author seems to talk about enlightenment as a consistency of truths being realized--"solving the philosophical problems". But in that view, Zen masters say the experience of enlightenment should not be over-emphasized or over-valued. The author goes on to say that it is not retirement from the world, but really only the beginning of the hard work.

edit: like Nelstone's comment below, the author describes his enlightenment as looking at the sky and feeling recognition like seeing himself in a mirror.

Plus Hardcore Zen's full title is excellent!

You were embarrassed to say it, weren't you? :)

I was raised in a very strict Evangelical, Fundamentalist Christian household. I had a feeling from the very beginning that it was all bullshit, but I tell you what, I tried valiantly to hang in there. As I got into college, I had moved onto reading Kierkegaard and other Christian Existentialist in order to try to make my religion make any damn sense. Paul Tillich also figured in prominently. Honestly I still really like a whole lot of what both Kierkegaard and Tillich have to say.

Anyway after doing that for a bit, I realized that there was no point in all the mental gymnastics I was doing. I was clinging to this thing because I was raised with it, and that is a lousy reason. So I tossed that shit overboard. For about a minute I hopped onto the New Atheist train. Several things there immediately became obvious to me though. The first was that while I generally agreed with them, they were kind of dicks to everyone. That was kind of not cool in my book. Then there was fact that they seemed to be completely missing a part of life. There seemed there was a sense of mystery, I guess, that that kind of stark atheism just misses. That is not quite it. Maybe wonder or some other ineffable quality. The whole thing just seemed too mean, with a pat answer for everything. And it does a lousy job of answering the whole, "Ok, so what do I do now?"

It was about this time that my ex-wife (we were married at the time) gave me the book Hardcore Zen by Brad Warner. As a side not here, I think Brad is kind of a creeper, and a lot of his teachings strike me as a little simplistic these days, but he will always have a bit of a special place in my heart for bringing me into Buddhism. Anyway, so I read that, and stuff in there just kept ringing true for me. I have always been a little bit of a philosophy dork, and there were so many things things in Buddhism, specifically Zen, that struck me as applied philosophy. Philosophy taken out of the clouds and actually put into practice. Which, as it happens to be, had been one of my major critiques of philosophy for a long time.

"In relation to their systems most systematizers are like a man who has built a vast palace while he himself lives nearby in a barn; they themselves do not live in the vast systematic edifice. But in matters of the spirit this is and remains a decisive objection. Spiritually, a man's thoughts must be the building in which he lives—otherwise it's wrong." -Soren Kierkegaard

While the above quote was specifically about Hegel, it has much broader application.

Anyway, being that as it may, there were lots of things about Buddhism that rang very true to me. So I started reading everything I could put my hands on about it. In addition to this, I found that there was a temple near me, the Houston Zen Center. I immediately felt comfortable there, though it seems like I was the youngest member there by a decade or two. Then a couple of guys and myself wanted a more youth oriented group, so we sent out an email to Noah Levine and got permission to use the name Dharma Punx for the group. We have been meeting for a couple of years now.
My schedule is all messed up with work, so getting up to the zen center is kind of a pain in the ass, but I make it up there as often as I can. I sit zazen with some regularity. I have a fantastic teacher in Gaelyn Godwin. Not only is she brilliant and possible one of the most wise people I have ever met, she has got a wicked wit on her. She is constantly messing with me, but in a most perfectly loving and gentle way. She has been a profound influence on my life.

I have taken the lay precepts. I have been talking about here in another decade or so, when I reach retirement age, going into the practice full time, and taking the full monastic vows. We'll see. No definite plans, but that is one of the ideas I have floating around my head.

Not necessarily my favorite book ever, but I'd want you guys to read it if you get the chance: Hardcore Zen by Brad Warner.

It is an incredibly approachable, unpretentious introduction to the idea of mindfulness and enjoying what you have. It's a casual way to shake up your world view and get you to try every day meditation without the whole trappings of mysticism that often get tied into the practice of zen. It brings it down to it's core... that when we get stuck in our own heads and worry about the future, we're not enjoying and taking full advantage of the present.

You stop giving a fuck about things like authority, or superficiality. But at the same time, you don't just turn into some rebellious prick. You cut out a lot of bullshit from your life, both external and internal.

It's from Hardcore Zen and the author devotes a whole chapter early on, and it becomes a theme of the book. This blog post gives a few of the highlights, but I can't recommend the book enough. It, and Dale Carnegie, are the only self-help books worth reading if you ask me.

> Question Authority. Question Society. Question Reality. Question Yourself. Question your conclusions, your judgments, your answers. Question this. If you question everything thoroughly enough, the truth will eventually hit you upside the head and you will know. But here’s a warning: It won’t be what you imagined. It won’t be even close.

Mediation itself sounds like a great idea but I have no interest in the spirituality or metaphysical aspects. A few years ago I found this book:


Hardcore Zen: Punk Rock, Monster Movies and the Truth About Reality by Brad Warner.

It's pretty good, and helped me get started on meditation purely for the empirical physical and mental benefits.

Some good books about Zen, if you're interested in learning more:

Hardcore Zen: Punk Rock, Monster Movies and the Truth About Reality Great book, written by a modern Zen 'master.' Colloquial, not translated and thus easy for us westerners to understand.

Not Always So, Shunryu Suzuki

Moon In A Dewdrop, Dogen This guy is the real shit. Lived hundreds of years ago. You can go as deep as you want into this guy's writings, many levels of meaning (or none?). More metaphorical/figurative than the others, very poetic.

When/if you read this stuff, don't worry about understanding everything sentence. It's easy to get caught in the trap of reading and re-reading sentences and paragraphs to try to understand, but in doing so you miss out on the flow/stream of consciousness of the works. Just read it through, eventually the ideas will start to become clear.

There are several popular 'flavors' of Buddhism, but unfortunately I have not read any general overview books covering all of the sects. Most of my generalized knowledge has come from podcasts like Buddhist Geeks and Zencast. Gil Fronsdal and Jack Kornfield are both enjoyable to listen to.

But back to books!

The most accessible Zen book I've read was Nishijima's To Meet The Real Dragon. Other overviews like Alan Watt's What Is Zen and Shunryu Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind are good but a little obtuse.

And while I can't give it a general recommendation because the writing style isn't for everyone, I really enjoyed Brad Warner's Hardcore Zen and Sit Down and Shut Up.

Of those mentioned, I would go with To Meet the Real Dragon unless you prefer a much more informal style -- then I would pick Hardcore Zen.

I think I heard of that before. Also, Buddhism teaches how connected we are...read a pretty good, straight forward book called Hardcore Zen.

This reminds me of another school of thought: that life is a projection of our minds.

and

What is real is just your perception. [7]

Absolutely. Brad Warner is an interesting example. He went from being in punk bands to teaching English in Japan to becoming a Buddhist priest. He wrote a great book called Hardcore Zen if you'd like to read more about his philosophy and experiences.

>And that just doesn't cut it. That's what all religious people say about their beliefs. "Just go ahead and devote yourself to it for a while and you'll see what I mean!"

Yea, I know what you mean. Its unfortunate because religious fundies have made this argument so many times, its impossible to say it with out sounding like a tool. If any thing, I'd suggest reading Hardcore Zen, by Brad Warner.

Basically, all I can say is that I've been able to have so many insights and been so much calmer from doing zazen. Maybe its because I'm just naturally high strung, but I notice a dramatic difference when I'm doing zazen versus when I'm not. Its not a matter of 'just believe in god and some mystical thing will happen that probably has to do with him', its more like, when I practice the methods set down by ancient buddhist dudes, I feel a fuck ton less worse about my self, the world, and really life its self. Its not a matter of faith at that point. Its just the whole "why the fuck should I waste my time on this nonsense" part that requires faith.

Its like if you've eaten fast food all your life and you don't even know what feeling healthy feels like. Why would you believe that this magical "healthy food" would change any thing?

>All I want is to hear one bit of wisdom that Buddhism has provided to the world that is not arbitrary or an assumption.

Thats the problem... it IS based on assumptions. The problem for me was always that I was an extreme pragmatist.

However, the 'faith' in Buddhism is different then the faith in Christianity, like I said, in that you get ACTUAL results. You are calmer, happier, and better equipped to deal with life.

At some point, if you want to be a scientist, you have to have faith that learning science will help you get there. If you want to be a psychologist, you have to have faith that taking psychology courses will help you get there. My goal is to be centered and happy and productive. After much research and questioning, I decided to have faith that Soto Buddhism would help me get there.

>If that were reasonable then we'd all be spending all of our lives trying out the infinite list of religious ideas people claim to have veracity.

Not your whole life, no. And not even a huge chunk of it. But studying the worlds religions IS important to a lot of people. I did as much as a teenage, and found that 99% of them were silly as hell. I, like you, thought Buddhism was in the same group as well, but the western Buddhists always struck my fancy. But ya.. I felt like you do.. like they are just watered down pot heads. I'm glad I moved past that stigma.

If you don't like this stinking Buddhist stuff, try some Schopenhauer first. That guy is pretty sweet. His ideas are very similar and equally helpful., tho I tend to get on with Schopenhauer better then many others.

I would agree that Jesus is an important thinker, definitely, revolutionized Judaism, but not the most important. It's tough to pinpoint the "most influential human being or thinker." I can't pinpoint Jesus' ideas as revolutionary or wholly unique as most of the philosophy is highly Eastern... and can be found in Zen Buddhism, some of which I hope you have read. If you have the time, check out Hardcore Zen, fun read. No I'm not a Buddhist.

We've already briefly discussed scripture... and we disagree on the historical veracity, I tend to believe early Christians were quite the storytellers, you feel they were more historians.

I've not misunderstood Jesus' teachings... but I would say a large number of Christians have, no?

I'm glad we have the stars thing in common. I am not so lucky as to live in the country... but that's why I rock climb in the mountains every weekend.

I hope that you trying to finish off your goals will dissuade you from doing this act.

I am currently 29. When I was younger I had a family member kill themselves. Shortly after I graduated high school a friend of mine killed himself. A few years back a military buddy of mine killed himself. A girl I have care for dearly has on several occasions come to the point...

No matter how you go about doing it, those who care about you will always feel the impact. Most will always wonder if there wasn't something else they could do, why they did not see something.

When someone goes it is like tearing a point out of a spider's web, it is felt throughout the web. The web will always bear some reminder of the damage that was done.

If you have spoken to all of these people, have taken the anti depressants etc.. maybe you just need to spend some more time in introspection.. Grab some old philosophic literature, do some reading and think over what you read.

I don’t expect any one answer to fit for everyone.

I recommend reading this book, even if it’s not your answer it’s worth a read and it’s considerably less dry on the subject than others.
http://www.amazon.com/Hardcore-Zen-Monster-Movies-Reality/dp/086171380X

Try Hardcore Zen sometime :)

I've enjoyed Hardcore Zen. It's a little tedious at times, but I feel it gives a fair introduction to a layman's version of Zen Buddhism.

This is the book that got me into zen meditation, you can probably get it for almost nothing off ebay. It's a really good book which isn't esoteric like many on meditation. I'd really recommend trying zen meditation, it's about as basic and easy as meditation gets and if you do it enough on a daily basis it will be the most beneficial thing you've ever done in your life. I has been for me.

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